A beautiful game about how death is less scary than we think - How to Say Goodbye Quick Review

How to Say Goodbye is a charming narrative-driven game that follows the story of a group of ghosts seeking to discover why they’re not at peace. It teaches lessons about loss, acceptance, and the inevitability of death using beautiful visual and audio design, engaging puzzles, and immersive dialogue.

THE STORY

In How to Say Goodbye, I created my own character, only to witness them die in a hospital and turn into a ghost. Playing as this ghost, I explored an unfamiliar world populated by lost spirits and sought peace in purgatory while helping others find their own serenity along the way.

TIME PLAYED

I played How to Say Goodbye for two and a half hours and completed the game in that time. Each of the game’s sixteen chapters took between ten and twenty minutes to play through.

PLATFORMS

How to Say Goodbye is available on PC, Android, and iOS. I played on PC and found the game to perform smoothly, with the only issue being some minor jittering between ghosts and platforms when solving puzzles.

WHAT’S AWESOME

• Narrative. How to Say Goodbye conveys its story through bite-sized dialogue with characters scattered along each chapter, as well as via more traditional cutscenes. It’s a well-thought-out, comprehensible plot, and it ends up touching on a wider variety of topics than death alone.

• Puzzles. Solving puzzles makes up the core of How to Say Goodbye’s gameplay. I was always trying to figure out how to unlock an area or acquire a key and find my way through a chapter. These perplexing scenarios grow in challenge over the course of the game’s sixteen chapters, but I never found them to be overwhelmingly difficult.

• Aesthetics. How to Say Goodbye is a beautiful game, employing pastel hues and light, cheerful music to make the afterlife more pleasant.

WHAT SUCKS

• Length. Although How to Say Goodbye stunned me, it only took roughly two and a half hours to complete. I wish there was more gameplay to this game—mainly because it’s so great.

SHOULD YOU PLAY IT?

Yes. How to Say Goodbye talks about the inevitability of death in a humane, down-to-earth, and positive manner that washes away the daunting and scary thought of dying. Add in charming visuals, groovy music, and head-scratching puzzles, and How to Say Goodbye is a short but wonderful game.

💬 Do you believe in the afterlife? If so, do you believe in ghosts?