In Kind Words 2, we give you a glimpse into the collective vulnerability of other people through the simplicity of writing letters.
The game is about connection with people, and uses anonymous communication to, well, let people connect, let people have feelings, advise people, and empathize with people.
Kind Words 2 might not be for you if you’re prepared to write off “wholesome” games, or being emotionally open makes you cringe. But for those wanting a port of humanity and connection in the digitally muddied world, this game is a warm, safe haven.
Kind Words 2 is at heart quite simple. They play a cute avatar through diorama like environments in baggy tracksuit bottoms (or glasses). These aren’t clothes or room decorations, it’s not a game geared towards aesthetics.
The writing is the heart of Kind Words 2, rather than the narrator. The game is built around that simple communication act of answering someone else’s worries, or sending out a note of your own.
Players who are used to the original Kind Words will be familiar with the most with sitting at a writing desk and replying to ‘requests.’ These are short messages from other players, caused by personal struggles such as breakups, or folks who are frustrated with their families.
Anyone you’ve never met could be going through something, so you can reply with words of comfort or advice and provide support. You can also submit your own worries and get replies from others. This all feels anonymous, but it feels deeply personal, and players offer each other encouragement, validation, and empathy.
Kind Words 2 goes further beyond these requests and expands communication to other ways besides. Players can write notes on their paper planes, ask for music recommendations, share jokes and talk to each other in casual chats all in the virtual world through scribbled notes.
The social interactions in the game don’t feel anything like real time chatrooms; instead, it’s more a simulation of snail mail. Actors serve as avatars of other players, walking the streets, but you don’t control the conversations directly. In this game, with its slower more thoughtful exchanges, the game encourages it.
Kind Words 2 is about how cathartic it can be. It helps to share problems and to read the minds of others — things that create a sense of shared humanity.
But it’d be nice if the replies gave you an answer sometimes and knowing that you are not the only one who has gone through what you’re going through can help sometimes.
Other places to share thoughts are available, such as hot spring for trading wisdom, and notice board of sorts where the players share light hearted messages about cats.
Poetry sharing is allowed in an open mic café, at the top of a mountain, a bench is set up on which players can make their wishes looking at the stars.
In this, players anticipate love, stability, health. The desire for connection and understanding many of the players feel, is highlighted in these spaces.
Of the more unique features: the Wiggling Void is a blobby monster who literally “eats” your words, so you can free your words without sharing them. It’s a cathartic private place to release emotions and also makes the game more emotionally rich.
The irony of the game’s kindness isn’t limited to just kindness. Sometimes, though, that upbeat landscape, with happy hairstyles and mild conversation gone around reasons, feels a bit too cheerful, shying away from conflict and big emotional focus.
A pop-up question, for instance, in the game related to the place of pumpkin spice lattes in the world, a basic unimportant uninteresting thing.
This however is the design choice in line with the game’s mission to create a safe space to share and support without the negativity you can often find online.
Conclusion
With Kind Words 2, we’ve built a lovely space for short but powerful encounters in a cacophonous, soulless online universe. It was simple letters and small acts of kindness that encourage empathy, vulnerability, and shared humanity.
It won’t provide deep, enduring relationships, but it reminds us that even a flash of insight can matter. In a loneliness obsessed world where we feel so alone all the time, Kind Words 2 reminds us that although it may feel like it, we’re wrong; we’re never alone, and more often than not, a few big (or small) words can help to make someone else’s day.
Also read: Metaphor: ReFantazio Review – A Grounded Fantasy with Real-World Parallels