This
is a True Story

This is a True Story (2022) is a narrative adventure based on actual events and interviews. You play a woman in Africa on her daily journey to go and collect water for her family and witness the events that play out on the way. The simple gameplay and hand-painted scenery, paired with the often comical events, give it the feeling of a children's storybook come to life.

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You play Bontu, a woman in Africa who must travel every day to the river to collect water, braving the heat, wild animals, and poachers. As you travel, you learn all about Bontu's previous adventures and mishaps. You climb over rocks and crawl through caves on your journey and complete small mini games- like solving a (jigsaw) puzzle, filling your container with water and avoiding the leeches, or throwing pumpkins at monkeys to scare them away- when you encounter other people, animals, and events. On the way back, you face the immense heat of the midday sun, moving from one patch of shade to the next to conserve your energy.

The result is a simple but important game that pairs charming and lighthearted fun and intuitive controls that make it accessible to a wide range of ages and abilities, with a necessary reminder of illegal poaching and the plight of women forced by circumstance to travel miles for something as simple as water.

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Our examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked This is a True Story 19 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 10 months ago.