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Before Your Eyes

Before Your Eyes

GoodbyeWorld Games, Nice Dream · released Apr 7, 2021

AdventureIndiePCPlayStation 5iOS (iPhone/iPad)

Embark on an emotional first-person narrative adventure where you control the story, and affect its outcomes, with your real-life blinks. With this innovative technique you will fully immerse yourself in a world of memories, both joyous and heartbreaking, as your whole life flashes before your eyes.

91
VGC Score
Stablehigh confidence
94%
At launch
98%
Steam all-time
83%
Press
80%
Player sentiment
96%
Recent sentiment

PC 91 · PlayStation 70

Screenshots & trailers

Review sentiment over time

Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.

How this score was computed

The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.

ComponentPositiveQuality (0-100)Weight (pseudo-reviews)
Press reviews (OpenCritic)8330
All-time Steam reviews98%941000
Metacritic user ratings8844
Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted)96%91105
Calibration prior (typical game)7250

Acclaim gate: the raw blend lands at 92.2, but scores above 88 must be earned in front of a mass audience; this verdict rests on 24,053 player reviews, a largely self-selected fanbase. As more players weigh in, the ceiling rises (full scale unlocks at 100,000 reviews).

Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 300 reviews sampled · 283 total reviews in window · weighted 79.2 up / 3.3 down · computed 1h ago · full methodology →

Press & Creators reviews (45)

Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.

  • 90
    trust 69May 2, 2021

    Before Your Eyes offers unique gaming experience combined with very emotional and touching story.

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    trust 68Sep 23, 2021

    Before Your Eyes is a very interesting title that combines an emotional story with original controls. The simpler graphics are not at all a bad thing, and together with the soundtrack and intuitive gameplay, they form a hilarious whole. If you're in the mood for a shorter, yet engaging affair, I can only recommend this game. However, I strongly advise you to get a good webcam and prepare a well-lit background beforehand. You won't regret it.

    read full review ↗
  • 90
    trust 65Apr 11, 2023

    Whereas scores of other titles look towards filling potential holes with content, Before Your Eyes has a more special goal in mind: making you appreciate each and every second.

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    trust 65Mar 10, 2023

    Before Your Eyes’ ingenious use of PSVR 2’s eye-tracking technology adds another level of emotion to a wonderfully told story about family and the need to appreciate life.

    read full review ↗
  • 100
    trust 65Apr 6, 2021

    And as simple as the idea of retelling someone’s life story is, there’s an incredible depth to Before Your Eyes and a relatability to it. You aren’t Ben, but you may have similar memories to Ben that help connect you to him.

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    trust 65Mar 10, 2023

    Before Your Eyes left a lump in our throat, which we weren't expecting at all. The game starts fantastical, but eventually matures into a relatably human tale, which we imagine will touch the majority of people who play it. Strong writing, fantastic voice acting, and an outstanding 3D audio mix all contribute to an impressively poignant campaign, which helps showcase how impactful interactive media can be.

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    trust 63Apr 6, 2021

    A few annoying glitches can’t spoil the ground-breaking, emotional journey of Before Your Eyes. An imaginative control method is used in ingenious ways to tell an occasionally uplifting but ultimately heart wrenching story. It’s only a few hours long but that’s more than enough time for this game to get under your skin and leave its mark.

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    trust 63May 29, 2021

    GoodbyeWorld Games have created something incredibly special with Before Your Eyes. It’s a truly great game that explores real human stories through mechanics I’ve never really seen before. It’s a wonderfully crafted indie game that demands to be up there in your must-play list for 2021.

    read full review ↗
  • 70
    trust 63Apr 6, 2021

    Quotation forthcoming.

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    trust 63Apr 21, 2021

    Before Your Eyes understands that experiencing our lives, of storing memories which become precious, is often tied to what we see: the people and the paths stretching out before us. Instead of feeling like a gimmick, Before Your Eyes feels refreshingly natural. Unusual control schemes often make me long for the familiarity of a controller. Sure, I can speak to my Nintendogs using the microphone on the DS, but sometimes I don’t want to yell at my shih tzu on a Delta flight. Before Your Eyes manages to do the opposite. Its unique mechanic matches its narrative so perfectly, that you won’t want to play it any other way.

    read full review ↗
  • 90
    trust 63May 5, 2021

    I was moved beyond words by this little game. Before Your Eyes manages to be interesting and quirky, whilst also finding new ways to immerse you in a beautiful story. It is deeply sad at times, and at others fills you with an immense joy and appreciation for people and their complex lives. There is so much about this game that is better experienced for the first time with no forewarning, but if you like heartfelt stories and powerful narratives, this one's for you.

    read full review ↗
  • 90
    trust 63Apr 7, 2021

    I wasn’t convinced that using a webcam was going to add anything to a video game, but I’m glad to have been proven wrong. Before Your Eyes is an innovative title that uses webcam technology to enhance the story. With a world that you’ll fall in love with and characters you’ll care about, you’ll want to soak up as much of Benny’s life as possible, but only as long as you don’t blink, and unfortunately, that’s got to happen at some point.

    read full review ↗

…and 33 more tracked reviews.

Patch history

  1. Mac M1 Patch
    May 19, 2022
  2. PATCH 1.2.6.2 is now LIVE!
    Apr 24, 2021significant · resets scoring window