The release date for How to Say Goodbye, a poignant narrative about life, death and mourning, has been announced. Created by ARTE France, Florian Veltman and Baptise Portefaix, How to Say Goodbye is a narrative puzzle game full of poetry following one ghost's journey in the great beyond.

In the majority of video games, death is treated as an almost minor thing, just one of many mooks defeated to get to the end credits. Some games do touch on the grief of those who lose a loved one, but How to Say Goodbye follows a character just after their death, accepting their demise and passing through the other side.

The puzzle gameplay takes place on a grid, with a variety of characters and decor available shifting around, with the goal being to help those that need to pass on reach a door. The movement however is not character based. Instead, the entire row gets shifted, so players will need to contend with obstacles and some not-so-nice spirits as they try to reach the exit.

With an art style inspired by some classics of children’s literature such as Tove Jansson and Maurice Sendak, the game takes on a storybook look befitting its narrative nature. Despite its deep subject matter, the art and the jaunty music style keep the game on a more reflective nature instead of morbidity.

When discussing the game's origins, designer, Florian Veltman, said: "Grief is a universal experience unique to each individual, and one that evokes strong emotions. However, in most video games, it is reduced to a violent act: death is used as a metaphor to indicate to the player in an extremely binary way that he loses or wins, that he exists or does not exist anymore. We wanted to approach the subject in a more subtle and positive way, with sensitivity."

How to Say Goodbye will be released on November 3rd and is available to pre-register on the App Store and Google Play.