The Novelist

The Novelist is one of those independent games that I heard of when it first came out, in this case in 2013, and thought it sounded interesting, but never got around to playing it. When I obtained a massive itch.io bundle, however, I noticed that it included this game and eventually made the time to finally play it, since I could relate to the struggle of trying to write a novel. While I’m not sure that the experience completely resonated with me on a deep level, I’m glad I finally gave it a chance.

In The Novelist, the Kaplan family moves into another house for a vacation in the hopes of reconnecting, though each of them has their own goals. Dan wants to overcome his crippling writer’s block and complete a novel he promised for his agent. Linda wants to work on her failing marriage to Dan and get back into her career as an artist. Their lonely son, Tommy, wants his father’s attention and shows his intentions through a series of crayon drawings around the house. Whether or not the family succeeds in any of their goals is determined by you, the player, a spirit who inhabits the house and observes the Kaplans during their most critical moments.

Dan wants to finish his novel, whatever it takes.

One strength of The Novelist is how it integrates its storyline directly into the gameplay. During each of the nine chapters, the player explores the house for clues relating to each family member’s dilemma through written documents, crayon drawings, reading their immediate thoughts and exploring their memories. Once you find all of the clues for each character, you can read their thoughts to find out which object represents their solution to the issue at hand. Once you’ve chosen a solution, time jumps forward to that night and you whisper the decision into Dan’s ear, which determines the actions he’ll take, which play out in a cutscene.

If you’ve fully explored the dilemma for more than one family member, however, you’ll get to pick a second object during the night, this time representing what compromise Dan will make for the respective family member, including himself. This mechanic adds an element of more realistic nuance to each scenario while giving the player an opportunity to reflect on why they made their decisions once they see how it affects each family member during the next chapter. Each player’s decisions also eventually lead to one of multiple endings that determine the future of the Kaplan family.

Exploring memories can help you find the right clues.

During each night, you can also find posthumous notes from previous owners of the house that give a little more insight into the history of the property and how their stay affected them. While these notes mostly feel like flavor, some of them can more easily relate to the main themes of each chapter and the game as a whole.

As I played through the game, I found that the story generally did a good job of exploring the core theme of balancing work and family and, with the knowledge of multiple endings, consciously tried to achieve the best outcome since that’s my general approach when such a system is in place. From how I played, I managed to get what looked like the best possible outcome for the family, where despite some turbulence during the vacation, they all managed to achieve their original goals and Dan and Linda maintained a happy marriage while their son still had a healthy relationship with his parents. Thinking back on it, I achieved this by actively balancing everyone’s compromises so that with each cycle of three chapters, they all got something they wanted or had to compromise something. While some moments genuinely made me feel bad, like Linda missing a funeral, I didn't always feel emotional about my decisions and my main takeaway was that, much like in real life, everyone has to make compromises to get what they want.

That said, I recognize how the game’s execution of the balance between story and gameplay won’t land for everyone. Direct interactions between the family are minimal, as their feelings are mostly expressed through the interactive objects and their internal thoughts are only known by interacting with them yourself. Each character’s personality may also not quite resonate with everyone and each compromise arguably might not make as much sense given the timescale for some of them. From research, I also learned that the branching outcomes are affected by an invisible counter for each character weighted by their decisions and compromises, which can make the game feel more mathematical.

You'll be reading a lot of notes.

As for the actual gameplay, it’s pretty minimal, though that’s not uncommon for “walking simulators” that prioritize story over robust mechanics. The player’s walking speed isn’t too ideal, but the game at least mitigates this with the small house size (compared to a game like Gone Home) and the ability to possess light sources to quickly cover more ground. There are also two difficulty levels, Story and Stealth, that determine whether or not the Kaplans are aware of your presence. Since the core gameplay loop of finding clues and whispering to Dan never changes between chapters, however, the game can get tedious if played straight through in a single sitting.

The Novelist’s minimalism also extends to the graphics, which appear blocky due to a general lack of detail while a simple fog effect helps highlight important objects from a distance. While this can give the game some charm, the animations also look a little stiff and, at times, robotic. Voice acting is also minimal, but it fits the tone, as does the dynamic piano music even if I might not remember much of it in the long term. However, I appreciated that, at least while playing with headphones on, certain sound cues implement 3D audio so you can more easily track down the source.

While not perfect, The Novelist is one of the better narrative-focused games that I’ve played thanks to its more natural integration of story and gameplay with a comparatively more realistic theme. Though the game only lasts about two hours in a single playthrough, it’s also priced accordingly at only five dollars and at least has some amount of replay value. If you’re curious, The Novelist isn’t a bad choice.