HOW WE KNOW WE'RE ALIVE
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
HOW WE KNOW WE'RE ALIVE is a free hour long melancholy, point-and-click narrative mystery set in the bible belt of Sweden.
"A mature and thought-provoking tale that will resonate with many people long after it has been completed"
"How We Know We're Alive will break your heart."
"A deeply touching and emotional game that really hits hard. Highly recommended."
Welcome to Härunga – a small industrial town in the bible belt of the mid–north of Sweden. You play as Sara, an aspiring writer who, after having been away for 10 years, returns home in order to investigate the tragic fate of her estranged best friend.
The days grow short quickly this far up north – and the rain never seems to let up...
Lovingly crafted and richly animated, explore the melancholy atmosphere of a small town that time seemingly forgot.
Meet old friends and enemies and piece together the mystery of what happened after your friendship tragically fell apart.
As in life, what you say will impact things in hidden ways and not everything may be as it seems. Who is telling whose truth and can you know the difference?
HOW WE KNOW WE'RE ALIVE is a passion project among friends and completely free for everyone. However, if you would really like to support this and future projects you can pay 2€ or more and get access to HOW WE KNOW WE'RE ALIVE – DELUXE EDITION which includes:
- 5x High quality custom made desktop wallpapers
- 6x High quality custom made phone backgrounds
- 4x Animated custom made phone backgrounds
- Mastered version of the original soundtrack including unused tracks, composed by Ivan Starenius
- Digital ART BOOK, with detailed versions of used and unused sprites and artwork
- A PDF of the original script, written by Imogen West-Knights
Created & directed by August Håkansson
Art & animation by Leo Köhler & August Håkansson
Written by Imogen West-Knights & August Håkansson
Original soundtrack by Ivan Starenius
Contact and press: hello@augusthakansson.com
Presskit: https://howweknowwerealive.com/presskit/
Motvind logo design: Andreas Knutsson
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- OUT NOWMay 01, 2021
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
<3 so good
This is an amazing click-and-point game. I really like the art style, soundtrack, and how the characters were written. Maybe it's just me but the last conversation with Lina made me hate her (the death still reads as a suicide to me even with what Lina says), but also realistically I don't know what else would have helped Sara realise that she never really knew who Maria was. Definitely looking forward to see what Motvind creates in the future.
Such a perfect mystery for my cozy horror/mystery channel! I loved narrating the story and sharing my thoughts about Sara, guilt, and grief.
This is a very amazing game. I like all aspects of this game, starting from the storyline, message, and of course the amazing graphics and music. I'm looking forward to playing your next game. Awesome Game!!
WOW just WOW.
It is a war crime that this is up as a name your own price. I could see it going for $10-$20. Please keep making games. Your storytelling and dialogue is very natural and beautiful.
Beautiful game that I would love to finish, but unfortunately it is glitching out for me. After visiting the house, it seems from other playthrough videos I am supposed to get more dialogue with Elsa, but that doesn't happen for me. The teacher does not show up outside the bar either. Too bad, but what I was able to play was great!
Thank you for this amazing game!
If interested, you can check my full game playthrough here:
Esse jogo é lindo em todos os aspectos. Ele possui uma história e uma trilha sonora muito boa, que te deixa totalmente submerso dentro do game. Certamente uma experiência memorável...
Cool art style. Will there be gamepad support?
A tight short game that will sneak up and punch you right in the feels. The effort in the graphics, music, and story really shows. Play it. Seriously it's worth the time.
Finally got around to playing this masterpiece, didn’t expect to be in my feels lol.
crying is my favorite thing thank you
---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☑ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS
---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☑ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't
---{ Audio }---
☑ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf
---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☑ Grandma
---{ PC Requirements }---
☑ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer
---{ Difficulty }---
☑ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls
---{ Grind }---
☑ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding
---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☑ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life
---{ Game Time }---
☑ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond
---{ Price }---
☑ It's free!
☐ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money
---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs
---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☑ 9
☐ 10
Lovely sotry. I really enjoyed the soundtracks
you are a legend
respect + thank you so much
Nada nunca jamás se va a poder comparar con ese sentimiento al caminar por el bosque después de todo. Fue una experiencia simplemente inolvidable.
This is honestly the most emotional game ive got to find here! i loved it, congrats!!
I loved the game; the story is touching, sad, and profound, it really resonates with the heart. On the other hand, the graphic design is gorgeous. Keep creating these works of art.
so lovely. rainy day at a hometown and everything that was left behind. but not forgotten. never forgotten.
One of the best point and click games I've played in a long time. The art style is gorgeous and the game it self, deep and meaningful. It deserves all the awards and is very heart warming. I am a big fan.
Damn... This game brought tears to my eyes :'-(
I loved it still though, great job! The graphics were simple, but worked extremely well in this <3 (and I love myself a good 'retro' styled game)
Could you make a Live wallpaper for PC, please
First game I played from itch. It was amazing, the art style, the soundtrack, and just the simplicity of the story. Loved It. It was so soothing but at the same time also heavy. Awesome.
This game was stunning and beautiful and sad. I'm so happy I found it but I never want to play or read anything like it again. Playtime took me 37 minutes but the feelings that this game evoked will be with me for a while. At least until I fall asleep, but perhaps even days after. I can feel my eyes tearing up. I wish I hadn't gone into this blind.
I played this because I love anything Sweden (and it did deliver with the atmospheric rainy autumn and miscellaneous culture flavor text :D). I really like playing a thoughtful game that's short and sweet too. It's one of those stories that I'll think about every so often. Tack snalla~!
Amazing game,art and soundtrack is beautiful,story is sad but soulful,my admiration to people who worked on that game,its a real masterpiece of melancholic game with great story. 5\5
this game truly deserves all the awards, i am just in love with everything about it from the concept overall to the story to the art. the vibe created of the quaint, childhood-memory filled, very religious town in sweden was very immersive and i found myself engrossed in that little pixel world. the story is really deep and intriguing as well, and i enjoy the detective/investigation gameplay aspect.
I don't know how a game can get so stuck in people's hearts but in mine at least it has succeeded, precious
Beautiful game. I greatly enjoyed the story. Lovely work.
such a good game. story was so deep and I cried at the end. loved this game so much
This game made me cry. 10/10 experience. would recommend.
What was the code 748 for? (in the church)
This game is amazing. I wouldn't have expected how it would go in a million years.
Game was amazing! (SPOILER ALERT) Although i realiced that Sara also got gaslighted, she had all the right to leave the town she disliked and planned on doing so for years with Maria, Maria never told her that she changed her plans till the last moment, nor that she became religious, there was no communication, its normal each of them went on their own life paths, so how could Sara know anything on her life if Maria didnt plan on doing so till the last moment too, Maria also had no idea of Sara's life. I felt like the end could have been different, but the game was such an artpiece.
Is there a Swedish language version? I see language in the options, but it doesn't change to anything besides English. Thanks!
The first time a free indie game has made me cry. In your face, Deltarune.
This game has put Moltvind on the map for me, and I would without a doubt by the full version of this if you were to expand it. It almost scalds the player for expecting succinct and simple answers to their detective questions; for taking the characters as NPCs. But the premium-quality of the writing makes very clear that these are human beings, not video game characters. Even though I had no control over the protagonist's past, I felt the full guilt of leaving Maria and doubting people in grief. Sara's wrongdoings are my wrongdoings.