The Window Box
- February 19, 2019
- Sundew Studios
Get on Steam"The Window Box" is a narrative-driven adventure game where you play as a young girl named Sundew, experiencing her life through the window of her apartment. Solve puzzles, interact with various objects, and uncover the story as you journey through Sundew's observations andore memories. This poetic and introspective game explores themes of childhood, imagination, and the passage of time.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a captivating story that explores heavy themes in a thoughtful and relatable manner.
- The art style is beautiful and unique, enhancing the overall experience of the game.
- The music and audio design are well-executed, contributing to the game's whimsical and immersive atmosphere.
- Some players experienced technical issues, such as being trapped in the scene selector, which disrupted gameplay.
- The game is relatively short, leaving some players wishing for a longer experience.
- The pacing can feel slow due to excessive dialogue between puzzles, which may not appeal to those seeking more interactive gameplay.
- story66 mentions
- 52 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The story is widely praised for its depth and relatability, tackling heavy topics such as emotional abuse, work stress, and communication issues in relationships, all while maintaining an engaging and enjoyable narrative. Many reviewers appreciated the unique presentation and character development, although some found the initial pacing slow and the storytelling occasionally disorganized. Overall, the combination of compelling characters, beautiful art, and a captivating plot makes it a standout visual novel experience.
“The story dives into issues each woman is facing - work stress, emotional abuse, poor communication in a relationship, to name a few.”
“The way this story is presented is absolutely fantastic and is wonderfully artistic throughout the entire read.”
“The story is just awesome, the characters are pretty relatable, especially if you are a woman, but I think men can enjoy it too.”
“The story is fine, though told in a very disorganized way.”
“I've played better games in terms of both storytelling and gameplay in the free content.”
“Some puzzles follow the storyline and others are distracting from it.”
- music26 mentions
- 85 % positive mentions
- 8 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its beauty and effectiveness, complementing the whimsical tone and enhancing the overall atmosphere. Reviewers noted its subtlety, with moments where it becomes more prominent, and many expressed a desire to seek out the original soundtrack after playing. Overall, the music is described as lovely and serves not only to enrich the gameplay experience but also as a source of relaxation.
“The music is great too, subtle but effective, more present when it needs to be.”
“I really enjoyed the delicate soundtrack and relationship themes explored in the writing.”
“The art and music worked well with the whimsical tone, and the structure reminded me of a play.”
“I would be lying if I said I didn't hop onto YouTube straight after playing this game to find the OST collection!”
- graphics10 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The graphics of the visual novel are widely praised for their beautiful and unique art style, featuring striking colors and impressive background artwork. However, some users feel that the overall color palette can be overly vibrant, detracting from the experience. Despite mixed feelings about the story, the aesthetic is noted to effectively complement the game's tone.
“The art style of this visual novel is beautiful with striking colors.”
“The art style is so unique and matches the overall tone of the visual novel.”
“Loved the art style, the characters are great, the plot is fun and also not fun (but in a good way).”
- emotional4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game effectively explores heavy emotional themes, particularly focusing on emotional abuse and its profound impact on the main character. It delves into various struggles faced by women, including work stress and poor communication in relationships, creating a deeply resonant narrative.
“This game also handles heavy themes such as emotional abuse and how it heavily affected our dear main character.”
“The story dives into issues each woman is facing - work stress, emotional abuse, poor communication in a relationship, to name a few.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game effectively balances serious themes, preventing the narrative from becoming too grim. Reviewers appreciate the unique tonal shifts between funny, surreal, and unsettling, highlighting the game's distinctiveness within the visual novel genre. Overall, the humor enhances the experience by providing levity amidst deeper character struggles.
“The backgrounds and sprites are beautiful, and the humor kept things from ever getting grim, even though it was about characters dealing with serious problems.”
“The way the tone shifts between funny, surreal, and unsettling is something I haven't encountered in other visual novels, not to mention how unique the game is thematically.”
- character development2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is visually appealing, with beautiful background artwork and interesting character design; however, the narrative fails to engage players, leading to a lack of enjoyment in the story.
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised, with users highlighting the strong integration of characters, story, art, and music that collectively create an immersive experience.
“I loved the characters, story, art, music, and atmosphere.”
