This World Unknown (2016)

Developer: ebi-hime
Platforms: Windows, Linux
Genres: Adventure, Casual, Indie
Rating: 3.7 of 5, 58 player ratings
Typical playtime: about 8.3 hours
Where to get it: Steam

The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A gentle, story-driven visual novel that starts with quiet everyday life and slowly shifts into emotional tension as a childhood friend returns changed from war.

peaceful startromanticemotionalslow pacedrelationship focusedmildly dramaticreflective

What players say

Players are split on This World Unknown. Many love the cute art and the way it tackles heavy subjects like sex work and trauma, but just as many find it unbearably slow with hours of dialogue that goes nowhere. The game is very long for a visual novel, and romance routes are locked behind a lengthy common section with almost no choices.

Screenshots

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More by Ebi-Hime

This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.