Игрок 1890·Рекомендует·2 ч в игре

Emily is Away is a nostalgic, indie narrative adventure that transports you back to the early 2000s, recreating the experience of chatting on a Windows XP-era instant messenger (like AIM). Set across the high school and college years of the protagonist and his friend Emily, the game uses choice-based text conversations to explore themes of teenage romance, miscommunication, and growing apart over time. The visual and sound design are easily the game's strongest assets. From the authentic dial-up sounds and customizable buddy icons to the deliberate typing mechanic where you press keys on your keyboard to reveal pre-written text it hits an incredible nostalgia wave for anyone who grew up in that online era. Watching online statuses flicker and crafting profile away messages creates an immersive, period-accurate atmosphere that feels remarkably realistic. However, as an interactive story, the experience can feel frustratingly illusionary. Despite offering branching dialogue paths, the underlying narrative is largely on rails, meaning your choices often feel like they have very little real impact on how the story unfolds. The ultimate outcome feels predetermined regardless of how carefully you pick your responses, which undercuts the agency a choice-driven game is supposed to offer. Combined with a very short runtime and a ending that leans heavy on unavoidable teen angst, the initial novelty wears off quickly. It succeeds as an atmospheric nostalgia trip and an artistic time capsule, but as a branching narrative game, its lack of meaningful player choice holds it back from being a truly satisfying experience. Score: 5/10

Игрок 2885·Рекомендует·2 ч в игре

This one hit different right from the start. The whole game is built around an old AIM-style chat interface, and that alone brought back a wave of nostalgia I wasn't expecting from a game. The story sneaks up on you. What starts as casual back-and-forth chatting slowly turns into something more layered, about growing apart, missed timing, and choices that feel small in the moment but add up. The typing indicators, the away messages, the awkward pauses before a reply, all of it makes the conversations feel real. Emily herself feels relatable in a way that's hard to fake. The dialogue options never feel like you're picking a "good" or "bad" choice, just choices that feel true to how people actually talk, especially over messaging. It's short, sure, but it doesn't feel gimmicky once you're in it. The format that seems like a novelty at first ends up being exactly why the story lands the way it does. It hit especially hard for me personally, since I've made friends online before and watched that connection quietly fade over time, and this game captured that feeling almost too well. It's also free, and honestly, I'm not complaining. For the best experience, play it with some songs from that era playing low in the background. That's how I played it, and it made the whole thing feel even more immersive. I highly recommend it, especially if that sounds familiar to you too. Rating: 8/10. Short, simple, and surprisingly emotional. Worth the hour it takes for free.

Игрок 6714·Рекомендует·19 ч в игре

Я думав, що ця гра виявиться чимось безглуздим або «кринжовим», але насправді вона виявилася досить захоплюючою. Сюжет справді захоплює: здається, що кожне прийняте рішення має значення, тому гру хочеться проходити знову і знову. На відміну від багатьох інших візуальних новел, тут не потрібно ламати голову над тим, як вийти на певні сюжетні гілки заради досягнень (їх дають просто за просування по сюжету та введення певних імен на самому початку). І вишенька на торті — гра повністю безкоштовна! Моя оцінка — ⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆ Відгук написано: 07.09.2026 Михайло Punkel Кенебас ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬Thank you for your attention. I hope you all understand. ᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠ　　 Сторінка захищена авторськими правами. ᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠ█║▌│█│║▌║││█║║█ ᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠ█║▌│█│║▌║││█║║█ ᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠ█║▌│█│║▌║││█║║█ ᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠЄ ліцензії та сертифікати. ᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠ　　　Будь-яке копіювання карається законом. ᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠВсі права захищені © Punkel ᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠ2002-2026

Игрок 0504·Рекомендует·1 ч в игре

I guarantee this story happens to a lot of people. Regret always comes late. The world was just passing and leaving you behind. 7.5/10

Игрок 6221·Рекомендует·1 ч в игре

just a free game where you just have to click thru a bunch of texts very short to complete

Игрок 1720·Рекомендует·1 ч в игре

eu naop sei se em 2015 todo mundo era abobado o suficiente pra chorar com isso, bro. o jogo é literal uma maluca que me poe de segundo plano, o brad é um sem noção e eu sou um cabaçoide quem chorou com isso nunca foi capinar um mato nao é possivel q isso foi um hype gigante, acho que n atingi a gnose total pra compreender o quao doloroso é para alguem ser feito de trouxa dito isso, vsf, tive q dizer q gostava de coldplay so pra tentar pegar a gatinha + deveria ter namorado a emma msm sua sem noção desgraçada mudou minha vida nunca mais vou entrar no chat da uol

Игрок 0950·Рекомендует·1 ч в игре

It's a cool game with a neat concept! Overall you sort of always end up in a bad spot no matter what, but once I realized that I ended up enjoying the story for what it is a lot more. I did enjoy it quite a bit.

Игрок 7811·Рекомендует·1 ч в игре

a must-play. short and bittersweet. i am tearing up right now at the ending. i'm not old enough to remember AOL but i know what it's like to try to keep in touch with friends from high school... i feel nostalgic for parts of my life i thought i'd given up.