HOW TO SAY GOODBYE

Moving on, and every which way

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Do you remember Miffy? For some, the cute white rabbit created by Dutch author and illustrator Dick Bruna always had something of an unsettling air, with her tiny, black, unblinking eyes. And are those whiskers, or has her mouth been stitched shut?

For Florian Veltman and Baptiste Portefaix, one Miffy book in particular has been something of a key text in the creation of How To Say Goodbye. As we talk, Veltman fetches Dear Grandma Bunny, a Miffy tale in which the character bids a heartfelt farewell to her grandmother. He shows us the startling image of Grandma Bunny nestled in her bright yellow coffin, eyes closed. It's a remarkable picture, a juxtaposition of warm colours and simple shapes with a stark depiction of death.

"It's very, very much designed for children, and the way it's written is very direct as well," Veltman says of the book. "In videogames, that is not something that we explore in this way quite often. In narrative games, grief is very often explored in a very melancholic way. And we find the way Bruna deals with grief in a very direct way in those stories very powerful. Hopefully, we can carry some of that over in our story as well." Portefaix echoes Veltman's thoughts, citing the Moomins as another strong influence on How To Say Goodbye, in particular the sombre Moominvalley In November, Tove Jansson's final book in the series, written after the death of her mother.