A Good Night

When I was younger, I relished the night time ritual of laying in bed, tucked in and ready to hear a bedtime story from my parents.  Letting my imagination be fueled by worlds of fantasy was a perk of my childhood that I cherish to this day; even more so knowing I can relate to worlds of others in the gaming world letting their imagination be coded and drawn into reality.  When Mucks! Games approached me to review their PC port of their 2024 mobile release, The Bear: A Story from the World of Gra, sporting a tagline of, “An interactive bedtime story.  For everyone,” I didn’t need much more of a hook to sink me into starting up my copy and diving right in.

The Bear is a short story transporting you into Gra, a beautifully hand-drawn abstract world filled with tiny planets, flying space fish, and a litany of other supernatural tendencies.  You take control of the Bear and the Little One. Clicking on the screen moves the Little One and click-and-dragging controls The Bear, as they travel from tight caves to swimming through the stars.  The story is split amongst five chapters, no longer than 10-15 minutes apiece, and embraces the feeling of a bedtime story: finishing each chapter gives you the option to go one more chapter or to pick the story back up another night.

Each chapter’s progression is very self-explanatory and does not require much focus in navigating from one point to another. I do wish The Bear did more with the combination of the different movements for each character, but I can’t be too critical of the lightness of actions given the studio has stated the vibes of the game itself are designed to lull you to sleep.  Most chapters have two branching paths to choose from to instill a small amount of replayability, each giving you stories and sights to discover before bringing you back to the main narrative.

While gameplay is not the main design focus for The Bear, what shines as bright as the night stars you’ll pass by is the narrative design and its emotional weight.  A lot is left open to interpretation but topics of long lasting friendship, eventual loss, the memories made along the way, and the yearning to belong resonate brightly and are executed flawlessly.  The familial connection between the Bear and the Little One as they traverse throughout is more than enough to keep you invested throughout, and for reasons I won’t explain here, really made me want to call my Mom and tell her “Thank You.”

In the current landscape of video game releases, The Bear embraces the “less is more” ethos that helps the indie landscape punch above its weight, and delivers on a story set to stir your emotions with a short but sweet travel through the stars.  There’s more down the road for The World of Gra, including an interactive puzzle book, but The Bear is a fascinatingly well-done first step into a new world, tucked in nicely and ready to tell you more…

8/10

Review code provided by publisher.