End of Life Care

This review will likely be a bit shorter than is typical for me, since I don't know how much of my personal business I want to share with all seven of IFDB's active users, but make no mistake; you should try End of Life Care.

Twine games have a bit of a reputation of being all twine and no game, as it were, and this one is no exception. It's an entirely linear experience, with the interaction limited to clicking your next line of dialog from a list of...one option. Nonetheless, I found the choices to be minimal and logical enough that I was never thrown out of the experience by being forced to say something I didn't think made sense. Moreover, part of the point of End of Life is that what you say doesn't actually matter.

The core conceit of End of Life Care is the black comedy inherent to seeking treatment as a suicidal depressive. After all, how do you convince someone to jump through dozens of hoops in the healthcare system for a life they don't even want in the first place? Why engage with a system so rampantly inefficient it borders on cruelty, when you could just give yourself up to the void? Why even try, when the world demands more water from your bone-dry cup, just so you might someday return to the well?

At the risk of making this review more about myself than the game, End of Life actually reminded me more of my experience seeking gender-affirming care than of my experience with depression. Phone calls upon faxes upon six-month follow-ups upon recommendation letters, all to be told that I got some wrong information along the way and need to start all over again. Now, pay us eight thousand dollars and take three weeks off work, just to take a baby step towards having the kind of bodily integrity most people take completely for granted.

I apologize for speaking so little about the actual game, but much like Excalibur brought out my inner rambling philosopher, End of Life Care provoked the part of me that still simmers with frustration at how I've been treated by the healthcare system. Even if you don't find it as relatable as I did, End of Life is a heartfelt, honest, and darkly funny story that I heartily recommend.