Undying Flower |

Publisher: indie.io

Developer: Calcatz

Release Date: 05/16/2025

Available Exclusively On

Have you ever regretted your final moments with someone? Most of us don’t know when those final moments are, and when the time comes, it’s too late. The story of Undying Flower takes things a bit further and asks, Would you ever forgive yourself for killing someone you love? That’s the first question asked when starting the game. We are talking to a girl’s head with two flowers on the sides. She asks us questions that we don’t have answers to. In fact, we don’t even know this person. Who are we even? Without spoiling the story, we are a scientist who is experimenting on this little girl. Or at least that’s what it seems. I’ll leave you with this: The story is pretty good, and the ending was great and satisfying. Unlike most short indie games, this one excels in storytelling. The game offers enough twists to keep you captivated for 2-3 hours.

The gameplay isn’t overly extensive, which is typical of most indie adventure titles. Although they are not exactly visual novels, these games feel more like interactive stories than traditional games, which is acceptable; however, creating them successfully can be challenging. The story, setting, atmosphere, and characters must immediately captivate you. While there are only two characters in the story, don’t let this perturb you. This means the short story can laser focus on just these two characters. The protagonists are the girl and her grandfather. What unfolds gameplay-wise is walking around a room and interacting with highlighted objects. We zoom to the two faces. We can hear Her Story or His Story. They are really short. The object’s context is conveyed in just a few sentences. This really helps build this moment in these lives that we are witnessing. The writing is really well done and strays away from the abstract poetry that most indie adventures tend to lean towards. Each face will show different animations of emotion based on how you answer them, but the answers don’t really change the story.

There are a few rooms with objects you interact with. This interactive experience occupies approximately the first half of the game. The second half involves a puzzle in which you select mementos to create a memory based on the statement the girl is telling you. I found the game too abstract and nigh impossible to get the combos right. Thankfully, after one minute the help kicks in, and if you get objects right, they will turn green. You’re not just selecting the memories you went over but creating new ones with them, and then these get added to the pool of choices, making it a convoluted mess. Thankfully, this section is short, but afterwards, most of the gameplay is done, and the final 20–30 minutes are just narrative.

The visuals are impressive, featuring a lot of abstract black and white elements complemented by splashes of color. While the female scientist model may not look great, the rest of the visuals are impressive. The art style is exceptional, featuring stunning orchestral melodies and harmonies that evoke strong emotions at precisely the right moments. What helps is that this story is very relatable. Anyone as a teen can relate to what the girl is going through with her grandpa; we have all been there. We have also all beat ourselves up over something we blamed ourselves for that was out of our control. This episode can really hit home for those that have experienced anything similar to the story.

What’s here is a short narrative piece with relatable subject matter. With fantastic music, outstanding visuals, solid writing, and a laser focus on just two characters, we go through a roller coaster of human emotion. Don’t come in expecting a ton of gameplay, and give the matching puzzle at the end some grace, and you might just wipe away some tears .