The young hero follows the swan though the story, slowly uncovering the truth behind the painting and why his mother never finished her work. He chooses The Unfinished Swan, and is thrust into a dreamlike world when the painting comes to life and the swan disappears.

A young boy named Monroe, who loses his artist mother, is allowed to keep one of her unfinished paintings. The tale, while initially explicit, is rather simple. It felt far too structured, like I was following an emotional path as opposed to carving my own. Beginning The Unfinished Swan I was met with highly ordered plot points. They developed ideas without text or narration.

Journey and Limbo were liberating because of their light touch with their story. When I first saw footage of The Unfinished Swan I thought it would fall short, 'too simplistic' I thought. It's games like Limbo, Flower and Journey that help reinforce this idea that games can be emotional. I wouldn't be playing games if developers had continued to focus just on young adults. Stat busting and character progression is slowly being replaced with impressionism and creative art styles. This has lead to shorter, more concise narrative works that can be played in one sitting. The audience is maturing and distribution is slowly becoming more download based. While initially seeming simplistic but stylish, I found a hidden depth to The Unfinished Swan that few games have matched.

Download the unfinished swan