The 2018 Best Game Award was awarded to the freshly debuted Celeste, and for good reason; the platformer video was independently developed over the course of only two years, and follows the beautifully fleshed out story of Madeline, a woman taking an introspective endeavor up Celeste Mountain. In the form of puzzling parkour and other obstacles meant to deter us, the player is subjected to the same mental turmoil the main character experiences due to her depression, anxiety, and haunting memories of her loved ones. I’m currently only about three hours into the game, yet I can confidently claim my utmost admiration for this game.

So far, I have only completed about two and a half levels, but I’m far from ashamed with my progress; I think that’s the intended effect the game has on the player, because throughout the game, we receive many notes and messages encouraging us to be positive about our death count, because it serves not as a statistic to demean our efforts, but as a measure of how many times we have learned something new. Additionally, one of the first lines of the game is one telling us that yes, we CAN do this!

Celeste is known in the gaming community for being a particularly difficult platformer game, or at least one that is very difficult to get accustomed to. It doesn’t give you hand outs, and it expects you to pull yourself through every single obstacle. However, the game is brilliant in the way it encourages the player and gives them confidence through satisfaction. It makes the player feel proud of themselves. Although I am not very far into the game, I have a feeling that this probably aligns with the protagonist’s development, and we will be able to see in real time how Madeline’s confidence progresses throughout her climb; I’m excited to play more, and I would recommend this game to anyone else who might benefit from experiencing this story as well!