Wednesdays review - "A survivor's journey to heal"

• A powerful tale of surviving and coming to terms with abuse
• Build new rides to unlock past memories
• A work of art that brings awareness to incestuous abuse

Wednesdays is a powerful interactive narrative that aims to spread awareness about incestuous abuse. There is no explicit content; however, if this topic is triggering for you, I’d suggest skipping both this article and the game itself. Otherwise, let’s dive in.

Replay a Game from Childhood to Process Past Abuse in Wednesdays

Wednesdays tells the story of Timothee, a man who comes across Orco Park, a video game from his childhood about building an amusement park. What’s meant to be light and nostalgic soon becomes much heavier as building rides at Orco Park causes Memories that Timothee has buried to resurface.

You can unlock rides in whatever order you prefer, and you can gauge how triggering the memory associated with it may be by the symbol shown. Rides with a question mark have the safest memories, while an exclamation point means it’s more triggering. Multiple exclamation marks imply that the memory contains very sensitive content. 

Be sure to take these symbols into account when choosing which memory to unlock next. You may want to follow up a more sensitive memory with a benign one, so you don’t become overwhelmed. Remember, this is a heavy experience, and there’s nothing wrong with taking frequent breaks for your own well-being.

Wednesdays Features a beautiful hand-drawn aesthetic

A hand-drawn art style is used to bring Timothee’s memories to life, with shading used strategically to create contrasts between characters and the environment. Orco Park, while still hand-drawn, manages to emulate old-school pixelated games, marking a stark contrast between Timothee’s past memories and current reality. 

Wednesdays is an interactive narrative, so you’ll be able to select how Timothee responds in conversation. No matter what you choose to say, the narrative remains largely the same. It's as much a work of art as it is a game, raising awareness of a terrible situation that unfortunately still happens today.

You’re not going to be gunning down enemies or solving contrived puzzles. Instead, you’ll be reexperiencing memories from Timothee’s childhood as he begins to come to terms with the abuse a family member subjected him to.

Wednesdays Avoids Depictions of Abuse

The developers have done a great job telling Timothee’s haunting story while avoiding any explicit depictions of abusive behaviour. Rather, the abuse is implied or, in some scenes, openly spoken about.

You will definitely feel uncomfortable as you progress, but that’s intentional. Wednesdays Mobile is attempting to bring awareness to child sexual abuse, and more pointedly incestuous abuse. 

You’ll experience Timothee’s confusion, shame, and a swirl of other emotions as he comes to terms with the truth: he was a child, and nothing that happened was his fault. You’ll also gain insight into how hard it can be for a former victim of abuse to come forward when a relative is involved.

Wednesdays Mobile is a Masterpiece in Healing

You’ll notice early on that Timothee has a square head while the majority of other characters have round heads. This is meant to represent what the abuse has done to his psyche, chipping away at his self-esteem and sense of self over the years.

Not only does this make Timothee easily recognisable, but it’s also a simple, definitive way to show that a character has been mistreated without going into unnecessary detail.

At its core, Wednesdays Mobile is a narrative adventure about the importance of truly hearing abuse survivors when they choose to speak up, with a focus on healing and growth. Wednesdays is not a comfortable experience, but it is a valuable one. It’s a dark, messy ride through painful memories and emotions. You may want to turn away, but the whole point of this interactive artwork is that none of us should.