In Penrose, a short but impactful psychological horror game for Playdate by Liza Olson, the question of whether you can escape your past takes center stage. Your choices will determine whether you can find a way out of the strange titular town.

Figure 1. In The Playdate Game Penrose, Your History Has Returned to Haunt You.

Much of the experience in Penrose revolves around exploration, presenting an eerie and emotionally challenging journey through memory lane. Along the way, your character encounters familiar sights like an old playground that evoke a sense of nostalgia, as well as unsettling elements such as a mirror and a locked bedroom door that hint at more painful memories. Starting from the house where you began, you navigate through the seemingly abandoned town, where things only become stranger as you progress. Figure 1 shows in the playdate game penrose, your history has returned to haunt you.

In Penrose, you'll encounter some eerie entities and a deeply unsettling mall that inexplicably oozes (I found the design of this area intriguing in a love-hate kind of way). The names of the stores in the mall are quite clever, each a playful twist on real-life chains, like "Not Tropic."[1]

While Penrose features a few puzzles, the catacombs stand out as the most challenging area. It stumped me for a while, but figuring it out made me feel especially clever.

Penrose skillfully captures the complex nature of nostalgia, offering multiple possible endings that reflect this complexity. The game is available on itch for Playdate and the Playdate Simulator on PC, Mac, and Linux.

Reference:

1. https://www.engadget.com/in-the-playdate-game-penrose-your-past-has-come-back-to-haunt-you-214104554.html

Cite this article:

Gokila G (2024),In the Playdate Game Penrose, Your History Has Returned to Haunt You, AnaTechmaz pp.21