The Most Underrated Pixel Game: “If On A Winter’s Night, Four Travelers”
By Yunkai Xu
Games Editor
Pixel art games have existed since the early 1970s, and as technology progresses, video game graphics have improved significantly in detail and quality. However, the popularity of the pixel aesthetic persists as its retro styles offer nostalgic and unique designs that cannot be recreated by 3D modeling. For those who like a good combination of Cthulhu-styled horror, art, and storytelling, the PC game If On A Winter’s Night, Four Traveler is a hidden gem.
If On A Winter’s Night, Four Travelers, released in 2021, is a narrative-driven point-and-click adventure with horror elements that explores the stories of four characters in a masked ball taking place aboard a train in the late 1920s. The name originates from Italian author Italo Calvino’s work, If On A Winter’s Night, Four Travelers, and preserves the same narrative experimentation that delves into the art of storytelling.
The game’s plot is separated into four chapters: The Silent Room, The Slow Vanishing of Lady Winterbourne, The Nameless Ritual, and finally, If On A Winter’s Night. Each chapter centralizes the life events of one of the four masked passengers on the train, and as the player delves deeper into their past, the characters’ trauma, love and loss, and fatal flaws are exposed to a complete extent. The train then embodies storytelling itself, smoothing the transition between each character’s story.
The existential horror elements become evident once the player navigates each character’s unsettling life events through interacting with the environment and NPC. The players must uncover each character’s life story to discover what brought them together on this mysterious train detached from the real world. In the end, we will find that, somehow, all four stories are skilfully wielded into a cohesive whole. As the player relives the lives of the four characters, each is brought to life with vivid personalities and distinct traits. The wide range of exploration opportunities, intricate plotlines, and unexpected development compensate for the limited game experience.
This game offered me one of the best narrations I have ever experienced in a video game. Though the characters do not have an actual voice, reading through their dialogues, which are written in such a poetic way, actually enhances storytelling, as it made me slow down each step and become carried away by my own imagination.
While some may argue that pixel graphics are unclear, which reduces visual enjoyment, in this game, the pixel visual designs are its most unique quality. Because of the pixels’ nostalgic nature, each scene has a dream-like atmosphere, blending flawlessly with its Cthulu-like horror elements. Each chapter’s theme is designed delicately and deliberately with visual effects. The most shocking scene for me was the chapter about Lady Winterbourne, in which colors slowly fade or reappear, representing her different mental states.
Nevertheless, the best thing about this game is that it is completely FREE. It takes 5 minutes to download and only 2-4 hours to finish. If On A Winter’s Night, Four Travelers is perfect to save you from a boring day.