Freshman Year (2015)

Developer: Nina Freeman, Laura Knetzger, Stephen Lawrence Clark
Publisher: N/A
Platforms: Windows, macOS
Genres: Indie
Rating: 3.1 of 5, 215 player ratings
Typical playtime: about 8 minutes
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 quiet, intimate night of anxious socializing where you wait and text while navigating a college party alone.

quietanxioussocialvignetteintimateordinarytexting

What players say

Players finish it in 2 to 15 minutes and call it more of an interactive story than a game. It depicts a college freshman's experience with sexual assault, and while some find the art and writing powerful, others say choices have no real impact and the story feels incomplete.

Screenshots

More games like this

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.