Wednesdays Review (PC) – Overcoming Trauma

I’m adding a trigger warning here, as Wednesdays is a game that covers childhood sexual-related trauma in detail. Given that it’s impossible to discuss the game without delving into the details of some of these themes, please be aware that this review will make reference to these elements.

A game like Wednesdays is rather difficult to review, owing to both the topics it covers, and the type of experience it wants to be. Unlike most entries into our favourite hobby, Wednesdays isn’t about having fun, blasting through hordes of enemies or chasing objective markers. Instead, it’s a tale about how people face up to, overcome and often succumb to their childhood traumas.

Both an interactive visual novel and a simplistic park building game, the core of this experience is its story. The Pixel Hunt set out to explore and ruminate on the nature of abuse, and the cycles that both victims and perpetrators will find themselves in. If that sounds intense, well, that’s because it is. Video games as a medium lend themselves to providing a unique perspective on sensitive material and subject matters, and nowhere is that more apparent than in a game like this.

The developers state they set out to provide a more hopeful, optimistic lens on childhood sexual trauma, shifting the narrative from the more negatively charged tropes we often see in other genres. Do they succeed? Well, let’s take our time to ruminate and unpick it together.

Weekly Therapy

Depictions of mental health, particularly abuse, in the video game space are oftentimes opportunistic. For every Silent Hill 2, there’s a deluge of titles misappropriating, poorly representing or outright exploiting themes of psychological and physical trauma for cheap story twists. It’s an unfortunate reality of the medium, but thankfully, there are a minority of games that attempt a higher bar. Wednesdays is one of them.

We’re introduced to Tim, a normal, everyday person with a traumatic background that he’s working on coming to terms with. Wednesdays is split into two sections, the first being a very light park building system, the second encompassing a series of visual novel sequences. Tim is returning to Orca Park, a video game he used to play on Wednesdays with his cousin. As you unfurl the video game alongside Tim, you’ll gain more insight and background into the people and events he now recalls.

The park building aspect is, by design, exceptionally straightforward. Placing rides unlocks a new novel sequence, triggering a new memory. You can place half a dozen types of decorations, and you can interact with shells or rubbish to increase happiness. There are no time limits, restrictions or any real consequences to not engaging with any of it. Happiness makes no difference to the progression of the game, so you can tinker with it as you please. While the narrative themes are as heavy as they come, playing Wednesdays is anything but.

Facing Fears

Needless to say, if you’re approaching Wednesdays expecting a budding park building sim, you’ll be left cold. Instead, the focus of the game is on its story, so let’s delve into how it tackles such sensitive material. From the off, the game has the ability to skip any and all scenes, with information banners warning you beforehand of how explicit a sequence is going to be. I appreciate the effort the developers have put into making this as accessible as possible for those who may want to explore some of its ideas, without going into too much intensive detail.

Wednesdays wastes no time delving into challenging topics. Incest, sexual abuse, victim shame, protection of perpetrators, inappropriate acts with underage children, the lot. Tim as the lead is both believable and realistic in the depiction of his suffering, acceptance and the damage of his traumatic experiences. He and the wider cast of characters are generally well written, which goes beyond the demeaning typical tropes of people surrounding a victim of such events.

The developers also do a good job treading the line between exploring how perpetrators can be themselves involved in abusive cycles, while not justifying or “giving an out” to their actions. As the developers allude to, Tim is a person whose story is one of overcoming the impact of trauma, as he looks to move forward, while acknowledging and coming to terms with what’s happened in a healthy way. These kinds of topics are incredibly tough to get right, but Wednesdays, for the most part, does a good job depicting it, while not straying into indulgence.

Being Heard, and Listened To

One scene for example, explores Tim’s self-doubt within a newly forming relationship. Another demonstrates the cognitive quagmire many victims find themselves struggling with as they try to process and come to terms with how their experiences were in fact abusive. I think in this, Wednesday succeeds most. The game presents a positive perspective on how people can heal, move forward and live fulfilling lives, without being defined by their trauma. It’s a great message, one not often demonstrated in the industry.

However, I did personally find some of the dialogue leaned towards overzealous by projecting positive responses from others. I don’t want to spoil too much, but in Tim’s older, adult memories, his discussions of events become almost universally empathetic. While I can understand how this fits with the more positive ideal of the game, some of the dialogue comes off as forced, or inorganic to what the reality often is for many who suffer childhood abuse.

I don’t want to deride this aspect too much, as it may also come down to some element of personal opinion. My background within mental health likely also biases my perspective, so take this aspect with a pinch of salt. I’d say about 80% of Wednesdays’ writing is solid, with the other 20% coming off a little too optimistic. For some people with their own painful memories of seeking support, I can see that 20% being quite difficult to assimilate.

Haunting Nightmares

Wednesdays’ choice of visual style is another boon in its favour. The comic strip aesthetic allows the designers to create unique avatars, for example with the victims and perpetrators being portrayed with cubed heads, compared to the “normal” heads of those not subjected to abuse. The blending of the visuals and colour scheme with the narrative works really well, which is incorporated into the messages the game wants to present effectively.

As the disclaimers point out, Wednesdays’ visual novel panels will show explicit reference to sexual acts in its more intensive sequences. No actual nudity is portrayed and nor is there any graphic imagery, but sexual acts will be depicted under a blanket or off screen, for example. One in particular involves two minors, which includes a quick-time event mini-game of sorts. It’s an uncomfortable scene, as you might expect. I don’t feel the use of a QTE was particularly appropriate in this instance, but the discomfort created is effective for demonstrating some of its themes.

Whether it qualifies as gratuitous or unnecessary is a bit of a bigger talking point. Again, this is all skippable if it’s too much, but that was the one scene I had the most disquiet with. Aside from this, Wednesdays actually capture some more nuanced moments in its sketches. One scene has Tim remembering a discussion with his grandfather, alluding to how other surrounding figures may respond when faced with the reality of incredibly taboo events. In these moments, Wednesdays does an excellent job of exposing the more understated or unspoken elements of sexual trauma and for example, the perception of shame.

Healing One Day At A Time

Quite openly, I’m uncertain how someone can even really review a title like Wednesdays. It’s not so much a game as it is a vehicle for exploration of sensitive and important topics. It’s a cohesive package, one that seeks to develop the unravelling of trauma and is unafraid to portray the uncomfortable reality of disturbing abuse, or incest. That it manages to do so without falling into the trap of cheap tropes or self-indulgence is commendable, even if it makes a couple of missteps.

It was a two hour experience that certainly had me thinking and reflecting. Which, I imagine is the entire purpose of a concept like this. What I like most is that it doesn’t preach how someone “should” handle their trauma, rather it presents a scenario and allows you as the player to nudge Tim towards your perspective, or not. By the end, Tim’s story felt believable and authentic, which I think is a real success.

It has some issues, particularly in its overly optimistic portrayal of people’s responses to victims. Despite this, Wednesdays is an earnest effort to give space and reflection to those who may have been suppressed or felt unable to voice their experiences. For that, I think it deserves a lot of credit. I can’t guarantee it’ll resonate or feel authentic to everyone, but if Wednesdays provides some respite or a feeling of being heard for even a minority of people, then it will have done some real good.

Wednesdays is available March 26th on PC via Steam (review platform).

Developer: Pierre Corbinais, The Pixel Hunt
Publisher: ARTE France

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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