Should You Buy What Remains of Edith Finch?
The Pitch
You are Edith Finch, the last surviving member of a cursed family in Washington state. You return to your childhood home — a bizarre, towering house with sealed-off rooms — to uncover what happened to each of your relatives. Each room contains a story. Each story ends in death. And each one is told through a completely different gameplay mechanic.
That's the entire game. It takes about two hours. And it might be the best two hours you'll ever spend with a controller in your hands.
Why It Works
Giant Sparrow's masterstroke is variety. One story has you controlling a child in a bathtub through a fantasy world. Another puts you on a cannery assembly line while your imagination literally takes over half the screen. A third transforms you into a series of animals through a comic book sequence. Every single vignette uses a different visual style, a different control scheme, and a different emotional register.
The Finch house itself is one of gaming's greatest environments. It's a physical manifestation of a family's grief and denial — rooms stacked on rooms, secret passages, peepholes between sealed doors. Exploring it feels like archaeology. You're piecing together decades of tragedy through the objects people left behind.
The "Walking Simulator" Question
Yes, this is a narrative game with minimal traditional gameplay. There are no puzzles to solve, no enemies to fight, no fail states. If that's a dealbreaker for you, fair enough. But calling Edith Finch a "walking simulator" undersells what it actually does — it's an anthology of interactive short stories, each with its own unique mechanics. The fish cannery sequence alone has more creative design thinking than most full-price games.
The Price Conversation
Here's the only real objection: it's short. Two hours, maybe three if you explore slowly. At full price ($20), that's $10/hour. On sale — and it frequently drops to $5 — it's one of the best deals in gaming. The experience is also endlessly replayable in the sense that you'll want to show it to other people, and watching someone else react to Lewis's story never gets old.
Our Verdict
What Remains of Edith Finch won the BAFTA for Best Game. It has a 94% positive rating on Steam from over 17,000 reviews. It's available on literally every platform. There is no version of this game that isn't worth playing. If you care about storytelling in any medium — not just games — this is required reading.
- One of the greatest narrative experiences in gaming history
- Every vignette uses a completely unique gameplay mechanic
- The Finch house is an unforgettable game environment
- 95% positive on Steam with 17,000+ reviews
- Available on every platform, frequently on sale for $5
- Only 2 hours long — some players feel short-changed
- Zero traditional gameplay (no combat, no puzzles)
- No replay value in the traditional sense
- Can be emotionally heavy — deals with death throughout
Anyone who appreciates storytelling. Seriously. Gamers, non-gamers, your partner who 'doesn't play games' — Edith Finch transcends the medium. Skip it only if you absolutely need mechanical challenge from your games, or if you're not in a headspace for stories about loss and family.
