FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — In a viral post that was seen by over 2.1 Million users, Redditor and indie dev LessNESman shared a build of Here, My Dear, a whimsical side-scrolling game he created as a means of requesting a divorce from his wife, Marissa.
“We’d been seeing a couples therapist,” said Marvin Benson, the man behind the account. “She encouraged us to express our feelings in whatever way felt most comfortable. I’ve been a hobby game dev since before Marissa and I started dating, so speaking through games just made sense.”
While the game presents itself traditionally with its classic run-and-jump platforming formula and pixel aesthetics, the intermingling of its shockingly personal narrative and level design are where it really surprises.
“At first, I thought it was just a sweet anniversary gift,” said Marissa Benson, whose NPC representation in the game grows progressively more gleeful with each of the player’s failures. “I think it was the end of Stage 2, where you slowly walk through a sewer littered with detailed pixel art of all the gifts Marvin’s given me over the years, that I caught on.”
Here, My Dear features five worlds, each with its own lovingly handcrafted monstrous caricatures of Marissa, her friends, and family.
“This is the most emotionally available I’ve ever seen him,” said close friend and QA Tester, Scooter Kayama. “And the game is surprisingly enjoyable even for people outside their marriage. Granted, if you’ve never met Marissa’s sister, the third boss-battle loses a lot of its nuance. But you’re still fighting a harpy in a coffee shop, and that’s fun for everyone.”
At press time, a Kickstarter for an enhanced edition was in the works, with stretch goals to include professional voice actors and a better divorce attorney.
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