Kairos is a beautiful, intense and thought provoking psychological narrative adventure where you control a flicker of light in the mind of a young girl whose inner demon is twisting memories of a traumatic event and pushing her to the brink of suicide.
Ever seen an old Tom & Jerry cartoon or 90’s sitcom where an angel appears on one shoulder of a person and a devil on the other? Kairos is a little like that, but you control the Angel (in this case an ephemeral wisp who is the light part of consciousness) as she explores the memories of Jude, a young girl who is being torn apart by her inner demon’s twisted view of a traumatic event. The guilt is pushing her towards suicide and you need to correct the way she remembers the event (and the events around it) to save her.
The narrative of Kairos plays out via a series of beautifully crafted interactive dioramas and revolve around Jude and her childhood friend Selene. In each scene you are able to fast forward and rewind time and interact with glowing objects to hear the inner demon’s twisted version of the memory. When listening to the demon’s version of events you can occasionally select a highlighted word and change it to a selection of other words – choosing the correct word will often change the meaning of the memory and eventually aid you in saving Jude.
The way you interact with and affect Jude’s memories in Kairos does take a little time to wrap your head around, but once you get to grips with it then it’s a riveting experience. The artwork is stunning and the story is personal, dramatic and very well written. You can emphasise with Jude and understand why she blames herself for what happened but was she ultimately at fault? See who wins between the fight between you and the inner demon. Highly recommended.
Note: If you screw up and choose the wrong word/phrase you can skip back in the scene by tapping LT.
Check Out a Gameplay Video Here
Download Kairos Here (Windows)