You're Gone

This is a very effective and innovative piece of work. I don't feel like I know the characters very well, but I felt Markus's emotions, and I won't soon forget this story.

(edit: formatting)

You're Gone is a linear custom choice-based game where a protagonist sends text messages to a dead loved one.

This story features anthropomorphized characters. Our protagonist, Marcus, is a coyote. His wife, a cat named Lee, recently died of cancer. His therapist recommended journaling about his feelings. He decides to do this by texting his deceased wife.

Gameplay
Gameplay involves clicking on a "send" icon to send text messages to Lee's phone. The player doesn’t choose what to send. They simply go along for the ride. While Marcus uses this to express his inner thoughts, the messages are addressed to her. For your convenience, a transcript of the gameplay can be found on the author’s website.

Visuals
You’re Gone replicates the appearance of a chat messenger with its layout of green time-stamped text bubbles and light grey background. The text box and paper airplane icon in the corner complete the look. While the game has minimal interactivity, these visuals make the player feel like they are messaging someone.

Story
Marcus’ text messages revolve around his volatile relationship with Lee's mom and her step-dad, Jun. Marcus notes how Lee always seemed to hate them but never explained why. Instead, she would avoid them at all costs.

From day one, her mom looked down on Marcus because he came from a different background and blames him for her daughter's death by being an inadequate husband. The fact that Lee left everything in her will to said husband certainly doesn’t help.

As the drama winds down, Marcus starts to follow his therapist’s advice and channels his energy from grieving Lee to working on himself and moving forward. And yet, the player doesn’t feel ready for the game to end.

Characters
Despite the deeply personal nature of Marcus' narration, his character feels rather inaccessible. We really don’t know much about him. We see him go through the various stages of grief and there is clear character growth. However, this growth can feel overshadowed by the increasingly explosive encounters he has with Lee's mom and Jun.

This extends to Lee as well. While she is the central focus of the game, she can get lost in the narrative. There are moments where Marcus talks about “reminiscing on the good times,” but hardly shares these with the player. If Marcus were to offer further reflection on the woman he loved (and continues to love) so we can get to know her as well, the game would have more dimension.

And yet, the game never fails to convey the depth of his love for her.

Also
What’s interesting is how there are two versions of You’re Gone. The story file that accessed via a “unbox.ifarchive.org” link contains a version of the game with human characters. Here, Marcus is a white man, and Lee is a Chinese woman. However, these changes are superficial and do not affect the gameplay as they both effectively illustrate the mom’s bias towards Marcus.

I think that the anthropomorphized is the "final version," and my guess is that the author wanted to move from racial themes to something more simplified, such as a canine husband with a feline wife, so the player can focus on Marcus' grieving.

Final thoughts
You’re Gone is a poignant glimpse into one person’s grieving. Though it’s bittersweet, it ends on an optimistic note. It handles a tough topic without becoming too dire. The minimal interactivity fits with the game’s premise of a protagonist sending text messages, but unless you’re interested in the story you may be turned off by the gameplay.

I played this game a while back, and I’m starting to think I didn’t give it the attention it deserved. I zipped through everything, looking for some action, and ended up missing the essence of the game which stems from the story not the gameplay itself. I now appreciate the game more than I did before.

If you are looking for a simple game about grief, loss, and moving forward that doesn’t involve a lot of detail, You’re Gone is a great option.