A game in the fake OS genre, where you're presented with the desktop of a fictional computer and stick your nose where it doesn't belong progress through the story using various apps: email, browser, messengers, etc.

lily's world is a solid debut that benefits from a bit of self-exploitation: the developer generously uses personal photos from different years of her life throughout the narrative. The game has two main themes: body dysmorphia (drawn from the developer's own experience) and the dangers of cults. The two are intertwined, and everything would be fine if not for the flirting with the supernatural. No, the supernatural stuff itself isn't the problem. The problem is that—❗️ spoilers ahead ❗️—for two-thirds of the game, it tries to scare you with "oh no, your computer is possessed, everything is glitching and flashing, they're already here!" only to drop all of that in favor of a much more grounded ending.

I was surprised to see some ARG (alternate reality game) elements—a technique where the creators build something OUTSIDE the game, in the real world, that's still connected to it. For example, at one point you're encouraged to look up a certain organization's Instagram account. And the account actually exists, complete with a whole feed of posts! The comments are full of people who apparently stumbled upon it by accident and genuinely have no idea what kind of weird business they're looking at... Even cooler was calling a phone number an in-game character gave me in chat. I literally heard an automated message with my own ears, then went back into the game and told the character what I'd heard. (Worth noting that the game explicitly asks whether you can call US phone numbers. You can say "no," and the story will progress differently.)

While the gameplay dabbles in the supernatural, the story itself doesn't: the creepiest monsters are people. Sure, it's pretty on-the-nose, but even that approach makes sense here, since another message of the story is about unconditional love for your friends. The kind where you don't need an elaborate reason to help, keep searching, or refuse to give up. You just can't do otherwise. It doesn't even occur to you to act any differently. Such selfless, almost martyr-like devotion might make some people go, "what a load of bullshit!" But if you've ever encountered something like that in real life, you won't have any questions, just empathy.