Self-Comb Women: Home Left Behind is a first-person walking simulator woven from real-world environments and historical memories.
Gameplay
In the game, you will explore multiple traditional Cantonese buildings from a first-person perspective, uncovering a forgotten story by interpreting the information left behind in these spaces. Players can use various tools such as books, cameras, and flashlights. Most rooms are accessible, offering a more immersive exploration experience.
Features
The game is fully developed using real-world scene scanning, delivering detailed visual fidelity.
It includes a large number of letters, photos, documents, and maps, enriching the scenes with historical depth.
The story is adapted from oral histories and field research, faithfully presenting the folklore, architecture, and traditional culture of the Pearl River Delta region in China.
Cultural Background
From 2022 to 2024, artist Pu Xiaoyue identified several former sites of Gupo Wu during field investigations, most of which are at risk of collapse or demolition. In 2023, Pu Xiaoyue collaborated with Fang Zheng and Xu Xiuxian from Old Media Art to use 3D technology to preserve these rarely documented collective spaces for unmarried women. By connecting the research findings with the life narratives of Self-comb Women, the project introduces marginalized female communities from historical archives to a broader audience through the medium of a game. All spatial scenes in this game are based on on-site scans of Gupo Wu in the Pearl River Delta region.
Self-comb Women: Women in the Pearl River Delta during China's feudal period who chose to remain unmarried for life.
Gupo Wu: Collective buildings established by self-comb women, serving as spaces for elder care, worship, and daily life, forming unique female community hubs.
Playtime
Approximately 45–60 minutes.
Note: This is not a horror game.