A Fold Apart concerns a couple who are trying to maintain a connection despite being miles apart. The protagonists, whose genders / sexual orientations can be altered to suit the player’s own preferences, are separated. Communicating via text messages, there’s a series of scenes before the player gains control that depicts how in love these characters are. It’s really moving and uplifting.
Throughout the game, both protagonists struggles are displayed via bouts of failing mental health. It’s a story that feels very human and real which is why it really feels impactful. This could happen to anyone and that’s why there is no name assigned to either character, the player can project themselves on to them.
The art style of A Fold Apart is extremely pretty and very reminiscent of Tearaway, with a papercraft world that feels like it’s been constructed by Neil Buchanan (Banksy) on an episode of Art Attack. Its colours are vivid and its world springs to life like reading a pop-up book. The visuals present A Fold Apart as a storybook, with darker and lighter hues of colour representing the obvious emotions. It’s a really beautiful style that is also really functional, which is no mean feat at all.
Love-Craft?
Players must manipulate pages to complete broken paths that stop the progression. There are a few different ways to do this with multiple options to boot. To solve puzzles, the player can fold, roll and flip the pages over various ways and in any order to piece together a perfect path. It’s a really interesting puzzle mechanic.
Sometimes the solutions require a bit of trial and error which can get a little frustrating when sometimes the priority is just trying to get through the story but it’s definitely satisfying when the correct path is made.
Torn Apart?
Puzzler portions of A Fold Apart also represent the current mindset of our two antagonists. When they’re at their worst, puzzles hold complex solutions that can leave players feeling similar emotions.
Between puzzling, it’s mainly just walking. Really slowly. A Fold Apart takes it’s character representation and themes to the Nth degree. Whilst it doesn’t ruin the experience, perhaps certain nuances were overthought during development.
With dialogue choices sporting a decent variety of replies, replayability is a tempting notion. Conversations between the characters are very charming, feeling like a typical text message conversation. This approach to narrative delivery only adds to the titles immersive qualities.
Worth the Risk
Presentation, Gameplay mechanics and (Sometimes extreme) attention to detail blend together to create a world that depicts the struggles of long-distance relationships. The themes of separation anxiety, love and loneliness are prevalent but not overbearing. It’s a well-told story with challenging yet fun puzzler elements.
A Fold Apart will affect different players in different ways due to its subject matter. It works as a metaphoric representation of a very real and universal issue that faces many people in the world. You don’t have to be going through it to empathise with it, which is why it works. A Fold Apart is beautiful, impactful and just a brilliant puzzle game, don’t distance yourself from this!
What do you think about the representation of Mental Health issues in Video Games? Maybe this is a subject that should be more inclusive within certain narratives? Sound off in the comments below.