Before Your Eyes
D o we really get to watch a highlights package of our lives in the moments before we shuffle off this mortal coil? If we do, GoodbyeWorld Games’ firstperson narrative adventure suggests it’s a process that lasts a couple of hours, taking us through formative events as a ferryman delivers us to the next place. Its conceit alone would seem unlikely to leave you dryeyed by the finish, but its control system all but guarantees you’ll have tear-streaked cheeks throughout: using your webcam, you control the flow of the story and make key decisions by briefly closing your eyes. You needn’t keep them open for the duration of every scene, but when a metronome appears to indicate it’s time to move on, you might find yourself filling up just to linger a little longer. Not least since you won’t know whether the next scene will take place a few minutes into the future or several years: a moving reminder that life can pass by in a blink.