Good Finds

One of the most puzzling POV games of all time is 40% off right now

Some people love it. Some people hate it. This game accurately captures our contemporary confusion.

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Every now and then, you need to hit pause on life and take a breather. Flowers Are Dead is the kind of game that lets you do that. Originally $20, Sony has slashed the game by 40% down to $12 — less than your next Seamless order. For $12, you can be the game's protagonist in a deserted world as she attempts to understand just what the hell happened and where is everybody?

It's part mystery, part just-lounge-around, which makes it — despite criticism online — kind of perfect for relaxing for a bit.

Critics, we hear you — To be absolutely fair, Flowers Are Dead has made many a fan angry. The walking simulator can be slow at times and the plot doesn't reveal itself to you right away. Listening to audio tapes to piece this puzzle together may get boring eventually, but all hope is not lost when it comes to this Halcyon Palace production.

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Our case for the game — Before you rage-type, "But Mehreen! Flowers Are Dead looks so slow and dead! I hate it!" Hear me out. There's a strange — and admittedly accidental — beauty to this game. Its developers don't seem to have planned for Flowers Are Dead's delayed — and at times — irritating pacing.

That said, perhaps a game that emulates our frustration and confusion could inadvertently teach us to calm down and take it one day at a time. Stoicism by way of walking around in a visually beautiful landscape, if you will.

Remember when Russell Bufalino quietly and poignantly says, "It's what it is" in The Irishman? Flowers Are Dead is slow, occasionally weird, and even aggravating sometimes — but life is also like that. Especially right now. Instead of escaping it for a thrill, why not give into the absurdity of it all?

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