The Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality includes a grand total of 1,714 games. While the bundle is full of hidden gems and soon-to-be-favorites, 🌞the sheer quantity available makes determining which games to start with a paralyzing decision. So to help you out, here are our top five picks for the games you just have to try.
5: A New Life
You might recognize Angela He from past games such as Missed Messages or I woke up next to you again. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration 𒅌to say she’s developed a reputation 🗹for compact, humanistic, and insightful storytelling which–combined with her art–often makes for heartrending, profound emotional experiences.
A New Life fits that description to a tee. The game follows a married lesbian couple who navigate their relationship through various stages of the classic love story: meet, marry, and grow old together. At its core, A New Life is a story about love and loss. Your choices determine the flow of the game, and with five endings to see and He’s characteristic flowing dialogue branches, players might find themselves coming back to A New Life over and over again to re-experience the world she’s creat💛ed.
4: Oxenfree
Oxenfree is one of the biggest names in the bundle, and for good reas💖on. The game is best described as a supernatural coming-of-age story. At its core, however, the game is about complicated interpersonal relationships and coping with grief… with a side of dimensional rifts, ghosts, and time loops.
Most of the game involves walking and talking; you play as Alex, and the dialogue choices you make when speaking with your friends while navigating Edwards Island will have consequences. The𒁃 game is very character-driven, and ൩although its cast may not be the most charming to begin with, Alex and her friends will definitely leave an impression by the time your play-through is finished.
It might be a big name, but Oxenfree more than lives up to the hype.
3: Arcade Spirits
Arcade Spirits’ premise is simple: a world much like ours, except the 1983 gaming crash never happened. To no one’s surprise, Arcade Spirits’ world ended up a lot more optimistic. The game markets itself as a romantic comedy; pl༺ay as yourself and romance a diverse cast of seven potential partners! Determine the fate of your arcade! Hijinks ensured!
The game is bright and integrates the gleaming neon aesthetic of the 80's arcade scene into its interface. Arcade Spirits comes with voice acting, character customization, and boatloads of entertainment. While the game is a dating sim at its core, your relationship with the cast doesn’t have to be romantic. The characters are extremely lovable, and learning more about them via multiple play-throughs only adds to their appeal. Arcade Spirits promises hours of fu💫nny and light-hearted gameplay, and boy, does it deliver!
2: Night in the Woods
In Night in the Woods, you play as Mae, a hot mess of a cat girl who moves back to her hometown after dropping out of college. Mae has to reconcile the ways the town and her friends have changed in her absence, all while dealing with her own persওonal demons… and the local cult, of course.
Interpersonal relationships, interpersonal relationships, interpersonal relationships. Night in the Woods knocks them clean out of the park and offers an i🌃nsightful critique of the coal mining industry while it’s at it. The game is funny, charming, heartbreaking, and thrilling all at once. Its story is honest, human, and has earned the game critical acclaim and the number two spot on this list.
1: Celeste
700 screens of unique puzzles equal hours and hours of Celeste. The game is an exploration of the self, though signifཧicantly more lighthearted than the "I am thou, thou art I" variety. You play as a woman named Madeline as she♓ scales Mount Celeste against the wishes of just about everyone in the game–even herself.
Celeste is a gorgeous, challenging platformer, and like many other games on this list, it tackles coping with grief and loss as part of its story. It's easy to empathize with Madeline's struggles thro♋ughout the game, and doing so while platforming, negotiating with her maligned reflection, and climbing Mount Celese makes the game an unforgettable experience.