How to Say Goodbye, ARTE’s next puzzle game will be released on November 3rd, 2022

ARTE France, Florian Veltman and Baptiste Portefaix deliver a poetic and moving perspective on mourning in this game inspired by children’s literature

ARTE France, publisher and co-producer and Florian Veltman (Monument Valley 2 / Assemble with Care / Lieve Oma) & Baptiste Portefaix (Oniri Islands), authors, are proud to announce that their game How to Say Goodbye, a narrative puzzle game full of poetry, will be released on November 3rd 2022 on Steam (PC/Mac), Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android.

How to Say Goodbye

A new teaser is available here.

You can find more information in the dedicated press area. How to Say Goodbye can already be wishlisted on Steam. For more information, you can contact us here ([email protected]).

How to Say Goodbye follows a character a few moments after their death, recounting their journey in an unknown world after life.

The player will have to help the ghost accept his death and pass to the other side in this liminal space after life, populated by various spirits, some of them benevolent.

To do so, they will have to move the different game elements on a grid to guide the ghost to the exit symbolized by a door. But many obstacles will stand in their way, and lost spirits will try to stand in their way.

What do these mysterious ghosts who have given up all hope of ever moving on called the spleens want ? Who is the wizard, whose shadow and influence seem to extend all over the world of How to Say Goodbye?

How to Say Goodbye offers an adventure inspired by illustration and children’s literature (Tomi Ungerer, Tove Jansson, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Maurice Sendak…). The game deals with the subject of mourning and death with kindness and subtlety, and a constantly renewed hope in the future.

The ghosts of How to Say Goodbye will be able to rely on the different companions encountered during their journey in order to escape the limbo in which they are trapped and finally come to term with their own disappearance.

“Grief is a universal experience unique to each individual, and one that evokes strong emotions. However, in most video games, it is reduced to a violent act: death is used as a metaphor to indicate to the player in an extremely binary way that he loses or wins, that he exists or does not exist anymore. We wanted to approach the subject in a more subtle and positive way, with sensitivity” explains Florian Veltman, designer of How to Say Goodbye.

How to Say Goodbye will be available November 3rd 2022 on Steam, Nintendo Switch and mobile.

A game directed and produced by Florian Veltman and Baptiste Portefaix, edited and co-produced by ARTE France

More information on the dedicated Discord server.

Check out Florian Veltman on Twitter for more information about the game.

About ARTE  

Founded in 1992, ARTE is a European public cultural television channel and a digital network focusing on creation and innovation. Over the past ten years, ARTE has co-produced a number of interactive creations such as the games Inua – A story in Ice and Time, Unmaze,  Homo Machine, The Wanderer: Frankenstein’s Creature and Vectronom. More information on the official website and the Twitter page of Arte Interactif.

About Florian Veltman and Baptiste Portefaix

Florian Veltman and Baptiste Portefaix met while studying at the École Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg. They then each had professional experiences in game development and multimedia.

After creating the award-winning game Lieve Oma, Florian was a designer at Ustwo Games on Monument Valley 2 and Assemble with Care. Baptiste worked as a sound designer and composer, most notably on the award-winning game Oniri Island, a toys-to-life adventure game.