‘Indie’ often is synonymous with ‘crap’ these days. There are so many indie games flooding the online marketplaces that it’s honestly hard to tell if they’re worth playing. In point of fact, some companies have even given positive reviews to their own products, muddying the waters even more. It’s seriously difficult to wade through the morass of random stuff out there to find anything good. But sometimes great games are hiding right in front of us and it’s almost impossible to tell. Sometimes, you end up with Evan’s Remains.
Evan’s Remains is the brainchild of Argentinean game designer Matías Schmied, funded by Kickstarter and published by Whitethorn Digital. It popped up on the Nintendo Switch eShop a few weeks ago and honestly, I didn’t think it looked all that appealing. The presentation was simple, there was no video clip, and nothing to reveal what was really going on in the game. However, contrary to appearances, Evan’s Remains is actually a fantastic little indie gem, hidden away in the depths of the eShop! When I say ‘little’, I’m being literal here, because Evan’s Remains will run you around 4 hours unless you’re very good or very bad at logic puzzles.
The game consists of story-based gameplay presented in a 16-bit modified visual novel format, interspersed with a variety of logic puzzles. Each puzzle is presented as a monolith to solve to progress and solve the secret of the island you’re on. You play Dysis, a girl recruited by a powerful corporation after their missing CEO requested you specifically. As you play, the story unfolds in segements bit by bit while you progress through the puzzle. It doesn’t sound like anything particularly exciting, but it’s the way in which everything flows together so smoothly that really makes Evan’s Remains.
As Dysis proceeds through the mysterious monoliths, she slowly comes to realize what’s happening around her as the small cast of characters coalesces into a coherent story. It’s not wildly epic or anything, and there’s a lot of time for quiet reflection and introspection as the landscapes roll by during play. In point of fact, this is a gorgeous game, and while you’re simply moving from left to right for the entirety of the game, the use of scrolling backgrounds, excellent art design, and soft ambient music make for a peaceful, relaxing play style. Everything about Evan’s Remains shows care and creativity was instilled into every inch of the game, with no glitches or other issues. The Switch version loads fast and plays smoothly in both docked and undocked modes. The pacing is well-designed as well, keeping things moving just fast enough that you never get bored along the way. Eventually, the story culminates and wraps up completely, but I won’t ruin it for you. There are twists, there’s solid writing, and overall, it’s simply entertaining as well as philosophically thoughtful.
Regarding gameplay, Evan’s Remains manages to get things right as well. Controls are tight and everything works just as it should. There’s no complexity to the controls, simply jump and move, but it’s all in the puzzle design. Puzzles consist of jumping onto platforms of various types, including sold, disappearing, bouncing, and transporting. On top of that, some platforms also switch the position or type of other platforms, and when you jump off of disappearing platforms, they of course vanish. This makes for some interesting logical puzzles in order to jump over the barricade that allows you to proceed in the story. While some puzzles will only take you a minute or two tops once you understand the logic behind them, others are real head-scratchers and there’s really no way to tell what’s coming next. There were three or four puzzles that I really found challenging and had to step away and come back to to solve. They don’t get progressively harder or easier either, instead opting for a jumbled approach to difficulty that leaves you never knowing what to expect.
That’s the best part about Evan’s Remains. You might think you have an idea what’s going on but you never quite know what to expect. And while the story is entirely linear with no choices to be made, it doesn’t matter because the dialogue is quite good, the plot is very grounded, and the puzzles are just interesting enough to keep the gameplay moving as well. The music fades into the background while you play, but it should be noted that the soundtrack is peaceful and well-done and would make a great little soundtrack for ambient fans.
This isn’t an overly complex or long game, but Evan’s Remains is simply a well-designed and enjoyable diversion that tells a concise and interesting story and manages a few extra little twists. The addition of an interesting philosophical component leaves a bit of food for thought at the end, and the game is a pleasure to play through. For $7, you’re getting a solid little indie gem and several hours of enjoyable fun. If you’re not into text-based stories, this might be a non-starter for you, but for any visual novel or puzzle game fans, this is a nice melding of the two. If you’re on the fence about Evan’s Remains as I was, don’t be. It’s definitely worth a look.
This review was based on a digital copy of Evan’s Remains provided by the publisher. It was played on a Nintendo Switch in both docked and undocked modes and was excellent in both! Evan’s Remains is also available on PS4, Xbox One, Itch.Io, and Windows on Steam.
