The game I showed was Night in the Woods. Night in the Woods is a narrative driven game that uses platforming elements and mini-games to tell the story of Mae, a college dropout who is returning home to her dead end home town of Possum Springs. The story is full of delightful characters and story threads and expresses the feelings of returning home after being away to find that while things look the same on the surface, they really aren’t.
To me, this game is important as it expresses a lot of the feelings of being excluded and trying to fit back in when the place you call home has changed without you being there. As someone who went across the country for school and is moving to the opposite coast for a job after school, the feelings of missing home but also not really fitting in back home ring true. The moments of trying to relive the glory days but knowing that you aren’t a high school student anymore and it won’t last ring true to my own personal experiences.