Try to win that painting award

Painting Lacy is a free puzzle video game wherein you aim to win in your work life—but at the risk of your personal life. Developed by Aria Mohebi and Benjamin Greenhalgh a.k.a. PoeTahToe, this is a cute 2D indie game that features some psychological horror elements.

While it’s considered a visual novel, Painting Lacy is actually quite short as it only has one ending and can be finished in under 10 minutes. Regardless, the way it tells its story without the usage of text is quite impactful despite the short length.

Communication is important

The goal in Painting Lacy is easy: just complete each coloring task within the short daily time limit. Aside from working, you can chat with Lacy—a cute creature who lives with you. You only need to color in the blank boxes to simulate visual responses to her chat bubbles. Doing so every time will increase your brush size so it’s recommended to talk to her frequently.

What’s challenging here is that you have only five days before you get that award—and each new day will shorten your timer. This means that the closer your deadline gets, the more you’ll be forced to skip chatting with Lacy. Thus, this failing relationship will also decrease your brush size and make coloring much harder. The world will also gradually turn from bright sunny colors to dim and gloomy shades.

Regardless of your actions, there’s only one ending available. Doing a second playthrough will help you spot some secrets more easily but that’s about it. The strictly linear nature of the story and gameplay can be frustrating since it seems as if you could change the outcome with your choices. However, the way the plot unfolds with only visuals and no dialogue between characters is still quite impressive.

The farewell was too quick

Overall, Painting Lacy is an interesting little indie game despite its rigidness and short length. Its repetitive gameplay is reminiscent of Routine Feat and can hit close to home for those who find themselves in a similar position. Despite it being a psychological horror, there’s actually not a lot of horror elements either—although the implication of the ending is still there.