by Danreb Victorio
When compiling last year’s nominations for SmashPad’s Top 10 Games of 2025, and Roger showed up more than a couple of times. I had never heard of the game before that, and it’s weird because they’re very much my jam. I absolutely loved Florence, which looks to be its primary comparison, and while I wasn’t too fond of titles like Dear Me, I was… or Pine: A Story of Loss, I’m still someone that very much jives with this kind of narrative game — especially when they’re short.
Luckily for me, and others who also haven’t played it, and Roger made its way to both the Switch 2 and iOS, giving me the perfect opportunity to see what all the fuss was about, and I totally get it.
It’s hard to talk about why and Roger resonates with people without spoiling, and because the game can be finished in less than an hour, I don’t want to spoil much of it at all. For fear of saying something that might just give too much away, I’ll just say this: There’s enough simplistic gameplay in here to make you feel for the characters in this narrative, and that’s what makes the game even more of a triumph on both the Switch 2 and iOS. I’d imagine the game was more than fine on Switch and Steam, but the Switch 2’s mouse controls and the fact that you have full use of the touchscreen on mobile make the experience intuitive in ways that should make the game playable for just about anybody interested.
The game’s first chapter begins when a young girl wakes up to find a stranger at her house, with her father nowhere to be seen. To add fear to the uncertainty, this strange man constantly tells the girl to eat and take medicine in ways that are both accommodating and confusing. Sick of what’s going on, she escapes to a nearby bakery, where she’s eventually taken back home by a loved one who also encourages her to take medicine.
The story continues to unfold as you perform simple tasks, usually involving a button or a dot on the screen that you have to tap or drag to a certain position in the right sequence — kind of like a puzzle. There’s one part of the game where you have to brush your teeth, and to do that, you have to correctly choose to pick up the brush, put toothpaste on, and begin to brush. Picking a button out of order will require you to repeat the process. When you “fail” in the game, you just have to start that puzzle over again until you figure it out, with the reward being more storytelling.
As simplistic as the gameplay is, the game’s music, animation, and pacing all work together in a way to affect how you play the game. Sometimes, you’ll want to do things as quickly as possible. Sometimes you’ll want to take your time and carefully select your options. Sometimes, the “minigames” or puzzles will be deliberately unsolvable, advancing the narrative in a way that matches the characters’ mood. The protagonist can be in a rush, forgetful, and anxious, and all of this is somehow made obvious through the mechanics and its presentation. It’s impressive to see it all come together in just three short chapters.
I finished and Roger during a quick 80-minute plane ride, playing both in handheld mode and putting it on the tray table using one Joy-Con as a mouse, and it was just a great experience the whole way through. Some puzzles will be harder than others, but a big part of that is that they fit the narrative of certain things just being more difficult. I’d recommend and Roger to anybody looking for a captivating story about relationships with loved ones and empathizing with issues both physical and mental. The way the game moves the story forward with such simple gameplay mechanics should be considered a triumph, and I’d love to see the people I love play through the experience as well.
and Roger
