The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
Gameplay
The player controls the recently deceased Benjamin Brynn on his way to the afterlife. The player must interact with Brynn's memories through eye-tracking technology to progress through the game. The player's eye movements and blinking is registered by the game, as blinking is the player's main way of interacting with the game, including moving time forward an indeterminate amount of time in Brynn's life. This narrative structure was inspired by the 1949 stage play Death of a Salesman, which portrays the story partly through the protagonist's memories. The player can instead opt to play with a mouse instead of a webcam, as clicking will perform the same actions as blinking.
Story
Benjamin "Benny" Brynn floats on a dark sea, before being picked up by a boat helmed by the Ferryman. Benny is unable to speak or gesture, though the Ferryman is able to perceive his blinking, which becomes his primary mode of communication. The Ferryman explains that he senses something unique in Benny, and is bringing him to the Gatekeeper for judgement. If deemed worthy, Benny will be allowed to enter the Gatekeeper's paradise and the Ferryman will be rewarded; if not, Benny will be turned into one of the seagulls that frequently crowd the boat.
To facilitate this, the Ferryman asks him to recount his memories so that he may be able to spin a tale for the Gatekeeper. However, he explains that Benny will be unable to stay within the memories, as they will flash forward as soon as he blinks.
Development
The idea for the game was originally conceived of in 2014 in an intro to game development class at the University of Southern California, when a student assistant, Will Hellwarth, talked about his experience modifying a game to read and respond to the player's eyes using the built-in camera. Two students attending the lesson would then team up with Hellwarth to develop a project surrounding this idea. After two months of development, the team released the project Close Your, which they would present at IndieCade. The game went on to win the Developer's Choice award at the show. The game was later exhibited at the Independent Games Festival at GDC in 2015, where it won the award for Best Student Game.
After the success of their exhibitions of Close Your, the team decided to start a Kickstarter to fund the project in 2016. The project was successfully funded, and was originally slated for a 2017 release date, though the team struggled with sporadic development until 2018, when they received funding from RYOT.
Reception
Before Your Eyes generally received positive reviews from critics, especially the story, though the controls were often noted as inconsistent. It received "generally favorable reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic.
The story of the game received praise. Andrew King of GameSpot called it "moving", explaining that its thesis has a "beautiful defense". He described the vocal performances as "powerful" and that they "help the game reach new emotional depths". Marcus Stewart of Game Informer commended the game's writing as "earnest and thoughtful", and was surprised by his investment in the cast over the short course of the game.
