A game is at its best when its resources influence and engender one another to create a natural cycle of interest and appreciation. The weird uncertainty that appears when action and challenge disconnect from narrative and tone can poison the finest of intentions, suggesting games do better when throwing their weight behind harmony. Where Is My Heart, from Die Gute Fabrik, is a rare outlier that fosters an exemplary connection between its mission and its mechanics. Every piece of it seems focused on creating an amiable and balanced whole.
Where Is My Heart presents a modest call to adventure; a family of three monsters is lost and needs to get back to their home tree. The very presence of the word family is unique in that it suggests a certain level of mutual understanding, requisite acceptance, and dormant animosity. No family is perfect, and while the warm fuzzies may (hopefully) outnumber the sour moments, it’s all a rich blend of emotions centered on supporting one another. Still, frustration is bound to happen through a misunderstanding, justified or not, and dealing with that problem effectively is key to keeping a family together.
Where Is My Heart doesn’t explicitly state any of that, preferring instead to allow gameplay speak for its intent. Each single-screen level presents and entry and an exit, and tasks the player with getting all three monsters from the former to the latter. You accomplish this by collecting color-specific hearts, which fill out different areas of each level. Where Is My Heart’s signature twist is added through its presentation; each level is arranged into discordant panels. You can still move between them as if it’s all a complete picture, but leave the large panel on the lower right, for example, and you might find yourself appearing in a smaller panel on the upper left.
Each member of your monster family is also blessed with a special power. If positioned in the right place, typically by stacking all three of them in an assigned order, they will morph into a different creature. Orange (you know, the orange monster) can rotate the level’s panels, providing a change in perspective. Orange can also remain stationary during said rotating, enabling it to essentially teleport to similarly-aligned panels. Grey’s transformation can reveal otherwise hidden areas, while Brown turns into a double-jumping bunny creature. Managing your monsters’ power and position effectively is usually the key to making it out of each level.
Where Is My Heart’s obtuse presentation houses its underlying message. Feeling lost and trying to find your way, especially with family members around, is equal parts frustrating and disorienting. For specific parts of the game I was ramming my head against a wall and trying to brute force any solution that seemed possible. I didn’t want to think about it anymore, I just wanted that particular part to be over with. I have no idea if that’s the intended effect – it seems odd to deliberately evoke moments of head-in-my-hands futility – but its effective in relaying a message. In this regard Where Is My Heart doesn’t fit the traditional interpretation of “fun,” but it does provide a satisfying experience.
It all feels like magic because of how serene and subdued the game feels. The world may be inhabited by benevolent monsters, but the dreamscapes they’re lost in are indifferent to their plight. The problem in making your way through belongs to the monsters, not the benign environment. Fluctuating color pallets, a penchant for pixel art, and a fondness for crystal caves and neon forests go a long way toward building an endearing world. Where Is My Heart isn’t the most technically proficient game around, but it does better than most of its peers in creating a believable, connected world. If I’m allowed one semi-obscure reference, it’s the only videogame to make me feel the same surreal, terrifying wonder of listening to The Knife’s Forest Families.
Patience ties the whole game together; patience with your monsters, patience with the environment, and patience in waiting for a solution. It just so happens that patience is typically the best way to deal with loved ones under times of unique stress, and finding a way to work that sentiment into a game is Where Is My Heart’s most valuable asset. Again, it doesn’t fit the traditional definition of fun, but its efficiency in its systems does well to condense the experience into a potent package.
It’s worth mentioning that Where Is My Heart originally debuted as a PlayStation mini in 2011. I enjoyed it on my Vita last year and, while I still feel that’s the preferred way to play, the PC port is almost as good. It doesn’t offer out-of-the-box controller support, which is strange in this day and age, but it also doesn’t require precise platforming. Playing Where Is My Heart with a keyboard was unwelcomed at first, but felt just fine in the end.
