Little Red Lie

I just finished playing Little Red Lie and ho-ly ****. I've played a lot of serious games with really strong narratives. Seen writing of all quality in games that express my generation's fears and frustration with what we have to contend with. None of them spoke to me on such a visceral level as Little Red Lie did. While not a 1:1 analogy of my own life, I found myself in tears at several points of the game because of how much it mirrored things I lived through. I've been poor. I've been wealthy. I'm very fortunate to be comfortable right now. Went through the awkwardness of seeing a friend who once treated me to coffee now washing dishes...and the icy fear of seeing clients from my very last professional sector job in their homes when I had to take a sharing economy gig to pay my bills. I identify with Sarah's character a lot. While I'm a tad younger, I see so many of my past behaviors before I got treated for depression. The strained relationship with her sister, worrying about being her sole provider someday. I was totally transfixed because it felt like my life was suddenly on a screen. Play this now if you want a hard-hitting narrative that might hit REALLY close to home if you're stuck between Millenial and Gen X/older Millennial. It reminded me of why I went through everything I survived to become a game developer. To hang onto that hope despite the world of **** our generation got stuck with, and tell the stories that need to be told.

[h1]Money is the most important thing[/h1] What a weird (in a good way) and a wonderful hidden gem this game is. Red Little Lie won't put you in a good mood, it's dark and depressive, just like the real world. I don't know if you can call it a game, it's more of a novel and a misanthropic take on the pathetic world we're living in. The game is about lying, lying to others (sometimes to make them feel better), to yourself, living the pointless life. What can I say, it shows the true nature of humans and how shitty the life and world are. People are selfish beings who lie every day. There are many topics discussed in this game, depression and different people having different problems in life and for each of them their problems seem the worst and they might look ridiculous to others. People feeling worthless or better than anyone else. Money is all people care about, people judge you by how much you earn, what job you have, what expensive stuff you buy, but are they really happier than the poor? Are they happy just because they feel better than the poor ones who are suffering and that's what is keeping them alive, they feel happy about someone's failure, someone's tragedy. But at the same time they have nothing, they're empty inside, they lie to others, they fool themselves to feel better and they're lying to themselves, trying to fill that void with expensive stuff and full pockets of money, a successful career, but in the end they're just lonely empty shells. Poor people on the other hand, are they really that different? They lie too, they don't care about anything but themselves, their purpose in life is to chase that dream they can never catch and then they feel miserable until they die. In the end everyone is after the money and they'll do anything to get more money. All they want in life is to sell their souls and imagine they're happy then. That's what the game made me think about. Gameplay is simple, you walk around, interact with some stuff around you and lie about it. There's lots of reading and there's lots of pure text on black background. But it works wonderfully, this game is a work of art and a food for thought. Graphically there's not a lot to say about this game. Just some 2D backgrounds and black screens with some great looking artworks from time to time. Speaking about sound design, dialogues and monologues aren't voiced, but music is fantastic. This game is definitely not for everyone. If you enjoy darker themes and fucked up stories, this is a great choice. If you like this one you should check another game by the same developer - Actual Sunlight. It's shorter and not as good but still a decent game. I wouldn't advise to play any these games if you're having lots of suicidal thoughts, better seek help. [b]Pros[/b] [list] [*]Great storytelling [*]Dark and misanthropic [*]Nice soundtrack [*]Makes you think [/list] [b]Cons[/b] [list] [*]- [/list] [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32930811-Kosmos%27s-Cosmic-reviews/?appid=704030][h1]Follow my curator page for more[/h1][/url]

I bought this game because I loved (if that's the right word) the developer's previous game, Actual Sunlight. Similar to Actual Sunlight, LRL is a narrative-based game with minimal choice and interactivity. However, the game uses this limited interactivity very carefully, allowing you to pace the game as you want and explore as much of the character's inner thoughts as possible. The game is an exceptionally well-written exploration of debt, capitalism, family and mental illness. I'm not sure I agree with its uncompromising nihilism, which at times can come across as a bit of a rant. But everything is written with such flare that this doesn't become an irritant, even over the 6 hours of play it took to finish. At least for me, the writing was constantly challenging my expectations and making me challenge the characters, the game, and my own prejudices. So I may be coming down too hard on the nihilism - the ending of the game left me wanting to say "screw you, game, I'm better than that." It's difficult to know which responses are intentional and which are just my own unique response to the game - by my consideration, a good test for a complex piece of art. All in all, a highly recommended game. I feel like I ought to revisit it in the way you revisit a great book. Unlike most games, I feel there are still many depths to plumb in this story before I feel I adequately understand or appreciate everything the author has tried to do.

Little Red Lie might very well be the best game I've ever played that I cannot recommend. Not because the game isn't good - I thought it was great, in fact - but because the game is simply too depressing. Nowadays people might hear or read that statement and think it's being hyperbolic or melodramatic, presumably because "depressing" games like Celeste and whatnot have become more popular lately. Well, they'd be wrong. Here is the problem: Celeste and similar acclaimed games, albeit a game that is about depression, isn't depressing. What do I mean when I say that? When you play that game you get sad, but only moderately. You feel a kind of melancholy that is just sad enough to keep you playing, just dark enough to allow you to see a little bit of the light at the end of the tunnel. Will O'Neill's games, both this and Actual Sunlight, are not palatable games about depression, they are *depressing* games about depression. They are not like Please Knock on My Door, The Cat Lady, Depression Quest, etc, because these games merely teach you about depression; Actual Sunlight and Little Red Lie will make you *feel* depression. These other games are more like Wikipedia or WebMD articles about depression - they can describe it and can summarize it and present it visually, but they will never make you *feel* depressed. That's what makes Will O'Neill's games so special, but it's also what makes them virtually impossible to recommend, because people only want to experience depression vicariously, not viscerally. His games don't care about getting "artsy" or "deep" about the subject matter at hand. They don't care about making you walk away with something profound you can use to enhance your life - and why would they? Depression, by definition, is not profound. It is not something you can use to enhance your life. That's what I love about his games, because they never overestimate the power or the value of art as some sort of scapegoat proxy to overestimate the value of the artist him or herself. His games implicitly understand that "artistic" depictions of depression are rarely all that depressing, and that ironically ends up sacrificing some of the emotional potency. It is merely a raw and unadulterating abyss, and playing Little Red Lie, bleak and tenebrous as can be, is like diving into an abyss. You do not walk away from this game as you would after watching Inside Out or Bojack Horseman, with a vague and slightly uncomfortable but ultimately welcoming sense of bitter-sweetness. You walk away from Little Red Lie wanting to kill yourself. That's what "games about depression" actually do, and it is for that reason that I cannot recommend it to 99.99% of people. But I still have to give Little Red Lie a thumbs up because at the end of the day it is by far one of the best written games I have ever played. The game and its story are so much more than about hammering you over the head with a bleak, pessimistic, modernist perspective on unyielding income inequality and how it is (currently) intersecting with mental health, eroding social values and trust, and the narcissism of small differences. It is a fantastic psychological dive into two people who, despite never meeting, share so much in common. Sarah, 38, and Arthur, 46, are seemingly two very different people - one a broke and unemployed anxious neurotic and the other a self-aggrandizing sociopath who literally believes that money is the meaning of life - to the point you would expect their interior monologues to be very different from each other in terms of both style and prose, but their soliloquies being near-identical serves an important purpose: showing that they are the same person. How so? That's easy: they're both pathological liars whose fates, personalities, desires, values, beliefs and prejudices have been almost solely determined by their income. In fact, the only meaningful difference between them is that one is poor and one is rich. Swap their financial statuses around and they would effectively have the same personality traits (which just so happens to be almost entirely character flaws). If I have one controversial takeaway from this game, let it be this: The only reason why Sarah is moderately likeable and sympathetic is because she is poor. Imagine someone like her, with all her unjustified idiosyncrasies and incessant catastrophizing, but rich - it's not a pretty picture. That's why she's juxtaposed with Arthur, it's to teach you that money does more than corrupt - money *discloses*. Money *belies*. Money merely *reveals* what was already there. There are things about human nature worse than suffering from over-intellectualized sophistry or undiagnosed panic attacks, and that's what Sarah and Arthur are there to teach you. The game also introduces some very out-of-left-field 4th wall-breaking shenanigans that are very reminiscent of Undertale or The Stanley Parable, but even this aspect is fresh and unique because unlike these two examples, Little Red Lie (for the most part) upholds an intense veneer of realism, which only makes the contrast between the two main characters and the mystery narrator from the realm of magical realism (?) even more fascinating. The great tragedy about Little Red Lie is that even though it is so hard to recommend, it must be recommended to as many people as possible. The subject matter is undeniably some of the most relevant and topical that any video game has ever tackled, and while it doesn't really dive into new territory (many books and movies about the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath already exist, as an easy example), the quality of the characters and the writing offers a fresh perspective on intergenerational strife and poverty that virtually anyone on the planet over the age of 15 would appreciate, if it weren't for the immoderately fatalistic outlook of the plot. I think back on games other people have called "very bleak" or "incredibly dark" and they usually end up being games that take place in some fantasy or unrealistic/futuristic setting like The Last Of Us 2, but what really makes Little Red Lie dark is that it is so realistic, in fact its biggest issue is that it is *too* realistic to handle, but that realism is precisely what needs to be handled if anyone wants a chance at enduring these kinds of problems should they ever happen. And, while this may be a sentiment many people won't see eye-to-eye with me on, I really respect the mere fact that Little Red Lie held back no punches. It was actually refreshing to see a story, particularly one in a video game of all places, examine the complex, interweaving and dynamic whirlwind of poverty, mental illness, familial stress, narcissism, suicide, rape, unbridled corporatism and financially-based maladaptive daydreaming and bring it all to its intense and extreme crescendo of a logical conclusion - a world in which everyone admits, even if only internally and privately, even if they have the typical powers that come with being a multi-millionaire, that few can wield the most dangerous thing among all: Truth.

Game is savage... don't let the people telling you (correctly) that it's a work of art or a great narrative make you think this is some kind of schmaltzy hyper-reflective slow-burn. Nah. This game is punchy as hell. I'm a pretty underread dumbo so bear with me here: it reads like a more mature version of Chuck Palahniuk or Bret Easton Ellis or George Carlin or Aaron Sorkin. Maybe you think those guys are fundamentally dumb, but they're not boring! This game isn't boring, so it avoids the biggest problem that many narrative games have, which is being boring. The characters have acid-tongued inner monologues and it's fun to read even as the actual content of the story makes you grow grey hairs. With some luck, images of this game will end up being posters in some ding-dong's dorm room. I appreciated a lot of aspects of the game but that was what I appreciated the most. I'll leave the rest to the other reviewers. In terms of grievances, I have but two: - Small technical issues. Some bad collision bounds. Some text that should have been red but wasn't. - The story has blanks which the reader is meant to fill in. By the time these came up, the game had proven itself as a trustworthy dissector of modern society. It had the right to fill those blanks in. Anyway it's a real achievement. Speaking of achievements, I finished the game with 3 of the locked, and I really want them, really badly! That means the game is good.

This really is some of the best writing the medium of gaming has ever seen. I have not read a book, seen a movie, or watched a TV show that honed in on economic dread and all its existential implications so ruthlessly. And although some say it isn't really much of a game, I would disagree. The game format keeps you in a state of soul-numbing complicity with the narrative -- all you can do is spiral down the drain and lie about it, but it's you doing it, and no other medium could make the audience feel this dirty for that. This isn't even a minor masterpiece. It's just a masterpiece.

Little Red Lie is a very sad story, and the saddest part of it is that it feels so real. Here's my no spoiler review. The game is about money, it's about some people desperately needing more of it, and some people having more of it than they can spend. The story is told through well paced sequences and the game keeps throwing little surprises in your way to keep things fresh. The pixel art looks fine but the art really shines through the HD drawings that come up on important events. Realisticly drawn images silently blend into the very dark nature of the game that stretches its realism into events and symbolism that goes far beyond the realism it seems to be proud of. It's a very well written story, the kind that we as players don't get to witness very often if at all. What might make you not like this game? The story is mostly linear, and there aren't many decisions you get to make in the game. The writing is dark and texts are long, and it takes its subjects seriously, that might not be for everybody. Know that what you are getting into is more like a thoughtful movie than your everyday game. You are mostly playing to read, and observe the story. I am happy that this game exists, it's not something I thought I would be playing. It's not a game that could exist as a product 10 years ago. These type of themes are a great fit for movies and books but we rarely get to play them. I think this game is important and you should give it a chance. Play an hour of it and you will know if it's your type of game or not.

A brutally honest game, where you play from the perspective of two characters, both lying their way through life, hiding their true selves from their peers to avoid hurt and discomfort of others or of themselves. However, reality eventually catches up. The best feature of this game lies (no pun intended) in its writing. The game manages to get some emotions and relationship issues across that are very hard to put into precise words. Yet, it does so with surgical precision. Its topics include debt, shame, class, sex, emotional and physical abuse, gambling, ageing, death, depression, insecure attachment, and narcissism. But above all, the game tells a story about a deeply flawed society, where the need to meet expectations of society exceeds individual needs, at an astronomical price. The game is very linear with little opportunity to steer the direction, and the choices appear to matter little, so I would classify it as a visual novel, extremely well put together. The artwork is sparing but gorgeous. The game's simple mechanics are very effective at conveying a sense of lack of control, and conveying the dark disparity between the internal and external dialogues. The story really pulled me in, although I had wished for a slightly more well rounded ending for the female character. Given all this, especially if you enjoy a good story, care about mental health, and aren't afraid to do a lot of reading of an extremely well put together narrative whilst playing, I can only highly recommend this game!

There's definitely an audience for this type of narrative; it's brutally nihilistic and dismal. How would I summarise it best - oppressive hyper-realism? It reads like a drama novel, with appropriately long-winded scenes and fitting twists. It seemed a little "miserable for misery's sake" to me, but I'm sure that's exactly what fans of this genre are looking for. However, I would not recommend this to the majority of people looking for a narrative experience. Unless you're a part of the aforementioned audience, I can see this being a slog. Every new turn of the story brought more excruciating hopelessness. Seriously, the game's bursting at the seams with it! I appreciate what was trying to be done but was unable to really enjoy it and found a few scenes difficult to get through, unfortunately. That being said, I did enjoy the way the characters were written. They felt natural and right at home in their, well, depressing world.

Honestly not worth it, kind of boring because of the lenghty writing and SO edgy, not the cool way, the depressed teenager edgy.

Pessismistic and fuming, Little Red Lie is less an arc and more a pulse check on a flatline. If you're frustrated, Little Red Lie will speak to you. If you're not, it might elucidate the way that a significant % of your neighbors and friends feel.

I can't in good faith recommend this game. Absolute linearity and limited gameplay elements and choices aside, the view this game presents of the world seems more at home in the mind of a teenager riddled with angst and a rather shallow grip on socioeconomic issues than in a game wanting to be taken seriously. It managed to bring up some interesting questions but stopped short of really exploring them (the sister's depression (perhaps better explored in Actual Sunlight), the sacrifices made for family, the strain of poverty, how exactly the Canadian healthcare system got in such a weird state, etc). There were a few good lines that stopped me in my tracks - having dealt with severe depression myself, the examination of the sister was occasionally like a slap in the face. But I found no real grip in the poverty, or the relationships, or the situations as they existed throughout the bulk of the game. Lies and monologues were occasionally revealing, but presented so boldly and plainly they became grating or difficult to take seriously. It also managed to make both its progagonists largely unrealistic and therefore largely unrelatable. Though they're evidently based in real accounts and sometimes that manages to shine through, the actions the characters took veered more and more into absolute idiocy and the player was left wondering what the hell these people were doing or actually trying to achieve. I suppose watching these characters create trainwreck after trainwreck for themselves is about the only way you could accept their endings (logical only if your logic is based firmly in the aforementioned teenage angst). As with all reviews I will admit that this is biased by what I seek from interactive experiences. I can deal with reality and horror and sorrow within the context of games, but this was downright [i]bleak[/i], through-and-through without hope or cease. I got through it, but only with the help of several pints of ice cream and some long breaks between really nasty sections ([spoiler]cornering the secretary in the elevator leaps immediately to mind[/spoiler]). If you're already having a hard time, steer well clear of this game unless you find bleak, energy-draining experiences cathartic.

I loved this game, I couldn't stop playing it until I finished it. Very original, the way you can interact with the option "Lie about.." it's for sure different. The narrative is very impressing and in some ways can be also relatable whether you agree with something a character says, or you recognize the realistic aspects of it. The game is very engaging and the story is very interesting, as long as you like to read a bit , it can be really good. The art style is amazing as well! Every once in a while a full screen art is displayed. The music is also very fitting to the whole atmosphere of this game. I can only say "Well done" to the team who got together to create this amazing masterpiece. Totally worth the money. Also in the end, you will get all the achievements as long as you finish the game, so there is that for those who are interested in that kind of thing.

***POSSIBLE MINOR SPOILERS*** If you've ever been slapped in the face in the dark, you know what it feels like to play through LIttle Red Lie. On the surface, LRL plays like a sprite-based adventure game, where certain poeple or objects need to be interacted with to proceed to the next piece of narrative. Of course, "interact" typically doesn't involve the types of decisions and actions you'll be making in this game. Naturally I won't spoil anything major, but let's just say that scrambling to rub one out before a work meeting doesn't come close to some of the the scenarios LRL will guide you through before the climax (see what I did there...) This is a story that had to be a game - a book would not suffice. The ambience of the music, accompanied by the ryhmic pauses of the written dialougue, pulled me into each encounter like no page with words ever could. By the end of my 5-6 hour play through, these were no longer characters, but poeple I had given voices to... people I might have known otherwise. Make no mistake, though. There is an antagonist in Little Red Lie, and depnding on the player, once it clicks, it clicks. Sure, on the surface it may seem like we are dealing with typical adversaries such as anxiety, depression, illness, and unquechable greed - but that's simply window dressing. What will truly exhaust the player is self-reflection. The mirror that this game forces in front of your own face is far more punishing than anything I've encountered from FROM Software. It is this reflection, like being interrogated under spot lights, that had me laughing out loud one minute, to choking back tears the next, to just simply putting the controller down and staring at the basement floor for a while. After the credits rolled (and after a very unexpected experience that had me recalling moments from Nier: Automata's finale), I spent some time reflecting on the spiral I had finally reached the bottom of - completely convinced of my own sociopathic nature - and I felt a sense of resignation. This is game you cannot win, nor would you want to be able to win. It's a mirror to your soul, and an indictment on your existance. It's also fanatstic and necessary. Why would I lie...?

Overall, this game makes you think....alot. The game is extremely self-aware in its own worth, and the concept is unique and thought-provoking. Although it is a rather long game, you're tempted to play the game through in the first run, as the story remains gripping and leaves you wondering what is even real in our post-truth, consumerist world.

I was drawn into it because it's setting was the streets and landmarks of Scarborough, Toronto's and I live near there and visited the areas plenty of times. Having played through it I'd say I enjoyed the experience and I would recommend it. It's dark though and not really a "game" you play. It's more like a reading a book but you get the benefit of visuals, sound, and moving the main characters which all help to provide a connection to the setting/atmosphere/world that the game is portraying.

What a wonderful little game, full of poignant commentary on society...both that of today and of the foreseeable future. The writing is completely solid. I love this type of story-driven experience. Some sassy fourth-wall breaking also needs to be mentioned. Overall a very welcome gaming experience!

Pretty good, overall. Little red lie prominently examines the lives of two characters from separate sides of the tracks. Sarah, a 38 year old who is wrestling with her lack of prospects, and Arthur, an arguable sociopath who makes his millions selling false hope to the downtrodden. The story is told almost entirely through their own eyes, maintaining a cohesive balance quite well between two unreliable narrators. The general themes to expect are where the lines lie between hope and hopelessness, and between success and failure in the modern economy. Bouncing these concepts between the id, ego, and super-ego of our protagonists, the author keeps you on your toes while you analyse what's being presented to you as fact, lie, or a grey area between. For the most part, this is pulled off as convincing introspection and projected observations of the world our characters come from. It's not perfect, though. There are moments where the disconnect and vagueness detracts from the whole. On more than one occasion I asked myself why a character expressed something that seemed out of place with their regular thought process. It never stopped the pace of the story though, so that I can easily forgive. However, what was more pace-breaking and detrimental to the overall tone were the two awkwardly placed moments where the player is addressed directly, and ham-handedly insulted. It seems backwards to shatter the fourth wall for a moment, especially when it's seemingly done for no reason other than to treat the reader like an inattentive child. They feel like they were shoe-horned in for some sort of shock value, where a moment of silence for the audience to digest the previous scene would have been far more appropriate. I argue that these inconsistencies detract from the overall experience, but they definitely don't ruin it. I got a lot out of the game and I think the stories told are worth reading. Around 4 hours of content but as the majority of that content is reading, your mileage may vary.

I've read more interesting autobiographies. The story the game is [i] trying [/i] to tell is great. However, it is so bogged down by walls upon walls of unnecessary text that it's nearly impossible to actually connect to the people in any meaningful way. At several points the entire screen goes black as text slowly rolls onto the screen 4 or 5 words at a time. Used once or twice, this is a great way to emphasize dramatic moments, but this game uses this method so often that it's absolutely infuriating. There's not even a decent way to speed up the text if you're a fast reader, so I ended up playing a game on my phone while tapping the space bar through most of the text. In essence, this isn't a game. It's a college entrance essay written by a depressed teenager with a thesaurus and way to much time on their hands. It's better to just SparkNotes this one. Now I'm not saying it's absolutely terrible, just that I personally could not connect to it in the way I expect to be able to with novels/stories. If more time was spent trying to say more with less words, or if there were more player controlled sequences than just 2 or 3 minutes of clicking on things here or there, I probably would have liked the game a lot more. There were a few moments in the game I was genuinely intrigued and could connect with what the characters were [i] feeling [/i] whether than just thinking. Those moments were few and far between though. I have no doubt that there is an audience for this game, just as I know I most certainly am not it. If you prefer visual novels that give you choices, or at least the [i] illusion [/i] of choice, this probably isn't the game for you. If you prefer visual novels that strap you to a chair and demand you listen to what they have to say, you might like this. You also might like it if you're the type of person that reads newspapers, non-fiction, and old adult classics like Of Mice and Men for fun. Just know what you're getting into.

This game is very dark and pessimistic but so well-written and insightful that I felt compelled to keep playing. It presents you with bleak ideas about how the world works, and dares you to say "That's not true." It doesn't put me in a good mood to play it, but it's a special game that I'm glad I found. An example: one of the characters has an internal monologue about people buying "How to become successful" books even though it's pointless because the real key to becoming successful was being born in a family with money and connections. I recommend the game, it oddly feels therapeutic to see such a raw presentation of the human struggle.

[i]Little Red Lie[/i] is blisteringly honest in its depictions of debt, guilt, and depression. However, it is also surprisingly meta (not in a humourous way; this work is bleak, through and through). It may be worth studying for the mechanics of its storytelling, more so than for its doggedly cynical social commentary. We have two protagonists who never meet, but who inhabit opposite corners of the same society. The first is Sarah Stone, a failed urban professional in her mid-30s who is forced to move back in with her physically ailing parents. The second is Arthur Fox, a 'wealth expert' who preys on the financially vulnerable. Sarah's story is firmly rooted in the experience of growing up in a middle-class family, accustomed to financial comfort - and then plummeting into sudden poverty. It's a story of debt (that modern spectre) catching up to a generation of people who bought into an unsustainable culture fuelled by financial illiteracy. It's a story of family, obligation, broken pride, and trying to bravely front to friends and loved ones when things are not fine. It's a story of adulthood being put on hold. Her story is relatable to a growing number of people today (indeed, it is a generational issue): those successful careers they were pushed towards just aren't there, and they find themselves caring for their aging parents while not financially nor mentally equipped to do so. Arthur, on the other hand, is a bizarre caricature of sociopathic and nihilistic indulgence, greed, and predation. (There is one instance of sexual assault, which is much darker than everything before and after it.) And while there do exist well-known real-world figures who resemble him, I don't buy the internal dialogue for his character. Is this entire character itself, actually, a lie - a straw man? I may be reaching, but a few minor details in the game seem to support this interpretation. At least he's interesting as a literary device, despite being almost a cartoon villain. In his best-written moments, being forced to play as him is perfectly discomfiting. Overall, this is a display of contrasts: red text versus white, rich versus poor, conservative versus liberal, old versus young, reductive cardboard cut-out versus life-like sculpture. Even if its parts are of inequal quality, [i]Little Red Lie[/i] as a whole is still a compelling experience, with enough twists to keep things interesting en route to unconventional endings.

Very good story that describes the slacker lifestyle in one story and the sociopath sales in the other. The little details the story takes from answering a very general personal finance survey at the start put me in an accurate existence bin. Which made me realize, how so many probably are in the same boat. A sobering game about indulging fantasies of a family member while wealth and income degrade. It's a mature drama and I recommend it.

Really enjoyable, story driven, dialogue heavy game about the lies that we tell to get by on a day to day basis. Really highlights the lies we tell to make things easier for others, versus the lies we tell to manipulate others. Thoughtful and insightful views on modern life, I would expect nothing less from developer Will O'Neill.

2017 has been a great year for games, and Little Red Lie continues this by speaking directly and aggressively to me from my computer screen about the harsh reality we now live in. At most points hopelessly bleak, at other points disgusting, and yes, sometimes, hopeful, the story gripped me and would not let me go until I finished it, even on nights when I had other things to attend to. You may not enjoy playing this game, not because it is difficult (very simple gameplay based on interaction with highlighted objects) but because it is uncomfortably true. Similar to NieR: Automata, another great story-heavy game from this year, it will make you think about things that you do not want to think about. Things that we all strive not to think about. You'll be willingly doing this to yourself, so prepare for that--but for me, it was like entering a sauna of my own present worries and just letting them surround me for a bit in order to feel better later. A lot of indie games are created by optimistic, hard-working and creative people, and this sometimes carries over into their products and gives them a positive outlook, somewhere within. But Little Red Lie, like NieR: Automata, gives it to you straight and lets you decide whether you're gonna let it crush you or continue to build.

Little Red Lies tackles everything from mental illness and poverty to sexism and the economy. The writing is fantastic and I loved that this took place in and around Toronto. Everything was familiar, not just the places but the characters. Sometimes it felt like the game was talking right to me and other times it felt like it was talking about people I know. Though often uncomfortable and always scathing, this is a very effective work of interactive fiction. For a game all about lies, it has a lot of brutally honest things to say.

A great thought provoking experience. I'm a speed-reader and concluded this narrative in about 4 hours, the additional hour was spent messaging friends over my reaction (and cooking dinner with the game running.). I'd wager someone who reads at a more casual pace would gather anywhere from 6-7 hours from this. It's a fantastic little gem if you can appreciate a rich, human story with twists and turns. I've still a fair share of questions by the end of the game, but, enjoyed the overall experience thoroughly and would love to see another title of this nature by the developer.

A tale about a particular conundrum a lot of people shall resonate with; daresay, a peculiar issue of our postmodern era made manifest in a series of gorgeous bits and pixels and words. Great story, good design, super enjoyable albeit sad experience. 8/10

An incredibly striking and gut-wrenching look at the society in which we exist. A literary work that deserves creedence and praise for its honesty in a time when we seem to be losing grasp on the truth. I really could not recommend this enough to anybody unafraid to get an alternative perspective on the current state of the economy and truth. I review games on Youtube, but ocassionally break to do full-on critical analyses of games when they deserve the thought and effort and this one does. If you already played it, I discuss some of the important themes and give more thoughts in the video below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1Dw86LRytM

Will O'Neill crafts another amazing narrative driven adventure. The fact that the only possible action is "Lie" will unsettle you in more than one occasion. The feeling you have towards the characters will shift oh so many times. Prepare yourself for a emotional rollercoaster that will probably left you pretty drained (if you, like me, play the whole thing in one sitting). A+ for putting a key that highlights everything that could be interacted with and avoid the fear of missing out something. Interact with everything will expand massively the story and let you enjoy even more the amazing writing.

A game of truth and lies and how we convey both. A game of financial ups and downs and where those take us. Will O' Neill's brilliant Little Red Lie explores both the light and dark sides of financial success...and ruin. It's challenging and honest...even when it's not. It's genuinely touching and sometimes sad, but it never panders or treats the player as an idiot. It offers no easy answers or resolutions. It is what it is. I've told at least one lie in this review.

If you already played Actual Sunlight, you already know what to expect here. This time though it's not a personal story about depression, but a more broad view on society and wealth inequalities. The premise - that today's 30 somethings have no future and no economic prospects and no economic value except what their parents accumulated earlier in their lives - is quite intriguing and should feel very close to home to many people. To me it surely did! Writing is excellent, dry and cynical, especially with the male protagonist, his monologues are always witty and to the point. Though the female protagonist will be the relatable one for most players. Worth experiencing!

I had high expectations for Little Red Lie, and it still totally kicked my ass. The storytelling and characters are so brilliant, so real and hit so close to home. I'm also a rich kid from Toronto, so the social commentary hits especially hard. Buy this game. Brace yourself.

A poignant and powerful adventure about the role of money in the modern society. Sometimes so sharp that you can only take 30 minutes or so. One great idea is having two protagonists with contrasting stories - helps cover a lot of ground. If you're not afraid to look into other people's financial and existential insecurities, give it a go.

Mouse controls seem to be broken. Probably conflicting with virtual joysticks on my PC. No convenient way to fix it, and my usual trick of rebinding axis to a physical gamepad via the unity launcher didn't seem to fix it.

This game (or 'interactive story,' which is more accurate, since the only gameplay is wandering around interacting with things) is a brutally, unflinchingly honest dose of truth about what's broken in society. Spoiler alert: The answer is 'a lot.' It's not easily summarized but you have two lead characters - Sarah, who is dealing with escalating medical costs and the resulting strain on her family, and Arthur, a rich prick. His story may not always be as engaging but does provide some welcome comedic moments. If you've lived for a while (and this is a game meant for adults, not cause of swearing or whatever but because it's about things you deal with as you get older), you'll recognize a lot of the issues that come up. If you're American like me and imagine Canada as the promised land of health care, this depiction will come as a bit of a shock...and perhaps a disconcerting feeling of "Jeez, if THEY can't make it work, what chance do WE have?" It's often super depressing (although Arthur's excesses can be very humorous like I said), so heavy that I was taking "breaks" although it only takes about 4 hours to finish. But it is VERY well-written and sometimes it's healthy to get a dose of the awful truth. That "culture of positivity" stuff you see on social media ("nobody can make you feel bad except you LOL") could use a beating once in a while and this game sure provides that. Like Actual Sunlight (and this is the same writer), it's a story most people wouldn't dare tell but deserves to be told nonetheless. It's hard to think of another game that sums up 2017 more perfectly.

I stopped playing after I realized every room required you to interact with every object in it to proceed to the next room. At that point why not just make a visual novel? The writing was alright but it seemed to focus on depression for depressions sake. Nothing in the world could be good or had hope, every line seemed to be about something worse going on.

A wonderfully written narrative game with excellent presentation. It is bleak, but it avoids being too overbearing by being uncompromisingly honest with its subject matter; something that other writers try but fail at. One of my favorites this year. Buy it.

Will O'Neill is one of the best fiction writers out there today, and his chosen medium is video games, apparently. If you've ever been finacially insecure, or if you just like tragic, funny fiction, or true stories about our lives, get this game.

I've been a fan of RPG Maker games either playing it myself or watching lets plays. When I saw a post on Twitter about Little Red Lie, I was immediately intrigued by the summary and ultimately driven to purchase the game. Prior reviews were right, this game is a fantastic piece of work in aspects of rich narratives, characters, and portrayal of modern day society. I've never felt so engaged with a game such as this one, perhaps being a Millennial, I strongly empathize with what Sarah experienced regarding work, family, and attitude towards life. I appreciate both Sarah's and Arthur's narrative as they reveal many facts and processes that are and had been going on in our world... and that's what make this game so appealing to the players because we can relate to these "lies". Plot-wise, I honestly could not predict what happened given that we can't control what the characters ultimately say or do in the game, but that's satisfying because like the real world, there's uncertainty. I assume that I am not the only one who loves these narratives, which are the core to what make this game such an enjoyable play experience. I'd be lying if this game didn't have any influence on me reflecting on myself, family, and money in a serious manner. This is an exceptional game that cannot be measured by words, so I recommend others to try it out. You won't be disappointed and perhaps may even gain something from it.

I guess I'm not sure I would 'recommend' this, exactly, since I found it an unpleasant, joyless experience. But fun is obviously not its intent, and Little Red Lie is an interesting and powerful game that I will think of often.

If you think that their previous game the Actual Sunlight was pretty depressive, try to play this one. If you think your life is miserable, play this game and you'll see that your life is not as bad. This game is not only about lies we tell each other, but also about dramatic consequences of our actions. The gameplay might seem a bit boring and dialogs too long, but it's still a unuque emotional experience with very life-like characters and a twisted plot. Minimum of actions, maximum of narration and deep reasoning. The both games might seem very personal, revealing topics only a few would discuss.

Lie to get attention on Steam (I don't know if I should recommend this game) (I certainly don't know what effect it will have on you as a person) (Then again, I want to trick everyone to at least experience Melissa) Little Red Lie is like nothing I've ever played before. You shold *definitely* buy this game! I *love* it!

I loved this game and I really think it's a shame that more people aren't aware of its existence; I, myself, only found out about it from Snapchat. It's definitely not one for the faint of heart with its hard-hitting narrative and I think it should come with a trigger warning because of some of its more graphic scenes, but it's unlike anything else I've ever played and I don't feel like it would work as well as it does within any other medium besides a video game. It's one of the most well-written, thought-provoking and innovative games I've ever played and although it can be hard to actually physically play at times, due to its aforementioned graphic content, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it for its overall experience.

The writer definitely has ... issues. I was surprised there was some pointed commentary towards the purchasers of said game if they picked a certain choice. (Which of course I picked because I like testing the limits-it's the fun of playing a GAME versus real life where there are real consequences to choices) While it is somewhat bemusing to hear the negative inner banter of various characters, I really wish you didn't have to press enter or z or whatever to work thru every piece of text. I have played other story-rich games where there is an option for it to just go through the text at a certain pace until you come to a choice. Additionally, more investment in the audio/sound effects would have been appreciated. Also, I started this game months ago but only now have come back around to working towards finishing it so it is something you have to be in the mood to engage with (due to the hopelessness, bitterness, contempt, etc storylines).

Incredibly disappointing. Based on the developer's past work and reviews of this title, I expected much more. There's no gameplay here in any sense of the word, essentially just screens of inane rambling by a writer who thinks themselves far more important than they are. Please don't waste your time on this.

Superbly written and tackles relevant themes. If you're into these narrative-driven stories with minor gameplay and mountains of text to read, prepare for something seriously dark.

I'm not sure what message I was supposed to get out of this, if any. It was well-written, but it was bleak and filled with unlikable characters. The ending disgusted me and left me wondering what the point of the story was, unless that was exactly the point of the story, that "there is no point to anything." It was a slog and I'm glad it's over. [spoiler] As for Arthur, he was insufferable to the point of comedy. I was really looking forward to overdosing him and him having a stroke or a heart-attack and spending the rest of his life as an invalid. For some reason that didn't happen, but the game seemed to be trying to claim that this sociopathic rapist/murderer had some sort of change of heart and was trying to turn his life around. I didn't buy it. Someone that far gone doesn't just have an epiphany. The lack of any sort of consequences for his actions bothered me as well, but the game was going out of it's way to be...something. Deep? Depressing? Grittily realistic? Again, I'm just left with puzzlement. [/spoiler] Always Sometimes Monsters has a similar vibe, but it was way better executed and more interesting, IMO. It also gave you some control over the story.

Enjoyable enough narrative , doubt you would want to play it again (at least not for a long time) but worth playing on sale if you enjoy this sort of thing

Excellent game. Speaks to the economic realities of a generation. Decent UI and absolutely beautiful writing.

Good story based "game", although most of the gameplay boils down to, press button to continue story. The story is nihilistic and depressing for people who like that sort of thing.