SHY captures the experience of our jumbled minds and actions when we’re too nervous to say hello to someone we want to get to know.
If you’ve ever felt scared to talk to someone, then you know what this feel like. Your mind twists in on itself as you struggle to make the effort just to walk up to them. You move back and forth as you endure a tug-of-war in your own head. If you do manage to walk up to the person, it’s like your mind has locked up, or that it just refuses to give you the words you want to say. Nothing in you seems to work as it should.
SHY makes you live through this feeling by continually jumbling your controls. You know all you have to do is walk up to the person and say what you want to them, but the means of doing so shift every few seconds. You could be rushing to your potential new friend with determination, but then that same button sends you in the opposite direction. Then, you;re scrambling to figure out which button brings you close to them again. The same goes for dialogue you need to guide out of your mouth, making chat a constant struggle. And if you’re silent for too long, your opportunity will pass.
SHY is impressive in just how quickly it captures that feeling of being tangled up, and how the simplest of actions swirl around in your head and become impossible when you’re nervous and shy.
SHY is playable now on itch.io.