The short story format can work well for video games as it allows you to make a visceral impact and then leave the players to ruminate over the experience long after playing. That’s the idea behind Bochi Collection. This is a collection of four short experiences, ranging from 5 to 15 minutes each, that tackle sensitive mental health topics. Each has its own style, control scheme, and point to make. They are a little rough around the edges, but I’m reminded of budget art house cinematography. This is a scrappy title that I enjoyed, although it comes with some foibles and limitations.
In order to discuss the games, I do have to allude to some story elements that may spoil a surprise or two.
My Bubble 64 is a short N64-styled 3D platformer. It contains a single level where the player moves around a bubble, collecting bottles of water. The bouncy nature of it lets you jump around platforms, and the whole experience is the best gameplay element in Bochi Collection. As you play the level, the camera starts to pan back, pulling away from the TV. The remote starts increasing the volume as a loud argument starts to seep into the audio. It turns out this is not just a simple platformer, but something sadder is taking place, and it is the best reveal in the collection. Having just one level and one scene is the only quibble here. Repurposing the bubble game for more scenarios and progressing the meta story felt like a missed opportunity.
Don’t Play This is a retro 2D platformer with a life all of its own. Incredibly simple to play, as you only move forward and jump a few times, the cartridge keeps resetting and displaying the game with a new glitch or weird message. Of course, the game belonged to your now deceased father, so the narrative draws the player into a supernatural communication thread. I liked the narrative, but thought there was more that could have been done mechanically to extend its runtime a little.
I Need a Home is the weakest game in the collection. This is a short side-scrolling scene where we play as an abandoned dog. Between finding food and finding a new home, the dialogue choices you make for each interaction will determine your fate. The issue here is that the choices and length are so minimal that you’ll see everything and win or lose within five minutes. I love the sentiment and point, but as a game, it is extremely barebones.
Repair Me rounds out the series as the longest and most involved experience. This is an abstract platform-like game about a long battle with mental health. Each time you take medicine, a maze-like level full of moving dark thoughts is spawned. You’ll need to move around between the thoughts to collect the medicine and then capture and erase the enemy thoughts. It’s like an abstract Pac-Man, but slower and with the option to end it all if you fail. This one has different endings to explore and achievements for never meeting a dark thought, although the controls lack finesse. The story is brief in the scenes between gameplay, but they capture the longer journey to recovery and self-acceptance. It’s well done.
Lacking polish, but brimming with ideas and points to share, Bochi Collection is a niche title for thoughtful gamers. Its brevity comes at the cost of emotional connection at times, but elsewhere it provides a bit of shock value. If you like artsy games that share their feelings on their sleeves, this might be worth a look.
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