Technical Information

Developer: Thirteendays
Publisher: Thirteendays
Release Date: December 21, 2021

Mark Ross moves to Sullen Town after the death of his parents.
Live for 13 days and experience the world through the eyes of Mark, a depressed young man.

Final Thoughts – Analyzing the Game as a Whole

Graphics and UI

The entire game is presented in black and white, with only a few objects displayed in color.
I didn’t fully understand the reasoning behind the color choices. There are moments when you can interact with people, animals, and objects that appear important to the story’s progression, yet they remain uncolored.

The game is entirely made in pixel art, and despite its simplicity, it looks pleasant.

I didn’t like the HUD/UI, and my criticism isn’t about the aesthetic style itself.

There are grammatical and accentuation errors in the Portuguese localization.
The HUD is not very intuitive. It displays the passing days (which get crossed out as you sleep) and marks the positions of interactable objects, people, and animals, almost like a map.
Up to that point, it’s fine. However, everything is highlighted in purple to indicate where you should go. I didn’t understand the logic behind this choice. If the intention is to guide the player clearly, then having other interactions that don’t contribute to the story feels unnecessary.

Important elements in the game are highlighted in purple. While purple can feel cold or alarming, I believe blue would have reinforced the sense of sadness and introspection more effectively.

The font choice also feels generic. It doesn’t match the game’s aesthetic or its depressive atmosphere.
Despite these issues, I do have one positive note: whenever a sound effect plays, a written description appears on screen. I found this to be a thoughtful accessibility feature, especially for deaf players, as it enhances immersion.

Soundtrack and Sound Effects

Mark’s Life features melancholic tracks that reflect the depressive tone of the story.

Unfortunately, some of them become repetitive. They are built around short looping note sequences that grow tiring after extended play.

The sound effects follow a retro style, reminiscent of a 16-bit game.

Gameplay

This is a purely narrative experience that portrays Mark’s daily life, a depressed young man who sees the world in gray tones and struggles to find hope for the future.
It’s clearly a low-budget project developed by a single creator. Despite its flaws, it attempts to deliver a message of empathy and awareness.

I enjoy reflective games that allow you to see the world through someone else’s perspective. However, this one felt weak to me. It didn’t fully engage me. The events feel random and lack depth. Things simply happen without strong narrative cohesion or emotional buildup.

And this has nothing to do with the game’s length, there are very short games with well-crafted stories. A Date in the Park and One Night, Hot Springs are good examples.

The gameplay itself is very simple: you just follow the prompts that appear on screen.
The game claims to support controllers, but I tested it with my PlayStation 4 controller and it didn’t work. I had to play using the keyboard.

Perhaps it may appeal more to less demanding players.

On a positive note, I encountered no bugs during my playthrough. And if you don’t want to finish it in one sitting, you can save your progress.

Replayability and Game Retention

It’s a short game, and the only real incentive for replaying it comes from achievements.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough for me. As soon as I finished it, I uninstalled it. :/