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 with striking visuals and a fitting soundtrack.
- Characters are well-developed and their intertwining stories create an engaging narrative that keeps players invested.
- Some players experienced technical issues, such as getting stuck in the scene selector or glitches during gameplay.
- The game is relatively short, leaving some players wishing for a longer experience and more content.
- The pacing can feel slow due to excessive dialogue between puzzles, which may not appeal to those looking for more interactive gameplay.
- story33 mentions
- 52 % positive mentions
- 39 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The story is widely praised for its depth and relatability, tackling heavy themes such as emotional abuse, work stress, and communication issues among friends, making it both engaging and thought-provoking. While some found the initial pacing slow, most reviewers appreciated the unique presentation and character development, highlighting the captivating narrative and artistic elements. Overall, the story stands out as a strong point of the visual novel, appealing to a broad audience with its compelling characters and meaningful topics.
“Covers a lot of heavy topics and has a captivating storyline.”
“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.”
“Some puzzles follow the storyline and others are distracting from it.”
“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.”
- music13 mentions
- 85 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The music in the game is consistently praised for its beauty and effectiveness, enhancing the whimsical tone and overall atmosphere. Reviewers appreciate its subtlety, noting that it becomes more prominent when needed, and many found themselves seeking out the original soundtrack after playing. Overall, the music complements the game's art and storytelling, contributing to a relaxing and engaging experience.
“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!”
- graphics5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The graphics of the visual novel are praised for their beautiful and unique art style, featuring striking colors and impressive background artwork. While the character designs are interesting, some users feel the overall color palette can be overly vibrant. Overall, the visuals effectively complement the tone of the game, enhancing the experience despite mixed feelings about the story.
“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).”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game effectively explores heavy emotional themes, including emotional abuse and its impact on the main character, while addressing various issues faced by women, such as work stress and poor communication in relationships. This depth adds a significant emotional weight to the 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.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game effectively balances serious themes with lightheartedness, preventing the narrative from becoming too grim. Players appreciate the unique tonal shifts between funny, surreal, and unsettling, which contribute to the game's distinctiveness in the visual novel genre.
“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 development1 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, as many find it boring and uninteresting.
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised, with users highlighting the effective combination of characters, story, art, and music that creates an immersive experience.
“I loved the characters, story, art, music, and atmosphere.”
