Reader, do you belief me? Hm, possibly that’s a bit broad. Reader, do you belief Kotaku to advocate a recreation with its entire chest, even when we are able to’t actually let you know what it’s about? and Roger (sure, that’s how the title is stylized) is without doubt one of the most memorable video games of 2025, and explaining its premise would finally spoil, effectively, all the things about it. So what I’ll do is discuss all the things else.
and Roger is a story journey recreation that’s playable on Change and PC. It’s just one hour lengthy and is evocative of different puzzle-based narrative video games like 2018’s Florence. It’s a gut-punch of a story instructed nearly fully via its puzzle-driven interface. It’s clunky, nearly just like the QWOP of narrative journey video games, however whenever you see it all through, you’ll perceive why. It’s additionally solely $5. That’s about the identical as a Starbucks drink, and you can play it all through in your lunch break. I actually can’t overstate simply how particular that 60 minutes is, and the way effectively it integrates recreation design into its storytelling.
I might hope the brief runtime and low cost price ticket could be sufficient so that you can say, “Ah, what the hell,” and obtain it onto your PC or Change, however instances are robust, and never everybody likes to enter a purchase order blind. So I’m gonna put a spoiler warning under, after which get into the precise reveals of and Roger. If you happen to’ve been offered on it, come again to this write-up later. If you happen to want just a little extra of a nudge, learn on.
and Roger tells the story of a husband and spouse late of their lives. The girl has been recognized with a horrible case of dementia, and doing probably the most mundane issues has turn out to be an unimaginable problem for her. Many of the duties you do in and Roger are communicated via unmarked buttons on the display, and you must memorize what every of them is whenever you press them so you are able to do every motion in the fitting order. For instance, there’s a scene the place you’re simply washing your palms, and turning on the water, allotting cleaning soap onto your palms, and scrubbing them clear are mapped to totally different buttons, so you must memorize what every of them does and decide them within the correct sequence. and Roger makes all the things you do within the recreation a disorienting chore, however that’s precisely what your character is feeling as she tries to only exist in her dwelling along with her longtime husband.
The reveal of the principle character’s sickness is gradual, however when it’s made clear, it places all the things into perspective. She seems as a toddler in some scenes and is afraid of a person who says he’s at all times lived in her dwelling. She doesn’t acknowledge this stranger, whereas he–her husband, after all–is doing all the things he can to carry it collectively and make her snug in her closing years.
If you happen to’re not eager on frustration and friction, and Roger might be not for you, nevertheless it so efficiently executes its premise that I’ve to a minimum of advocate you attempt it. With a $5 price ticket and a one-hour run time, what do you must lose?
