Florence

The game features little written dialogue and tells Florence's story through a series of brief chapters. Puzzles are used to reinforce pieces of Florence's life as players progress through her story. Lead designer Ken Wong wanted to create games that eschewed violence and was inspired by his work on Monument Valley to have a more narrative-focused experience that included puzzles. The game received critical acclaim that praised the game's art-style, music, and narrative structure, but received some criticism for its ending.

• Title — Florence • Developer — Mountains • Publisher — Annapurna Interactive • Director — Ken Wong • Composer — Kevin Penkin • Engine — Unity • Released — * iOS • February 14, 2018 • Android • March 14, 2018 • macOS, NS, Windows • February 13, 2020 • Genre — Minigame • Modes — Single-player • Platforms — * Android • iOS • macOS • Nintendo Switch • Windows

• Illustration — Florence shows the awkwardness of a first date through a puzzle minigame. As Florence becomes more comfortable talking with Krish, the puzzles become easier. Florence is divided into 20 chapters, each featuring a different portion of Florence Yeoh's life. The chapters are separated into six acts, which represent different portions of Florence's growth and change. The game plays out linearly, requiring input from the player in the form of short minigames which help mimic or reveal Florence's thoughts and actions. These games include: Florence brushing her teeth, Florence following the sound of a cello to find Krish, Krish cleaning his room before Florence visits, and Florence packing up her things when Krish moves in—and giving Krish's things back to him when he moves out—among others. A single play-through of Florence takes approximately 30 minutes.

The game follows Florence Yeoh, a 25-year-old woman who lives alone and is settled into a monotonous routine of working at her job and mindlessly interacting with social media on her commute. One morning, her phone dies and she follows the sound of a cello and sees Krish, a street performer, for the first time. Krish befriends her and they go out on some dates. They kiss for the first time and begin to take their relationship more seriously. Krish moves in with Florence and is pushed by her to follow his dreams of being a great cellist. As a thank you, Krish gives Florence a painting set and Florence fantasizes about following her passion of being an artist. The couple have their first fight six months later at a grocery store. After a year, the two have fallen into a routine and begin to drift apart. After another fight, Krish moves out. Florence decides to quit her job and follow her painting passion, where she finds success.

• Illustration — Ken Wong, the lead designer for Florence, wanted to create a game that eschewed violence. After his success with Monument Valley, game designer Ken Wong felt that he had done what he could at his development studio, Ustwo, and wanted to create his own studio. He chose to move back to his native Australia after seeing the game development scene in Melbourne grow. Wong founded a new company, Mountains, in Melbourne. After hiring staff, Mountains had no direction on what kind of game they wanted to create. Wong's approach was to first hire the team and then come up with a solid game. The staff discussed how film and books regularly explored love and human emotions, but that it was missing from game design and it would be a "good challenge." They opted to move forward and create Florence. It was the first game Wong had worked on since Monument Valley. Wong and the rest of the team wanted to create a game that eschewed violence. Wong said, "I wanted to explore what kind of stories and what kind of dynamics we can get without resorting to violence." Mountains decided to make the game on mobile so it could be as accessible as possible. The team's goal was to create a game where players focus on exploring emotions instead of achieving goals. In contrast to Wong's previous game, Monument Valley, Wong wanted to create an experience that was similar to a comic book or silent movie with a focus on narrative. Wong and the team were inspired by film in creating Florence, and specifically cited 500 Days of Summer, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Titanic. The developers wanted to make the game a linear experience early on in the process because of a concern that people with more life experience would make the "correct" choices and avoid the moral of the game. Mountains was inspired by the way people consume other media for the emotional connections they bring, and wanted to bring that feeling to video games. The team decided to use music as a substitute for dialogue throughout the game, with the cello representing Krish while the piano follows Florence. Mountains used musical themes for the characters after accidentally creating them during development of the "Groceries" chapter, where Krish and Florence have their first fight. Wong chose the name Florence as she was designed to be a Chinese Australian whose parents picked an "old fashioned name" for their daughter when they immigrated.

After Florence 's release, lead developer Ken Wong was accused of being verbally abusive by one of Mountains's staffers during the development of Florence. The staffer, who served as a lead developer on Florence, accused Wong of abusing him emotionally "to the point of depression and suicide." Another staff member described Wong during this period as "a very cruel person in a position of power who liked to make people feel bad to make himself feel better." Wong publicly apologized for his behavior in a statement, saying, "There are a lot of things I should have done better or differently during that time." The abuse by Wong and its impact on Mountains along with abuse by auteur developers at two other development studios that had publishing contracts with Annapurna Interactive were featured in a March 2022 People Make Games video. A policy was implemented after Florence 's development that allowed staff to decline one-on-one meetings with Wong if they thought he was overstepping and to use a safeword that would immediately end any conversation with him.

Florence made its development costs back, but did not make enough money to fund Mountains' next project. Ken Wong, Florences lead designer, described the game's sales as "okay" and stated that "Premium mobile is tough." At a panel discussion, Wong mentioned that half of the sales for Florence were from China, and noted that more people had played the game in Mandarin than in English. Wong reported at Game Developers Conference 2019 that 88% of sales were on iOS, with 41% of those iOS sales coming from China.

• Illustration — From left to right: Florence composer Kevin Penkin, producer Kamina Vincent and creative director Ken Wong at the 2019 Game Developers Choice Awards The game was a runner-up for "Best Moment or Sequence" with "Trying to Piece the Relationship Back Together" in Giant Bombs Game of the Year Awards 2018. Polygon named the game among the decade's best. It was also awarded an Apple Design Award in 2018. • Year — Award — Category — Result — Ref • 2018 — Golden Joystick Awards — Mobile Game of the Year • The Game Awards 2018 — Games for Impact • Best Mobile Game • Best Debut Indie Game • Gamers' Choice Awards — Fan Favorite Mobile Game • Australian Games Awards — Australian Developed Game of the Year • 2019 — New York Game Awards — A-Train Award for Best Mobile Game • 22nd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards — Portable Game of the Year • Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game • Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction • Outstanding Achievement in Story • National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards — Game, Original Adventure • Game, Special Class • SXSW Gaming Awards — Excellence in Narrative • Mobile Game of the Year • Game Developers Choice Awards — Best Debut (Mountains) • Best Mobile Game • Innovation Award • Best Narrative • 15th British Academy Games Awards — Debut Game • Game Beyond Entertainment • Mobile Game • Narrative • Music • Original Property • International Mobile Gaming Awards — Grand Prix • Italian Video Game Awards — Best Mobile Game • Game Beyond Entertainment • 2019 Webby Awards — Best Art Direction • Best Game Design • Best Music/Sound Design • Best Writing • Games for Change Awards — Best Gameplay