Essays on Empathy

released on May 18, 2021

A curated compilation of Deconstructeam's best efforts in seeking new narrative experiences in games. Explore 10 unique, offbeat tales including "De Tres al Cuarto," a brand new short experience exclusive to the compilation about a couple of two-bit comedians trying to make it big.


Released on

Genres


More Info on IGDB


Reviews View More

Una selección magistral de proyectos cortos del Deconstructeam, donde, de forma experimental, cada uno aporta su propia narrativa y enfoque particular. Mención especial a “De tres al cuarto”. Sencillamente SUBLIME.

Bem gostosinho de jogar e descobrir mais sobre os desenvolvedores.

This is perfect for anybody who likes to see artists talk about the creative process and dissect their art. This is not a game, it is a compilation of ten works by Deconstructeam, a company that I had not heard of until now. However, playing this game put them on my radar and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for any future games they make.

The games in this collection are short and simple. But they are each paired with a documentary video that will take you behind the scenes with the creators. I loved being able to hear the Deconstructeam trio talk about each piece. They cover a wide range of topics and talk about the aspects that they like and don't like in each game. This part of Essays on Empathy brought the whole collection together. It's what separates itself from being just some random Itch.io bundle. This is an introspection.

I would've dropped Essays on Empathy after the first game, "Underground Hangovers", but then I watched the video and was able to see the faces of the creators. Hearing them say "Yeah this one is pretty shit and can be real obscure, I'll be surprised if anyone can beat it", was interesting. They knew the game was not really great, but they left it in the collection. Deconstructeam were not trying to make a collection of ten perfect games, no. They chose ten games to reflect their growth over this six-years-or-so period. The reflective nature of Essays on Empathy is what made me fall in love with it.

Yes, all of the games are not perfect. Some of them were not my style at all. But to be able to play through these ten works in chronological order was an amazing experience. Seeing the ways in which the developers improved and expanded on their formula was so inspiring.

I will be talking about this game in an upcoming video so keep an eye on my channel in the next month for more about this collection.

(P.S. Behind Every Great One was my favourite game.)

Una mezcla muy interesante de los pequeños juegos de Deconstructeam. Por De Tres al Cuarto, Home Floristry y Behind Every Great One ya vale probar el pack, aunque claro, excepto el primero, el resto están subidos gratis a Internet. Para compensar, el pack ofrece un video de aprox. 10 minutos explicando el juego y el contexto de su creación. También incluye la, para mi, excelente música de todos los juegos.

A collection of 9 bite-sized games the developers did for Game Jams and a tenth full game exclusive to this collection. All of them paired with a 10-15 minute video of the devs talking about each project. A really interesting piece of insight of the development process and the evolution of small development teams. The games themselves are kinda cool, specially the ones in which the devs explore the narrative options that are only possible in videogames as a medium, my favorite ones being 11.45 A Vivid Life and Eternal Home Floristry.
If you are somehow interested in small indie games, game development in general or narrative experiments, check this out. One of the most interesting pieces of not-only-game media of the videogame industry.

de tres al cuarto is really good. a lot of fun to play this simple card game, a touching story, shots framed well. best work of theirs yet i think.