So, lots of reviews for this game have already been made. But a lot of them are...not that informative, if we're honest. So what actually is this thing, for those of you curious? Memes and incest jokes aside, what is playing this game actually like? Is it worth your time? I played it all the way through twice in the span of a week and created save files for all the possible story branches, so clearly it did something right.

-Do you enjoy RPG maker games?
-Do you like dark humor and sarcasm?
-Do you like Homestuck, Prequel, or Undertale, (or more specifically, their exploration based Earthbound inspired flash mini-games like [S] Past Karkat: Wake up or [S] Katia: Enter?)
-Are you ok with darker or more controversial themes?

If yes, you'll probably enjoy The Coffin of Andy and Leyley.

You play as both Andrew (Easily swayed doormat. Trying to change that.) and Ashley (Manipulative, empathy-less gaslighter. Probably scared of being abandoned by the one person she actually does care about.) The story and much of the game's strength is driven by the relationship between the two, which is equal parts co-dependent, aggressive, cruel, and at times oddly sweet. Both constantly bring out the worst in each other, and based on choices the player makes in the course of the game so far, they can remain on friendly terms, perhaps become more than that, or just lose trust and come to hate each other. The game skillfully balances this so that no matter which story route you end up on, it still feels like natural a development to the relationship. The writing also mixes grim humor with sarcasm, especially in the second person narration gameplay sections, with many objects having smarmy extra descriptions when interacted with. If you've read any of the webcomics refereed above, you know what to expect. Yeah, it can be edgy, but not to an intolerable or un-self-aware degree.

The game currently consists of two chapters, 'The Coffin' and 'Graves', with chapter 3A "Burial' and 3B 'Decay' to be released later. Gameplay largely consists of exploring areas to find items needed to progress the story. These puzzles are intuitive without feeling too obvious or simplistic. If you've explored new areas upon reaching them, you'll probably have satisfying moments of realizing which thing you need to go grab. It's also always worth doing this anyway, as there's often extra dialogue or events to find, even after ending a dialogue scene.

Several dream world puzzles have multiple solutions. There's no way to mess up or have to restart, but there are hidden scenes that certain solutions can miss. This adds a ton of replay value, as even with only two of the planned three chapters available, there's plenty of extra scenes and alternate branches to take. This includes hidden stars. We don't know what getting these do yet, but they're usually awarded for going out of you way to do something generous for your sibling and they're easy to miss.

At times, multiple choice boxes appear. These range from uesless, to determining certain dialogue options, to drastically changing the course of the story. Whether you play 3A Burial or 3B Decay is determined on the choices made in chapter 2.

The game's art style contributes greatly to its general atmosphere. Gameplay maps are rendered in sepia-tone, with enough grime and amusing detail to be characterful and enjoyable and distinct enough to give the game its own feel. Character sprites have no animation, which was weird at first, but works for the game's style. The dialogue scenes and talksprites are adorable, with excellent character design and a monotone color pallet that uses bright colors sparingly to great effect, mostly for eyes and reds. (Unsurprisingly, red is one of the only colors constantly used.)

There aren't a lot of different music tracks, but they're used efficiently and cover a wide spectrum of tunes, ranging from peppy retro game style tracks to ominous bells to whimsical yet unsettling music box style songs.

Q: Is this a horror game?
-Kinda? Not in the sense of it trying to scare you as you play, though there are some tense or unsettling moments. There are no supernatural enemies to fight or evade, no monsters that pursue you in non-scripted scenes, no jump scares, no game-overs. The biggest monsters in the game are the ones you play as. Much of the horror is psychological: The siblings' nonchalant reactions to their actions, the unsettling background events, or just the player's realization of where certain events are going and that that place is nowhere pleasant.

Q: Is this game Based? Is it just shock value stuff? Does playing it "Own the Libs??????"
-What are you, 13? Sarcasm aside, not really? The game is unapologetic in the content it does contain, and if you do get offended, well, it warned you, yet never feels like it's rubbing it in you face or telling you that you should be shocked or offended. In fact, there's a general sense of restraint at work. For two characters that constantly bicker and insult each other, Andrew and Ashley never use truly offensive language or slurs. Likewise, for a game that has as much dismemberment as this, the art never become truly gory or graphic, and the worst is often contained to the low-resolution sprites. It handles its dark subject matter with a sarcasm that still acknowledges the awfulness of its characters. Honestly, I found the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror segment 'MMM, Homer', in which Homer dismembers and cannibalizes himself, to be far more unappealingly graphic and to contain far more shock value material for far less purpose than anything in The Coffin of Andy and Leyley.

Q: What about the INCEST?!?
-Yeah, it's there. It doesn't become actually explicit until the last ten minutes or so of about two hours of gameplay. While it's foreshadowed in certain dialogue so as to not come out of nowhere, actually seeing it requires three deliberate and less than intuitive choices and accepting a warning that your choices are questionable. I'm fairly certain that most players playing the story blind will end up making decisions that will take them in the opposite path than this one.

Is The Coffin of Andy and Leyley for everyone? Nothing is for everyone. If you're vicariously repulsed by the very idea of the incest route, if you're looking for a game that is actively trying to scare you, or if you want something more plot driven that solves its mysteries more directly, you probably won't enjoy this. Other wise, the puzzles are clever, the characters are adorable, the interactions are charmingly messed up, and the music is fun. It adds up the a charming and enjoyable game with a distinct atheistic. Set the memes and controversies aside and give it a try.

And at $10 or so, it's not like it's expensive.

So, lots of reviews for this game have already been made. But a lot of them are...not that informative, if we're honest. So what actually is this thing, for those of you curious? Memes and incest jokes aside, what is playing this game actually like? Is it worth your time? I played it all the way through twice in the span of a week and created save files for all the possible story branches, so clearly it did something right. -Do you enjoy RPG maker games? -Do you like dark humor and sarcasm? -Do you like Homestuck, Prequel, or Undertale, (or more specifically, their exploration based Earthbound inspired flash mini-games like [S] Past Karkat: Wake up or [S] Katia: Enter?) -Are you ok with darker or more controversial themes? If yes, you'll probably enjoy The Coffin of Andy and Leyley. You play as both Andrew (Easily swayed doormat. Trying to change that.) and Ashley (Manipulative, empathy-less gaslighter. Probably scared of being abandoned by the one person she actually does care about.) The story and much of the game's strength is driven by the relationship between the two, which is equal parts co-dependent, aggressive, cruel, and at times oddly sweet. Both constantly bring out the worst in each other, and based on choices the player makes in the course of the game so far, they can remain on friendly terms, perhaps become more than that, or just lose trust and come to hate each other. The game skillfully balances this so that no matter which story route you end up on, it still feels like natural a development to the relationship. The writing also mixes grim humor with sarcasm, especially in the second person narration gameplay sections, with many objects having smarmy extra descriptions when interacted with. If you've read any of the webcomics refereed above, you know what to expect. Yeah, it can be edgy, but not to an intolerable or un-self-aware degree. The game currently consists of two chapters, 'The Coffin' and 'Graves', with chapter 3A "Burial' and 3B 'Decay' to be released later. Gameplay largely consists of exploring areas to find items needed to progress the story. These puzzles are intuitive without feeling too obvious or simplistic. If you've explored new areas upon reaching them, you'll probably have satisfying moments of realizing which thing you need to go grab. It's also always worth doing this anyway, as there's often extra dialogue or events to find, even after ending a dialogue scene. Several dream world puzzles have multiple solutions. There's no way to mess up or have to restart, but there are hidden scenes that certain solutions can miss. This adds a ton of replay value, as even with only two of the planned three chapters available, there's plenty of extra scenes and alternate branches to take. This includes hidden stars. We don't know what getting these do yet, but they're usually awarded for going out of you way to do something generous for your sibling and they're easy to miss. At times, multiple choice boxes appear. These range from uesless, to determining certain dialogue options, to drastically changing the course of the story. Whether you play 3A Burial or 3B Decay is determined on the choices made in chapter 2. The game's art style contributes greatly to its general atmosphere. Gameplay maps are rendered in sepia-tone, with enough grime and amusing detail to be characterful and enjoyable and distinct enough to give the game its own feel. Character sprites have no animation, which was weird at first, but works for the game's style. The dialogue scenes and talksprites are adorable, with excellent character design and a monotone color pallet that uses bright colors sparingly to great effect, mostly for eyes and reds. (Unsurprisingly, red is one of the only colors constantly used.) There aren't a lot of different music tracks, but they're used efficiently and cover a wide spectrum of tunes, ranging from peppy retro game style tracks to ominous bells to whimsical yet unsettling music box style songs. Q: Is this a horror game? -Kinda? Not in the sense of it trying to scare you as you play, though there are some tense or unsettling moments. There are no supernatural enemies to fight or evade, no monsters that pursue you in non-scripted scenes, no jump scares, no game-overs. The biggest monsters in the game are the ones you play as. Much of the horror is psychological: The siblings' nonchalant reactions to their actions, the unsettling background events, or just the player's realization of where certain events are going and that that place is nowhere pleasant. Q: Is this game Based? Is it just shock value stuff? Does playing it "Own the Libs??????" -What are you, 13? Sarcasm aside, not really? The game is unapologetic in the content it does contain, and if you do get offended, well, it warned you, yet never feels like it's rubbing it in you face or telling you that you should be shocked or offended. In fact, there's a general sense of restraint at work. For two characters that constantly bicker and insult each other, Andrew and Ashley never use truly offensive language or slurs. Likewise, for a game that has as much dismemberment as this, the art never become truly gory or graphic, and the worst is often contained to the low-resolution sprites. It handles its dark subject matter with a sarcasm that still acknowledges the awfulness of its characters. Honestly, I found the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror segment 'MMM, Homer', in which Homer dismembers and cannibalizes himself, to be far more unappealingly graphic and to contain far more shock value material for far less purpose than anything in The Coffin of Andy and Leyley. Q: What about the INCEST?!? -Yeah, it's there. It doesn't become actually explicit until the last ten minutes or so of about two hours of gameplay. While it's foreshadowed in certain dialogue so as to not come out of nowhere, actually seeing it requires three deliberate and less than intuitive choices and accepting a warning that your choices are questionable. I'm fairly certain that most players playing the story blind will end up making decisions that will take them in the opposite path than this one. Is The Coffin of Andy and Leyley for everyone? Nothing is for everyone. If you're vicariously repulsed by the very idea of the incest route, if you're looking for a game that is actively trying to scare you, or if you want something more plot driven that solves its mysteries more directly, you probably won't enjoy this. Other wise, the puzzles are clever, the characters are adorable, the interactions are charmingly messed up, and the music is fun. It adds up the a charming and enjoyable game with a distinct atheistic. Set the memes and controversies aside and give it a try. And at $10 or so, it's not like it's expensive.