This Philippines-inspired indie helped me connect to my cultural roots

I first learned about Until Then from a Southeast Asian developer I met at PAX East. We’d been talking about the game he worked on, A Space for the Unbound, and I brought up that I was Filipino. I’d enjoyed the cultural setting of that Indonesian adventure game, even if it wasn’t something I could completely understand as an outsider. I yearned for a similar experience where I could call out the references I knew as a Filipino-American. So he told me about Until Then.

Until Then, a narrative-rich, cinematic game based on Metro Manila, filled that need with a setting I often visited in my youth. Polychroma Games based it on the developers’ experiences growing up in the Philippines, and additional inspirations like Night in the Woods and Your Lie in April. I never got to sit at long wooden tables in a high school classroom, don uniforms with neckties or long skirts, and participate in other uniquely Filipino experiences as a tourist. Despite that, I appreciatedUntil Then for bringing back old memories and even teaching me more about Filipino culture in a way I didn’t expect.

Until Then leads players through interactive environments that teach them about the setting and throws engaging minigames in between. Some parts encourage me to poke at pop-up icons in front of interactive objects. Other moments are just meant for reading. However, the scenes are never still; I click through the dialogue as the animated scenes progress. In that sense, Until Then overlaps with multiple genres from visual novels to adventure games.

Mark Borja, an unmotivated but intelligent high school student, lives the kind of life that even overseas players can relate to. He crams for tests and projects, yaps about the local rumor mill with his best friends, and dreams of competing in a prestigious piano competition. It’s just that these typical experiences take place in a country much different than the one I grew up in. It also stands out from shining cities like Tokyo and fantasy worlds like