This Bed We Made Review

Compared to other genres, mystery puzzle games are more intricate and, thus, more challenging to develop. To succeed in this genre, developers must come up with creative approaches to the game's puzzles, in addition to a compelling narrative, environment, and characters. Lowbirth Games is a small indie developer based in Montreal, Canada, coming out with their first game, This Bed We Made.

Initially set to only release on PC, the developers decided to publish the game on PlayStation 5 on the same date and on Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 4 from December 13th. This Bed We Made appears to be a project of true passion, with information about the concept art, designs of specific assets, and constant updates available in both their Discord and the blog on their website.

Based in 1950s Montreal, This Bed We Made follows the story of hotel maid Sophie Roy as she tidies guests' rooms in the Clarington Hotel. Opening in a police station after an incident at the hotel, Sophie is asked to go through the events of the day that led up to the currently unknown crime. She starts to tell the story, and the game begins. While performing the tasks a maid normally would, Sophie can also snoop through the items of the guests in Room 504, the first room in the game that the player loads into. It is after this room has been cleaned that the player can start to sink their teeth into the story. 

Sophie goes down to the basement, where, after she overhears a few conversations between her co-workers, she is called to reception to clean up a mess in Clarington's lobby. Here, the player will meet two of Sophie's co-workers, Beth and Andrew; later, the opportunity to team up with just one of them is available. While cleaning the mess, Sophie finds a roll of film. Being the helpful employee she is, Sophie takes the opportunity to return the film roll herself as the owner, Mr Spade, just happens to be on the cleaning route. Once the player enters the room, This Bed We Made truly begins.

While taking the roll of film back to the room, Sophie notices the bathroom is emitting a strange glow, a bright red rather than the usual white of the bulbs. Upon entering the bathroom, Sophie finds it is being used as a photographer's dark room. To add to the already creepy atmosphere this creates, the photos hanging above the bath are of Sophie herself, snooping through other guests' belongings.

From this point on, it is down to the player to decide what to do next. The option to throw away evidence becomes available, including the photos that incriminate Sophie herself, as well as many other choices. The option to team up with either Andrew or Beth comes through a panicked phone call after finding the initial photos, with this choice affecting much of the rest of This Bed We Made. From this moment, the story can branch into many differing paths. Through exploring the rest of the rooms on the fifth, a story can be built from evidence found; it is down to the player to use their own critical thinking to work out the gaps missing from the story.

The story is far deeper than the initial setup makes it appear. This Bed We Made appears to be a simple story about a stalker and his victim; however, once the player is a little deeper into the story, they will see that the issues of sexism, homophobia, prejudice when it comes to mental health, and classism are explored throughout the game. These topics are handled maturely and sensitively, with excellent writing propelling the narrative forward without diminishing their severity within the story's fiction. This is when the setting can really shine. Being set in the 1950s, the characters can show the increased prejudice people faced during that period.

Rather than This Bed, We Made tells the audience exactly what happened, and the player is asked to work out much of it themselves. This storytelling technique is incredibly excellent; it respects the player's intelligence and adds a lot to the gameplay as they are wonderfully interlinked.

Beyond the great storytelling, the character development is really well done. Every character feels fleshed out, with an interesting backstory and choices Sophie can make that also affect their fate. The fondness players will feel for the characters is helped by the fantastic voice acting and how relatable most of them feel. With real-world problems and nosiness, we all feel being satiated by the constant snooping. Every character, particularly Sophie, Beth, and Andrew, feels like real people.

Later, in This Bed We Made, the game appears to take a drastic turn. Beware of spoilers ahead; while this review will go into little details, a moment near the end of the game will be referenced. After finally discovering the motives of all the guests Sophie has been snooping on, the maid leaves one of the rooms to find a gruesome sight. A trail of blood leads to the elevator, and the doors are attempting to close but can't because the body of a guest is in the way. It is then down to the player to decide if they wish to tamper with evidence or will let the police solve the mystery on their own.

It is likely players will expect to then have to solve the murder, maybe think this is the game just beginning. However, this is actually one of the final moments of the game. While This Bed We Made is definitely a long enough experience with plenty of content, it should be noted that not getting to solve this murder mystery could be a disappointment to some who expected the game to take a turn at this moment.

This Bed We Made has a very strong story that is told in a very exciting and interesting way. No matter the path the player goes down, the messages present in the conclusion are very important and depicted in such a way. It should also be noted that there is a lot of replayability for those wishing to see different endings, choose a different acolyte, get different staff members fired, or even romance and snoop on Sophie's partner in crime.

The gameplay of This Bed We Made is simple, over-the-shoulder camera angle, picking up objects and inspecting them, and talking to various characters. The simplicity is not bad; however, it allows the story and mystery to shine through and take center stage. This simplicity is also not boring. Enough variety in the environment and object interaction keep the pace moving and the gameplay feeling fresh.

Room 504 acts as a tutorial, teaching the player how many of the mechanics work. While the player can focus on just cleaning the rooms, it is possible to start snooping through the guests' items from this moment. Any important documents can be viewed in the journal, and a ding is played as each of these is picked up. This is a fantastic introduction to the gameplay as the two main elements, cleaning the rooms and collecting evidence, are introduced. It is fun and allows players to learn what they will be doing going forward. In this room, the other sections of the journal are introduced.

The journal not only shows notes that are collected but also contains a brief description of each of the characters you meet, as well as summary flashcards of what has happened so far in the story. This is a really helpful section of the game. While playing, there are so many elements of the mystery all entangled together that it can be easy to miss or forget a vital piece of information. The flashcards prevent this and allow the player to focus on the moment happening, knowing they can refer back later.

Along with the flashcards showing the timeline and character descriptions, the player can also receive helpful information without even accessing the journal. This comes from being able to listen to Sophie's current train of thought. Sophie will remind the player what needs to happen in a way that doesn't disturb the narrative, such as her reminding the player to go downstairs should the player get wonderfully distracted cleaning rooms rather than solving mysteries, not that this is a relatable experience to most.

There is a level of open world in This Bed We Made, within the hotel, that allows each player to experience a somewhat different story from others. For example, if the player chooses, they can listen outside certain rooms and can use the information they have gained to divert their path in different ways.

The diverging paths give This Bed We Made a lot of replayability. Players can load into an autosave and just change the very ending; however, there are choices earlier in the game that can't be edited at this point, and there is no manual save to let you make deviations from the beginning. Instead, the game has to be fully replayed, although much of the dialogue can be skipped through, which is helpful to speed up subsequent playthroughs.

Along with these gameplay mechanics, This Bed We Made also has some very fun puzzles that have to be solved throughout the game. The first of these is finding the clues needed to unlock the safe of one of the guest's rooms. To unlock this, the player has to find lots of bits of paper, break into a suitcase, and put together other clues in a specific order. After this initial puzzle, they get harder, asking the player to solve codes to decrypt notes and piece together torn-up bits of paper.

The puzzles are so much fun, and they are challenging but not so much that they are frustrating. One of the puzzles requires working out multiple riddles and reading through a number of letters. In this case, if the riddles are too hard, the player has the option to call the acolyte they have teamed up with and ask for help with the clues. There are other moments that This Bed We Made will help the player should they need it, mostly through Sophie's internal monologue that will make suggestions the player can follow.

When interacting with objects, there is also a Selection Mode that will allow both the player and Sophie to make additional observations that they may not have noticed initially. This is an excellent addition to the gameplay as it means the player can notice additional information and make conclusions before the game has confirmed information.

The gameplay and puzzles in This Bed We Made exist in a wonderful simplicity. Each element is honed to a fantastic degree and really adds to the story. The puzzles are challenging and fun, creating differing aspects of the gameplay and preventing the true sin of gaming, boredom. It should be noted that while playing, a bug was found in the game's opening. While walking to the police interview, Sophie could not turn around, and the camera would only move at a 45-degree angle, so she was not always facing forward. This was the only gameplay bug present in the game and was in pre-release.

This Bed We Made has an interesting art style. It can take a while to adjust to the character design, and some characters look a little stranger than others. The biggest example of this is Beth, who appears to be made of wax. However, once the player is used to this art style, it is actually very expressive and allows for great storytelling. The facial expressions of the characters are expressive enough to show the player their thoughts even if they are not telling the whole truth.

There is also a slight graphical bug at the end of the game, which means that Detective Maurice has no facial animations while conducting his interview. Much of the lip-syncing is a little mismatched, but this isn't hugely distracting while playing. There is also a slight issue with some characters looking a little too similar, which can be confusing. But do remember, the game is still not out. Beyond this, the artistic design of This Bed We Made is fantastic. The police interview that acts as a framing device for the rest of the story is all in black and white, while the rest of the game is in full 50s technicolor.

The sound design is a stunning addition to the game. The voice acting is impeccable in both English and French. Particularly Sophie, who adds charm, mystery, intrigue, and a little shiftiness that gives the character so much depth. Even in the opening of the game, as she sings along to the radio, there is immediate nuance to the role as she only seems to know some of the words and lets out small sighs between lines, leaving the player wondering if she is not as happy as she seems in her job as a maid.

Speaking of the radio, the opening song that plays over the credits distorts to sound as though the song is playing over the radio. The music in This Bed We Made is delightful and adds to the 1950s feel of the game. The sound design goes a step further, though, as during more tense moments, the sounds of footsteps, clocks ticking, and TV static all create an unnerving atmosphere while Sophie snoops where she shouldn't be.

With multiple endings, it would be hard for This Bed We Made to be a hit in each one. However, this seems to be the case. With all the differing outcomes down to who in the hotel gets promoted and which acolyte Sophie has spent her time with whom she can now bond, every choice feels purposeful and like it affects the ending.

In one of the final playable scenes of the game, Sophie is being interviewed by the police. In this section, Sophie can make some last-ditch efforts to protect some of the guests she has been snooping on and others she can throw under the bus. This means that even at the end of the game, the choices still come into effect.

This Bed We Made tells an amazing story with simple yet fun gameplay mechanics to frame it. The puzzles add a challenge that isn't frustrating and instead is one of the most interesting and fun parts of the game. The characters feel fleshed out and real, as though they are real people with extended backstories. The graphics are not perfect; however, they are serviceable for what is needed, and the sound design is fantastic in every way. The differing endings make for an experience with a lot of replayability and a truly wonderful game.