Emily is Away

 PC
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 77 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 39 out of 77
  2. Mixed: 30 out of 77
  3. Negative: 8 out of 77

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  1. reviewfrom19842
    Oct 27, 2016
    8
    Great game. A coming a age game that has a great story and it's free nothing to waste expect time. Great good you should play it right now it is great.
  2. TheMasiMan1
    Jan 24, 2016
    8
    Simple, easy, good. Those are the three words I got to describe this game. I like it. Its really simple.

    Down side is that its REALLY REALLY short. It tooke me less than 45 minutes to complete, but it is a free game and it dosent take alot of room on your hard drive. Its a fun little game to play, if you need to kill some time.
  3. Lennonfire
    Dec 21, 2015
    8
    The game is about you and your friend Emily as time goes on yours and her friendship will get further and further apart... im not going to spoil the ending... i will let you find that out for your self Overall this game has been one of the best free to play games i have played in a long time it is available on steam and i highly recommend you get it
  4. keanex
    Dec 7, 2017
    9
    I'm giving this a higher score than I really feel that it deserves. I'm doing so because it's quite a unique game that evoked an emotional response in a short time. I found myself going back to some of the chapters and trying to change things. I'm going to leave the spoilers out of this, but the game is free and it takes about 30-45 minutes to complete. It's a nostalgia trip for anyone whoI'm giving this a higher score than I really feel that it deserves. I'm doing so because it's quite a unique game that evoked an emotional response in a short time. I found myself going back to some of the chapters and trying to change things. I'm going to leave the spoilers out of this, but the game is free and it takes about 30-45 minutes to complete. It's a nostalgia trip for anyone who grew up using AIM.… Expand
  5. PublicNuisance
    May 2, 2020
    9
    Emily is Away, if nothing else, is a fantastic nostalgia simulator for the early 2000’s time period and more realistic story than I thought it would be. First off it does a damn impressive, near perfect job of recreating using a computer and MSN Messenger from all those years ago. Everything from the sound effects for shutting down; keyboard noises; hard drive noises; I’m even sure I couldEmily is Away, if nothing else, is a fantastic nostalgia simulator for the early 2000’s time period and more realistic story than I thought it would be. First off it does a damn impressive, near perfect job of recreating using a computer and MSN Messenger from all those years ago. Everything from the sound effects for shutting down; keyboard noises; hard drive noises; I’m even sure I could hear that damn hour glass as things loaded. The interface as well was damn near perfect for the XP era. As for the story it does things a little differently. Unlike in many visual novels you don’t get the girl and ride off into the sunset. You pine for someone who ultimate didn’t want the same thing you did and they drift away out of your life over time. I think most people would relate to that story in some way or another. There are a good deal of choices although overall they can’t make a major impact as the end is rather linear. There were also times I wanted to berate the main character you play for only having cringy things to say that felt clingy but thinking back to when I was their age I can’t say I would or did do better. Points for realism again I guess. One thing that was also different was normally you click a button to move to the next piece of dialogue but in this game each click is a character of your response to give you the feel of actually having an IM conversation.

    I played Emily is Away on Linux. It never crashed on me and I didn’t notice any spelling errors. It uses the Unity engine. Alt-Tab didn’t work. There is no manual save, it auto saves each chapter. Normally this would bother me but it is a short game.

    Disk Space Used: 66MB
    VRAM Usage: 501-534 MB
    CPU Usage: 1-5 %
    RAM Usage: 2.8GB

    I would easily recommend Emily is Away for VN fans. It does a fantastic job with the interface and atmosphere. It has a decent twist to handling the story and subject matter than most in the genre. I finished the game in 35 minutes but I think it uses it’s time wisely and doesn’t waste anything. More modularity in the story would have been nice but it’s a fantastic game anyway. It is free but I donated $5 CAD because the game is worth money to me.

    My Score: 9/10

    My System:

    AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | 16GB DDR4-3000 CL15 | MSI RX 5700 XT 8GB Gaming X | Mesa 20.0.5 | Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500GB | Manjaro 19.0.2 | Mate 1.24 | Kernel 5.6.7-1-MANJARO    … Expand
  6. joaogiorno
    Dec 2, 2015
    9
    This game is simple. You are thrown back in the early 2000's, there's a girl called Emily that you start to get attached to and you start to text her. The game covers the texting parts of your relationship in a brilliant way. The nostalgia of using Windows XP to talk to a crush I had back in school days hits the player really hard as the game simulates a system based on that MicrosoftThis game is simple. You are thrown back in the early 2000's, there's a girl called Emily that you start to get attached to and you start to text her. The game covers the texting parts of your relationship in a brilliant way. The nostalgia of using Windows XP to talk to a crush I had back in school days hits the player really hard as the game simulates a system based on that Microsoft system.
    The relationship between the two of you start to grow and reaching new levels. There will always be 3 different reply options that you can choose, even though the outcome of the events will be pretty much the same.
    I won’t give you any spoilers but what I can tell is that this game has a very powerful message once it is completed. It took me a while to put the pieces together and get what the game was actually all about. That’s all I can say. Play it. It’s a free-to-play game on Steam that is 100% worth all the time and patience put into it as long as you keep your mind open.    … Expand
  7. russiangamer
    Jun 9, 2016
    9
    Очень короткое и довольно интересное чтиво.
    Сюжет-это просто разговор двух давних друзей,но это подано довольно интересно.При входе в игру мы как-бы включаем свой компьютер на win XP,выбираем аватарку(порадовало их разнообразие и куча отсылок к музыке,фильмам,играм) после этого начинается переписка.Улыбка появлялась от некоторых фраз,а так же понравилась,что ваш герой может сделать    Очень короткое и довольно интересное чтиво.
    Сюжет-это просто разговор двух давних друзей,но это подано довольно интересно.При входе в игру мы как-бы включаем свой компьютер на win XP,выбираем аватарку(порадовало их разнообразие и куча отсылок к музыке,фильмам,играм) после этого начинается переписка.Улыбка появлялась от некоторых фраз,а так же понравилась,что ваш герой может сделать опечатку,а потом сотрёт её и напишет заново,или когда он переписывает целые предложения-это выглядит реалистичней, но когда я узнал,что каждое нажатие любой клавиши=одной букве из заготовленного предложения,я реально почувствовал себя героем фильмов,ведь они там со сверхзвуковой скоростью печатают,вот и я так-же :)
    В итоге скажу,что советую уделить время на данное творения,лично я не пожалел.    … Expand
  8. RealLeather
    Dec 23, 2015
    9
    One of my favourite titles in recent memory but devoid of any real gameplay or graphical prowess or anything else to be honest... But it does have a simple, engaging story and great writing. This is a look back at the early days of social media and how we pick and choose our words sat behind a keyboard. Unpretentious and to the point and executed with great taste.
  9. Alexmcnamee61
    May 23, 2016
    9
    If you didn't already know, “Emily Is Away” is a popular indie game revolving around you - the player - and your social interactions with the character of Emily via an online messenger over the 2000s. You're both similar ages, you both went to the same school, and you're "friends". By the end of the game, however, all this changes, as you deal with Emily's social life the only way a goodIf you didn't already know, “Emily Is Away” is a popular indie game revolving around you - the player - and your social interactions with the character of Emily via an online messenger over the 2000s. You're both similar ages, you both went to the same school, and you're "friends". By the end of the game, however, all this changes, as you deal with Emily's social life the only way a good “friend” can.

    I put “friends” in inserted marks because it becomes obvious very soon into the game that feelings develop for Emily. You want Emily to like you, to date you, to become your best friend or whatever, but as the game progresses, it becomes increasingly unlikely that this’ll actually happen.

    “Emily Is Away” is relatable. Scarily relatable. For the 95% of you that HAVE been friendzoned, you’ll relate to this game and the character of Emily in a very real way. You’ll realise that perhaps she isn’t as deep as the Coldplay quotes she posts on her bio, or perhaps her relationship with Brad isn’t as “good” as she’s making out. I won’t ruin it, but I will say that the ending leaves you with a severe sense of dissatisfaction, as if you really could’ve done something else.

    As an indie game, it’s not perfect. It revolves around the “choices matter” premise, except here, they don’t. One way or another, Emily will find a way to friendzone you. Whether it be through your choice of hooking up with her and abandoning your friend Emma when she was vulnerable, or letting the feelings you have for each other go unfulfilled because of Emma, Emily will never be best pleased with you. Which is really the point of the game. You can’t always win.

    But I would highly recommend “Emily Is Away” if you haven’t already played it. There’s a lot of subtext, some of which I probably missed, which can enhance your playing experience greatly. You’ll find something to appreciate in the game, even if its’ message is about as subtle as the Nazi manifesto. It has a few small problems, but they’re not really enough to merit a negative mark, considering how well its’ done.

    In short, we all know an Emily. And if you don’t, then sorry to say, but it’s likely that you are one.

    Pros: Good premise, relatable characters, good atmosphere, good nostalgic pop culture references, good ending.

    Cons: More endings, possibly more time to interact with Emily and/or other characters.    … Expand
  10. SuperWonjune
    Mar 10, 2016
    10
    me : Hi
    emily34 is away

    since when did games became so realistic?

    10/10 beautiful real-life messanger simulator.
    Please make facebook version so I can perform some un-returning likes and pokes
  11. JoseAngel47
    Mar 1, 2019
    9
    This game felt realistic to me especially since I felt this game hit me on a very personal level
  12. BlueCatPK
    Apr 24, 2021
    9
    I'm in this photo and I don't like it.

    Between the early 2000s Windows XP/Instant Messanger aesthetics and the simulated conversations between friends slowly drifting away, it hits your nostalgia hard.
  13. RagingPoet
    May 8, 2018
    8
    Emily is Away is a good little game of mildy branching dialogue in nostalgic environment.
    Player gets no actually impactfull choices (other than simply sabotage a conversation), so the game can have linear but strong ending. And it works great, just like it worked in Telltale Walking Dead Season 1.
  14. Dariya
    Jul 2, 2021
    10
    Summary:
    Really liked this game! It's so simple, but at the same time, very meaningful to me.
  15. AV-
    Apr 28, 2022
    9
    sad, just so sad. its a free game that takes 1 second to install. try it out and enjoy the story