The Good Life
Review

The Good Life (2021) is a narrative adventure, where you experience a slower pace of life in an English town. However, before long you are drawn into an intriguing web of murder, bodily transformations into cats and dogs and photographic tasks. It's an absurdist exploration of human nature and the social contract we have with one another. It stands out for combining an Animal Crossing community with a dark mystery to solve.

You play Naomi, a photojournalist from New York whose debt drives her to rural England. There she needs to work to pay back what she owes. These revolve around photography, but along the way, you explore the locale and meet the locals. Obtaining the photos you need usually requires some light puzzle-solving.

Them mysteries to solve include a murder and a strange animal transformation that happens to people in the woods at night -- including your character Naomi transforming into an owl. In each of the animals, we discover not only levity and special abilities but some insight into the characters of the people to which they relate.

Supernatural transformations notwithstanding, this is really a game about everyday life -- the mundane and the strange. You'll live alongside the villagers as you solve mysteries and experience a hearty helping of craziness.

Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked The Good Life 3 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 12 weeks ago.