Goodnight Universe Review - The Before Your Eyes Team Does It Again

My third child is due in January. When my wife and I sent our first child to kindergarten, we were among the youngest parents in our school community. But when this next baby is grown up and ready for school, I'll be over 40. I sometimes think about how our kids get more or less time with us on this planet based on when we had them. I'll be in this child's life for less time than I was in their siblings' lives, necessarily. It's simple, unconquerable math, and it bums me out. I promise myself I'll stay healthy and attentive to the best of my ability so that I can wring every last day out of my life with them. But even in the best-case scenario, there's no catching up in years. How do I make those days count when they feel so numbered? How can I make up for lost time? Goodnight Universe, the next game from a team comprised mainly of those who made Before Your Eyes, explores this space magnificently and, as should be expected if you played the team's last game, to heartwrenching effect.In Goodnight Universe, you take on the novel role of a baby named Issac. Played in first-person and using optional camera tracking (on PC, but not consoles) like Before Your Eyes, you'll live out Issac's unexpectedly adventurous life. Early on, you'll meet his parents and sister, as well as his grandfather and other significant figures who enter his life. As an adult, Issac narrates his memories from infancy, and you'll live them out yourself, smashing the tray attached to your highchair, playing with your teething toys, and finding yourself utterly mesmerized by the children's TV show, Gilbert the Goat.While these sound like typical things a baby would do, it doesn't take long for Issac to admit he was different--special, even. According to Issac, from birth, he could think fluently and problem-solve like an adult. He could even go beyond those behaviors. As a telekinetic, he's able to move things with his mind or read people's thoughts. In gameplay terms, you'll perform these supernatural feats using a controller if you prefer, but more engaging is to use camera tracking and perform them with your own face and hands.Continue Reading at GameSpot