The world can sometimes feel like a scary place, and the pressure to make the most of every moment can seem all-consuming at times. Gaming offers an escape from this reality, and cozy games like While Waiting can force you to slow down, take a breath, and investigat?e the world around you. 

While Waiting is a game developed by Optillusion, and while the demo has been available to play for a while, the full game finally has a solid release date, and it’s going to be available? for download on February 5??. 

The sole premise of While Waiting is, well, waiting for things to happen. Waiting for a bus, waiting for the rain to stop, or waiting for something to cookâ€?All you really need to do is wait, and there’s no way to make things happen quicker. It's something we’ve all had to face at some point, and everyone gets impatient for things at times, but While Waiting is the ultimate challenge of that feeling. 

It might not seem like riveting gameplay at first, but there’s more to While Waiting than first meets the eye. Each ??individual scene has a variety of different challenges to complete in the time it takes to wait, and you can usually only complete one challenge per scene before the awaited event happens, so you can return and play again at any moment. 

While Waiting will have over 100 different scenarios to play through, and you’re guaranteed to find one that resonates with things you’ve experienced in real life. All parents have waited for a child to go to sleep, and waiting for the elevator is almost a daily experience. These moments in life can drive us nuts, but While Waiting is almos??t a life lesson in finding a distraction, something to pass the time before something can happen??. 

Sure, the challenges in each scenario are largely meaningless. While waiting for the bus, you can repeatedly take leaflets from someone and plaster them on the bulletin board inside the bus stop, but h?ey, it’s something to do. There’s also one challenge that appears in every level, and that’s to “do nothing� This might be the most challenging of all to complete, because each level is packed with details to explore.

Hidden within the different scenarios of While Waiting is the story of the main character’s progression ?through life, from childhood to parenthood and beyond. It’s cleverly?? done, and the aging process happens almost without you truly noticing, but there are moments where the scenarios hit you straight in the feels. 

If you’re impatient for February 5 and want to begin the journey toward managing that impatience now, you can download the While Waiting demo, which includes 10?? scenarios to play ??through, via Steam right now.

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