Hello everybody!
We hope you had an amazing Steam Next Fest! If you were able to play Delete After Reading's demo, let us know how it went! Your feedback is super valuable and will help us polish the game to offer you the best possible experience when the game finally releases.
And now, let's face one existential doubt we usually ask ourselves. Who might like Delete After Reading - gamers looking for something different, or avid readers looking for an enriched reading experience?
Sigh! That has always been our big question.
Probably the first two feelings Delete After Reading arouses in players are curiosity and laziness. Curiosity because it's an original and rarely seen format. Laziness because you have to read.
The reading mechanic is a mechanic that definitely makes a big difference in the game experience. Reading forces you to a less direct, more leisurely and reflective pace of play. You need a mood and a moment to play it. It's not something for everyone. And besides, puzzles force you to take notes (like detectives) so you need paper and pencil by your side (something that is not easy to manage while riding the metro).
But reading also has a very interesting side. Characters, environments and many objects are shaped in the player's head. Where in most games, it's the creators who decide what the characters or spaces look like, in Delete After Reading (as in Unmemory) it's your imagination that decides and builds them.
For readers, the feeling is different. They are used to finding the reading moment. They enjoy letting their imagination run wild. For them, the challenge is different: they have to interact. They have to make decisions and ultimately solve puzzles. And that can put some people off.
However, on the other hand interaction means taking control, and that power to make decisions makes you become more immersed in the story, to feel like a protagonist. What you read has a purpose: overcome a challenge to move forward in the story. And that makes you feel smarter.
If you add video, sound effects, background music and dialogue to the game mechanics, the reading experience is much richer and more immersive.
In short, if you are a gamer who is looking for a different kind of game, likes to let your imagination run wild and train your mind, Delete After Reading is for you. If you are a reader who likes to explore new ways of experiencing stories and feel like a protagonist, you might also like it. And if you belong to that immense minority, who simply like to be surprised by a story, you will also like it. Just wait for a rainy day, a train or plane journey, or a quiet early morning to enjoy it. Oh, and don't forget you'll need a pencil and paper (like a good detective)!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1977220/DELETE_AFTER_READING/