The character Britta from the TV show Community once, when challenged, described an analogy as “like a thought with another thought’s hat on”, which is pretty good. So, that being the case, Sea Of Solitude is like a whole bunch of thoughts wearing other thoughts’ hats. The thoughts all did a wacky hat swap at the office for Comic Relief, and now none of the thoughts are wearing their own hat anymore. If you look closely you’ll notice that a few of the new hats don’t quite fit, but generally they work.

I’m not going overboard in saying that. When I spoke to Cornelia Geppart a couple of weeks ago, she made it clear that everything in Sea Of Solitude has a secondary meaning. The easiest to parse is the sea, which, in this colourful but serious-thinking adventure, is a stand in for loneliness and solitude. It’s a barrier that keeps Kay, a young woman and the character you play as, from her loved ones. The game is about navigating that sea.

Read more