‘7 Days to End with You’ Forms Bonds Despite a Language Barrier

7 Days to End with You takes you to a world where you don’t speak the language. With a bit of puzzle-solving and context clues, maybe you’ll learn it.

You wake up without your memories. A red-haired woman is standing over your bed. She speaks, but you don’t have any idea what she’s saying. In fact, everything in this place is written in a language you don’t understand. You have seven days to figure out what you can about this world, this woman, and why you’re here. To do this, you’ll have to figure out what is being said and written to you, watching for hints in tones and context that you can put together to get an idea what it all means. And again, do it all in seven days.

To say this is an intimidating task is putting it lightly. Having your companion speak to you in words you can’t even begin to decipher is frustrating and scary. You can communicate a bit using gestures, but since you have no idea what they’re talking about, it’s hard to even figure out what to gesture at. Thankfully, there is an environment with handy objects lying around that you can pick up. A pile of tarot cards give you some indication of what some of the letters and words might mean, as do other small clues hidden here and there. You have a list of words you can access to mark down what you think they are, and guesses at meanings will appear when your companion says them. It’s not easy, but as you start to get a foothold, you do begin to figure things out. Even if they’re more useful on a future playthrough.

7 Days to End with You is a scary experience, but not in a horror sense. It’s frightening to feel alone and incapable of understanding any language around you. Figuring it out is very satisfying, but more valuable is that experience in feeling all alone in a world that isn’t speaking the same language as you. It’s a difficult situation for many people who deal with this daily, and one English speakers like mysefl could all stand to learn to be more compassionate about,



7 Days to End with You is available now on the Nintendo eShop and Steam.

Joel Couture

Joel has been covering indie games for various sites including IndieGames.com, Siliconera, Gamasutra, Warp Door, CG Magazine, and more over the past seven years, and has written book-length studies on Undertale and P.T.. Joel is constantly on the lookout for digital experiences that push the boundaries of what games can be, and seeks to delve into the creative process, meanings, and emotion labor that goes into the work of artists worldwide.