Itching For More: Little Party
Every Wednesday, but especially this Wednesday, Itching For More shall appear. This week, Mum Simulator: Little Party.
Little Party is a game by Turnfollow (Carter Lodwick and Ian Endsley) where you play as a timid Mum, hovering around her daughter’s little party. It’s a rather nice short story, with a refreshing sincerity and a lack of cynicism.
Let’s get the obvious things out of the way first. Little Party is rather lovely to look at. The art style is beautiful and makes you feel almost as if you were playing a living graphic novel, each scene and conversation being really well placed and written. Speaking of which, the small conversations in Little Party are lovely to read through, each having just the right amount of humour and teen-awkwardness when interacting with parents to make it a joy to read through.
You control the Mum from a third person pov gives everything a rather clunky feel to it, making you feel lost and slightly uncomfortable when confronted with your daughter’s friends. You make them Guacamole and potter about, occasionally poking your head into their various projects. The relationships and the interaction between Mother and Daughter’s Friends are lovely to watch play out. Whilst there is no grandiose over-arching story, the conversations and subtle animations really bring Little Party to life.
What would any party be without music? Your daughter’s small project is to record/compose some tracks over the evening. There’s a subtle change between the conversations with your daughter’s friends and your daughter. The conversations feel slightly more personal, taking extra interest and pride in what your daughter has been up to, her artistic process and her outcome really shining. The music made for the game really suits the theme, most of it lovely and chilled. I also really enjoyed the occasional soundscapes added, such as birds tweeting as you walked through the small wood.
Little Party is just nice. It’s not about a daughter rebelling against her oppressive parents, it’s not a grand thriller detailing the murder of your daughter, it doesn’t hold the meaning of life, but what it does contain is a gorgeous short story between mother and daughter, a mother trying to understand her child. In a world of thrills and excitement, such a pleasant story is a nice change of pace.
Little Party is pay what you want, available here
