Deconstructeam, creators of The Red Strings Club, have put together 10 "short games about life" as part of next month's Essays on Empathy.

The Essays, which will be released on Steam on May 18, brings together nine of the more experimental shorts from the Spanish studio developer's backlog, including games about transhumanism, stolen skeletons, abusive relationships, dark rituals, and bookstores. Most of these were previously available on Itch and elsewhere, but Steam offers them as a complete collection. [Deconstructeam itself sees the game as a kind of comeback after burning out in the pandemic. Deconstructeam himself sees the game as a kind of comeback after his pandemic burnout, writing of a game that explores "the pains and pleasures of a less successful creative life."

Each of these games tackle often-heavy subject matter with beautiful artwork and a sense of storytelling, but I have rarely dabbled in them alone. I have played "Limbo on the Bookshelf," a surprisingly powerful (and painfully relatable) short about the awkwardness of buying a gift for one's father.

The collection's website includes brief descriptions of what the developers went through in developing each game, as well as insights into the development process. The full essay includes sketches, notes, a mini-documentary created for the collection, and much more.