is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.
In Henry Halfhead, you play through the life of a person named Henry. But there are a couple twists. Henry is only half of a head — just eyes, ears, nose, and the top of their head — meaning they move around by sliding on the floor and jumping up and down. Also, Henry can possess everyday objects. It’s a strange concept, but the developers at Lululu Entertainment use the goofy ideas to tell a poignant story and have a lot of fun along the way.
The game starts with Henry as a baby in their nursery, bouncing around the room to wreak havoc. As you play, you’ll progress to different rooms and age up through different stages of Henry’s life, and the ability to possess basically every object you can see lets you get into all sorts of trouble at every age. I particularly liked a sequence where I had to attempt to set candles on a birthday cake to celebrate my own third birthday. As a school-aged kid, I helped Henry make a mess in the classroom.
The objects are all placed in such a way to invite you to tinker with them and treat everything like a big virtual playroom. Despite my tendency to break plates or scatter items around haphazardly, I never ran into any way to “lose,” which really encouraged me to experiment with things and not worry about anything “bad” happening.
The bright graphics, goofy sounds (especially Henry’s “yips” when hopping from place to place), and an omniscient British narrator all added to the charming and inviting environment. If the controlled whimsy all sounds a little bit like Katamari Damacy, it’s a clear inspiration; at one point, I found a radio on a shelf that looks just Katamari’s iconic green protagonist, and one section of Henry Halfhead had Henry rolling around as a laundry-collecting ball.
As you might have guessed about a game chronicling somebody’s entire life, Henry Halfhead can get a little real. Without getting into the details, a good chunk of the game takes place during Henry’s soul-crushing adult job, and the final chapter of the game stars an elderly Henry. You can probably guess what happens before the credits roll.
But the broader message of the whole game is all about being creative, trying new things, and celebrating joy where you can. At the end of my two-hour playthrough, I was a little emotional that my journey with Henry was over, but I’m inspired to channel Henry’s silliness into my own life.
Henry Halfhead is available now on PC, PS5, and Nintendo Switch.
