This year I’ve been followed by a series of unfortunate events, the latest being a torn shoulder, which meant a lot of rest and a lot of uncomfortable sitting. As someone who is extremely fidgety, I needed a lot of distraction. Luckily my Steam Deck is filled with games that I’ve bought, never played or never finished, and one of them is Gris.
Gris is a beautiful indie platformer developed by Nomada Studio and published by Devolver Digital. It was released back in 2018 and since then people who played it had nothing but praises for it. A couple of developers (Adrián Cuevas and Roger Mendoza) met a passionate artist (Conrad Roset) and decided to create this masterpiece that we know and love today.
Story
The best way I can describe the story of Gris is the way I perceived it. It’s about a girl who has fallen to dark times and is trying to pick herself up, which can’t be done at once or that easily. She has to do that piece by piece or the way it was represented in the game, color by color. We all have been there at some point in our life and sometimes it’s nice to know that we are not the only ones going through it. It always amazes me what we can achieve and express with just a few well drawn frames.
Gameplay
If you ask me, Gris falls into the category of relaxing cozy games hence the gameplay isn’t complicated. There’s not much to talk about. It has basic running, jumping, swimming, and occasional puzzles that aren’t complicated and can be done without any guidance. I’ve managed to complete the whole game in 4 hours and I’ve done it in one sitting. I guess if you play an hour a day, you can stretch it for a few days but good luck with that. Once you start, you won’t be able to put it down. At least I couldn’t.
Graphics
The star of Gris is definitely the graphics. It has a hand-drawn art style that features watercolor illustrations that are animated perfectly. If you can feel emotions in a game through art without hearing a word, you know that the artist has done something remarkable, which is the case for what Conrad has done here. He truly deserves the praises for the Gris.
Conclusion
Even though it was a short experience, I really enjoyed playing Gris and I can see replaying it again if I need some relaxation. If you enjoy playing cozy, relaxing indie platformers then I highly recommend trying Gris.
Because I can already see some of you thinking “There’s no way I’m paying $15 for a 4 hour game”, the game regularly goes on sale and you can buy it for $1.5, which is practically nothing nowadays.
Are you a fan of Gris? Was it as relaxing for you as it was for me? Would you say it’s a must play indie game? Let me know in the comments.
Pavle is the founder of PlayForge and its lead writer and reviewer, covering PC, PS5, and mobile games, a with a focus on RPGs, MMOs, FPS games, and more. He’s been gaming since the PS2 days and now writes in-depth reviews and guides to help players find their next obsession and get gaming insights from real players, not just critics. His reviews are honest and transparent, but he always tries to stay positive, because in his opinion, almost any game can be fun if you look at it the right way.
In his free time, he likes to (obviously) play more games, spend time with his family, theorycraft about various media with his wife, and watch anime. So yes, he’s a complete nerd, even if he’ll never admit it.
