Mosaic

While Mosaic is full of puzzles, mini-games, and a tiny bit of exploration, it is mostly about experiencing the game. This gorgeous, low-poly title does an amazing job of confronting depression and burnout, through whimsy, moody colors, and amazing sound. While the Switch version suffers from framerate drops, it tells a surprisingly touching and relatable story, and I only wish gave the player more chances to fail.

I enjoyed Mosaic. It isn’t reinventing the wheel, and we’ve seen this sort of story many times before, but there’s something about this game that just works. It’s not too long, it’s interesting right from the start, and I think it does an excellent job of commenting on a few specific hardships of life. Much of the game is open-ended and will leave the player wondering what they just saw, but that’s the beauty of it. As I said earlier, Mosaic can be what you need it to be, and if you’re feeling down on life lately, maybe this game can inspire you. If even just a bit.

Mosaic is a narrative adventure which tells a striking critique and leaves a lasting impression, but which is plagued by a few performance issues. It’s certainly worth a look, though.

Mosaic for the Nintendo Switch is not based on the most exciting of premises, but is that a sin? Not at all, this is a game that chose to focus on the most mundane, repetitive and mind-numbing aspects of everyday life, with emphasis on the bleak, empty loneliness that permeates existence in urban societies. And it works, to a certain extent. It certainly transmits the harsh void that occupies many human lives, even if the game's performance is far from ideal due to its many glitches, bugs and hiccups, which end up harming what by some measures is an interesting experience.

A barbed look at today's society that lacks an end-product of sorts, Mosaic is a short experience that seems content with telling us what's wrong with our lives without really going any further than that. There's a vital message trapped within the game somewhere, but it never quite gets out, and the experience ends up being depressing rather than entertaining. That might have been what the developer was going for, but ultimately, it doesn't make for a particularly interesting video game.