Described by developer Serenity Forge as a “romcom journey sport,” Land of Screens is each charming and decidedly extra grounded than equally sentimental video games. Whereas it examines the weighty means of how we construct ourselves again up after struggling a loss, reasonably than sending gamers down the trail of introspection, it opts to be a bit extra simplistic and ship only one pertinent message: There’s an entire world exterior your telephone display screen and also you may simply be lacking it. Nonetheless, in taking this strategy and focusing so solely on this one message, Land of Screens finally comes throughout a bit too reductive and preachy to ship it as subtly and powerfully because it may.
Land of Screens begins as life as Holland is aware of it involves an finish: After 5, lengthy years collectively, her companion has simply known as it quits on their relationship. Earlier than she even has the time to course of her emotions and what this implies for her life, Holland finds herself pacing round her bed room eager about how others will course of the information, and thus begins to seek for the best approach to share the information on social media. As she debates phrase alternative and makes an attempt to seek out the center floor between indifferent and devastated, she realizes she’s been tagged in her ex’s breakup announcement, which naturally results in a wave of feedback and unhealthy emotions she’d reasonably ignore.
Determined for some kind of outlet, Holland racks her mind for somebody she will attain out to. Nonetheless, it would not take lengthy for her to understand that–thanks to being in a cushty relationship, her busy work schedule, and the appearance of social media–she’s failed to really nurture her relationships in a significant approach and feels a bit remoted. Holland finally decides to pay her ever-accommodating childhood greatest pal, Cody, a go to, tacking on a fast detour to her already busy weekend crammed with a piece convention and a household reunion. She rapidly packs her issues and heads over to Cody’s house, realizing a bit too late she forgot her charger and her telephone is sort of useless.
Whereas Holland finds little methods to maintain her telephone simply charged sufficient to succeed in the locations she must go (and be reminded of her breakup), what ensues is a sequence of conditions the place she is tasked with getting individuals off their telephones with a purpose to foster connections and make individuals a bit happier. These occasions take the form of brief, point-and-click journey sections, whereby you should stroll round a given setting and work out methods to make individuals lose curiosity of their tablets, telephones, and imitation Nintendo Switches. Every of the sport’s handful of ranges requires a bit of sunshine puzzle fixing as you speak with people and work together with objects in an try to determine what is going to coax them away from the blue gentle’s glow. Nonetheless, these puzzles–along with a lot of Land of Screens–suffer from one main disadvantage: They’re simply approach too easy.
Land of Screens’ few puzzles require no strokes of cleverness or shut inspection to resolve. As a substitute, Holland should merely speak to individuals till they don’t have anything left to say and issues more-or-less work themselves out. Whereas some simplicity is sweet, finally these duties find yourself feeling like small-scale fetch quests as you click on backwards and forwards between characters.
Much more unlucky is that the sport’s narrative additionally suffers a bit from the identical over-simplification drawback that makes all the pieces really feel a bit too on-the-nose Everyone knows that for all the advantages and conveniences social media, the web, and know-how as an entire supply us, there are simply as many downsides. It is all too straightforward to turn out to be dependent upon your digital units and the validation of people that barely know you–it’s all too straightforward to commerce in real happiness and your means to stay within the second for the look of happiness and the power to submit about that second. Everything of Land of Screens is spent making an attempt to drive that time house, however sadly the sport would not go about it in a delicate or progressive approach. At instances, it feels a bit extra like the sport is lecturing its characters (and also you) extra so than it is reflecting upon the problem in a sympathetic and insightful approach.
Numerous this stems from the sport’s lack of nuance. All of Land of Screens’ online-obsessed characters come throughout as caricatures, from the selfie-obsessed health bro and dog-loving lady riddled by nervousness, to on-line trolls and the children on the household reunion who simply will not cease taking part in these darn video video games. As well as, all the fascinating issues that would have been mentioned about how know-how is a device that may foster real-life connections are left unstated. That is particularly fascinating contemplating Holland makes new mates on her journey that she intends to maintain involved with through telephone or social media, engages with individuals who use the web to work together with others/discover occasions to attend, and speaks to individuals affected by social nervousness. Whereas the sport’s core message is completely true–we are too reliant on social media on the expense of forming actual connections to our others and ourselves–the approach it goes about speaking about it feels barely belittling.

There may be an plain sweetness, nevertheless, to Land of Screens. A big a part of this comes from the sport’s delicate and wonderful vector artwork model, which provides a youthfulness and attraction you’ll be able to’t assist however admire. The message, whereas not expertly executed, can also be extremely earnest, and Holland’s journey to rekindle her relationships additionally results in some tender moments which may make us rethink our personal strategy to {our relationships} in addition to the place we draw our sense of self-worth from.
In the end, it’s these interactions that may have elevated the sport and supplied extra emotional depth in the event that they have been leaned right into a bit more durable. Fairly than spend a lot time forcing background characters off their telephones, it might have been compelling to discover extra of Holland’s inside narrative and relationships together with her household, barely estranged mates, and her potential new love curiosity. A lot time was spent strolling round, displaying others the sunshine reasonably than basking in that heat glow ourselves, a alternative that may have made the sport extra impactful. Land of Screens finally seems like a predictable-yet-endearing Netflix romcom–though suppose extra Love Onerous reasonably than Somebody Nice.
