A game can teach you, comfort you and give you space to explore your feelings in just one pensive, slow-paced hour.

Quick​ ​Summary

Charlie, a mortician from Rose and Daughters Funeral Home, prepares the bodies of the deceased and aims to give their loved ones the funeral they most need. Help embalm or cremate the deceased, attend their funerals and see how Charlie’s life changes as her funeral home gets bought out.  

What’s Interesting About A Mortician’s Tale?

While there are many Indie games that treat subjects with kindness and respect, every minute and aspect of A Mortician’s Tale feels reverential. From the struggles of a family-run funeral home to the way in which Charlie bows to show her respect, from the calm music and simple visuals to the emails about best funeral practises, the game feels extremely respectful. The slow pace really sets the stage – there’s no rush, no speeding through ‘boring’ parts of the game, just doing what you can to help other people. You can really feel Charlie’s care and respect for her work, without her having to say a single word.

Charlie during a funeral, paying her respects.

My Play

Time to be a little more candid than usual. I don’t like thinking about death, so I end up dreaming about it instead, usually painful dreams that end in tears. Is it my struggle to believe that there’s anything beyond this life? Is it that I’ve (thankfully) not had to deal with it as much as other people? For whatever reason, I wouldn’t have thought I could get through this game with a smile, but I did. It’s the kind of game that makes me feel like maybe, having played it, I can have a more peaceful relationship with death, and I can think of no higher praise.  

Side Note

Given how many accolades A Mortician’s Tale received, I thought it was too well-known for a Bite-Sized Thought, since I’ve tried to focus on lesser-known games. But despite its praise, it’s not as much of a runaway success as it deserves to be, and the least I can do is tell other people why I think it’s worth playing.
You can find A Mortician’s Tale on Itch, Humble and Steam.