Every City Is The Same is a short, introspective game built for the itch.io LocusJam that explores the concepts of dissatisfaction and romanticization of the past through the lens of an empty apartment.
In Every City Is The Same, you have no goals, no mission, no explicit win state. All there is to do is to explore your surroundings, which take the form of a relatively barren apartment. In fact, the only proof that someone could have ever lived in the apartment are the piles of packing boxes and the presence of an empty bed. As you look around, your lived experiences light up in your field of vision as single sentence reminisces, shedding light on your thoughts about finding your place in the world, missed opportunities, and bygone friends. Unfortunately, very few of the objects in the apartment are interactive which does limit the game’s opportunities for exploration. Perhaps the lack of interactions was a purposeful decision by the creator, as it does somewhat reflect the increased restrictions one faces when packing away possessions in preparation for a move.
A lot of the questions Every City Is The Same poses feel like they are intended for Millennials and their struggles with finding acceptance and meaningfulness in adulthood, but that isn’t to say other generations will not find some truth in it. The game does a good job of asking you to reflect on your own life. Can you relate to the main character’s desire to fit in? Do you wish you could have done things differently? Every City Is The Same wants you to think about your life, so take some time today to play it and reflect.
Download Every City Is The Same Here (Win, Mac & Linux)