Some Goodbyes We Made is a collection of sorrowfully sweet games about saying goodbye

As the end of the UK workday approaches, and the last few grains of sand trickle through the neck of the huge, obsidian hourglass our overlord Graham keeps on his desk, let me bid you goodbye by writing up Some Goodbyes We Made.

Created by Safe Flight Games, it's an hour-long collection of 11 minigames which include pint-sized visual novels, platformers and free-standing character creators, all contained within a charming faux-desktop interface. As the title implies, each is about the act of saying farewell to something or someone - an old home, your university life, a friend you're no longer on good terms with. "You'll see how the protagonist preserves the sadness and profundity of their goodbyes through these minigames, and feel the unique complexity, heartache, or beauty of each one," explains the Steam page.

While they're obviously going square for the emoti-glands, the games appear quite mischievous in style. There's one in which you wave frantically with the mouse cursor while your train pulls away, and another that looks a little like Earthbound in which you are a kid raising hell during a house move.

Safe Flight's two developers are both alumni of New York University Game Center. I've played a lot of absorbing smaller experimental games from NYU Game Center grads. I also love the concept of a collection of endings - a sort of anti-demo disc, if you will. It reminds me a bit of John Thyer's micro-RPG Facets.

All that said, I'm not entirely sure I want to actually experience Some Goodbyes We Made - or at least, it's not a game I'd jump into offhandedly. The developers note that in the course of playing the game "you might also revisit the goodbyes of your own life", which is a kind thought, but I've said some goodbyes I don't personally want to revisit.

Still, I'm glad that this game exists and, given a certain amount of mental preparation, intrigued to see how they've pursued the concept across different genres. I wouldn't mind playing a compilation of ending sequences from other games, slotting the final mission from Mass Effect 2 in alongside the Death Egg Zone from Sonic 2, and challenging people who've played neither to make sense of it all. What would you put in yours?

Some Goodbyes We Made will launch on 25th October. And with that, dear reader, I will bid you not goodbye, but see you tomorrow.