Hazy Days

Pollution is a serious concern in big cities around the world, mainly because of the cars and the factories that keep spilling all sorts of toxic waste into the air. Granted, there are regulations nowadays that demand car manufacturers to produce cleaner engines, not to mention the huge taxes people have to pay in order to own a heavily polluting car and use it inside the city.

Hazy Days is a simple game in which you play the role of a little girl by the name of Xiao Feng, who decides to visit her grandmother for Chinese New Year. However, she must first make it one week without getting sick from the noxious fumes that float around the city. As funny as it may sound, this can be defined as a breathing simulator, because that’s what most of the gameplay is about.

Xiao Feng must go school every day, which means that she is exposed to pollution for quite a while during her walk. The gameplay revolves around inhaling and exhaling at the right time, and you only have to use your mouse to do so. In order to keep the girl healthy, you must inhale enough Oxygen to keep the supply steady, but you must also watch out for pollution while doing so.

As you may have already guessed, it’s very difficult to avoid pollution entirely, so it’s only natural that you’ll end up with a few nasty substances on your lungs. However, you can clean most of it while playing the mini-game at the end of each day. In short, you just have to click the mouse button at the right time, and keep up with the increasing pace.

Speaking of which, the pollution gets worse with each day, so it gets significantly more difficult to avoid the black stuff later in the week. Although it takes quite a bit of to get Xiao Feng sick, things can go downhill in a flash if you are not careful. Even so, you always have the option to replay the last day, so it should be easy to complete the game after a few tries.

When it’s all said and done, Hazy Days is not trying to open your eyes to some kind of secret truth, because everyone is aware how bad pollution can get in big cities. However, it’s a more personal and engaging message, especially since you experience it through the eyes of a child.