In Their Shoes

In Their Shoes is a collection of choice-based slice-of-life short stories set in a city of contrasts like present-day Milan. You step into the lives of seven characters through 49 everyday Moments, each lasting about five minutes. Their choices explore questions of gender, culture and lifestyle through ordinary doubts, joys and tensions.

Seven characters

The stories follow Nico, Vale, Pier, Nina, Lara, Emma and Alex. Nico’s height has not always been an advantage; Vale has spent three-quarters of their 30 years playing video games and loses a sixth of each day to traffic on the Beltway. At 18, Pier wonders whether life offers more than sleeping with girls. Nina has a tattoo on her left thigh that reads “Ms. Independent,” while Lara is certain of her love of a good book. Emma misses the Spanish seaside, and Alex, who began losing his hair at 21, wonders if it might grow back two decades later.

Choices and thoughts

You make subtle but meaningful choices in everyday situations, such as viewing an apartment, talking on the phone with a partner, standing at a bar, speaking with a former best friend or joining a street protest. The visual novel mechanics let you enter each protagonist’s tangled thoughts. Each character has 26 biographical details to collect by making specific choices and exploring thoughts.

At least two Moments for each character include timed choices or real-time events, such as meeting a condescending boss or saying goodbye as a train’s doors close. The game also includes dozens of unique endings and connections between different Moments.

Moments and seasons

You can rearrange the Moments into chronological order across four seasons in Milan, using clues in the dialogue to solve the timeline puzzle. The game also features a combinatory original soundtrack by Nicolò Sala.