The silhouette of a tall slim house, built up with additions, towering over a forest.

Rated - T

Blood, drug reference, language, violence

Anchor 1

Publication Details

Publisher: Annapurna Interactive

Developer: Giant Sparrow

Release Date: April 25, 2017

Awards: British Academy Games Award for Best Game 2017; Best Narrative category at both the 2018 Game Developers Choice Awards and The Game Awards 2017; among others.

Game Summary

What Remains of Edith Finch is a narrative-based adventure game that revolves around the protagonist, Edith Finch, as she returns to her family home at the age of seventeen after a several year absence. Throughout the story, Edith reflects on the various ways that twelve of her family members passed away within a span of sixty years in order to discover if there’s some insidious truth behind the purported ‘family curse’.

The game features the authentic voice of a seventeen-year-old protagonist reflecting both on her upbringing in a family whose Wonka-esque qualities have garnered local fame, and on the deaths that have plagued the family. With a tone fitting into the realm of magical realism, the game balances its dark events with whimsical, mysterious and playful moments through its robust narrative, cartoonishly coloured art style, and plucky music.

Activity Recommendations

English educators can:

Select one of the death vignettes in the text. What does Edith learn about that character, about her family, and about herself from this vignette? What techniques does Giant Sparrow use to convey this information – whether that’s dialogue, art style, symbolism, tone, voiceover, music, colour, player agency, etc. [AGES 14-16]

Consider the opening segment of the game – including the section on the boat and the walk up to the house. In groups, discuss the following questions: what is usually established in the orientation of a narrative; and, what is established in Edith Finch’s orientation (consider character, setting, plot, theme, etc.)? [AGES 14-16]

Select one of Edith’s deceased relatives. Write a one-page journal entry or memoir from their perspective that details their hopes and fears, their relationship to their family, and their perspective on the ‘family curse’. [AGES 14-16]

Consider the ending of the game and answer the following question: To what extent is resolution achieved by the end of the narrative? Think about whether we receive resolution on the family curse, on Edith’s growth and death, on the life of her son. [AGES 14-16]

Select one of the following to examine in detail: point of view, setting, character, theme, or symbolism. How is your chosen narrative device explored in Edith Finch? [AGES 14-16]

Potential companion text: Protected (by Claire Zorn), or any coming of age text that deals intimately with family.

Content Advisory

One of the game’s core mechanics is to switch POV to the narrative’s various deceased characters in order to live out their final moments from their perspectives. Although most of these moments are relatively benign in their presentation, some of the characters’ deaths are quite harrowing, and should therefore be appropriately set up and unpacked.

The two most tragic moments have us experience first the perspective of an infant drowning in a bath (whose delivery is jarringly triumphant and whimsical to reflect the infant’s innocence); and second, the suicide of a depressed teenage boy (delivered through an increasingly elaborate depiction of a series of the boy’s fantastical dissociative episodes).

The delivery of both of these scenes avoids violence and moods of explicit horror, but the episodes that they’re suggestively exploring are challenging regardless, and should be approached with care.

YA Elements

Several YA themes emerging throughout the game’s complex narrative are related to navigating diverse family dynamics, loss, mental health, and trauma.

See our video at the top of the page for a deeper dive into some of these ideas!

Related Media

You can find information and guides in the following resources:

Games R Lit