The Berlin Apartment Review

Narrative adventure The Berlin Apartment tells moving stories about people living through oppressive times.

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The Berlin Apartment. Credit: Blue Backpack / ByteRockers’ Games / Parco Games

The Berlin Apartment, from developers Blue Backpack, ByteRockers’ Games, and Parco Games, is a narrative adventure that explores a century of German history through the lives of the different residents of a single apartment. Rather than focusing on grand historical events, the game grounds its lessons in intimate, personal stories—emotionally resonant vignettes that make the past feel human and immediate.

The framing device is set in 2020, as Dilara, a young girl, accompanies her father, Malik, while he renovates the long-neglected apartment for new tenants. As walls are torn down and old tiles lifted, Dilara discovers photographs, letters, and other forgotten artifacts buried beneath layers of history. Each discovery prompts Malik to recount the story of a former resident, piecing together lives shaped and often broken by the political realities of their time.

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The Berlin Apartment. Credit: Blue Backpack / ByteRockers’ Games / Parco Games

In 1989, when the apartment sat on the eastern side of the Berlin Wall, a lonely botanist befriends an artist living across the divide by exchanging messages via paper airplanes. The quiet tenderness of their connection is underscored by the ever-present danger he knowingly places himself in.

In 1945, a young girl celebrates Christmas with her mother and brother amid the cold and ruin, as bombed-out walls expose the apartment to the winter air. Her father, a Nazi soldier, never returned from the war, and her mother’s grief is compounded by a heavy sense of shame.

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The Berlin Apartment. Credit: Blue Backpack / ByteRockers’ Games / Parco Games

In 1933, an elderly Jewish man packs his belongings and searches the apartment one last time before fleeing Berlin. When the Nazis burn down the neighborhood movie theater he built and loved, he understands that staying is no longer an option.

Finally, in 1967, a young novelist struggles against the constant demands of East Germany’s Publishing Authority, which insists on changes to her work. As the pressure mounts, she imagines herself as the fearless astronaut in her science-fiction story, transforming her apartment into a spaceship. She refuses to surrender her voice to the whims of the regime as her father once did to preserve his own career.

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The Berlin Apartment. Credit: Blue Backpack / ByteRockers’ Games / Parco Games

The gameplay itself isn’t compelling on its own; it exists primarily to guide players through these stories with light interactivity. That’s certainly a flaw, but one the game mostly gets away with thanks to its short length and strong writing. Progression is low-stakes, usually requiring you to interact with a handful of objects in the apartment to move the story forward. The only skill-based element, a minigame where you guide paper airplanes to a target, can be skipped after repeated failures, reinforcing the idea that narrative, not challenge, is the priority.

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The Berlin Apartment. Credit: Blue Backpack / ByteRockers’ Games / Parco Games

Visually, the game’s charming presentation contrasts sharply with the darkness of the events unfolding beyond the apartment walls. The cartoonish, cel-shaded 3D art style is a deliberate choice that softens the delivery of heavy subject matter and makes it more approachable, particularly for younger players. The character designs are expressive and full of personality, though the first-person perspective means we don’t always get to see them in full.

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The Berlin Apartment. Credit: Blue Backpack / ByteRockers’ Games / Parco Games

The voice performances, much of which consists of internal monologue, are excellent across the board. Unfortunately, this also feeds into my biggest frustration with the game: dialogue cannot be skipped or fast-forwarded. I tend to read far more quickly than the performances, and being forced to wait for each line to finish, without the ability to interact with the environment, occasionally tested my patience. The writing is strong, but not always strong enough to justify hanging on every spoken word.

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The Berlin Apartment. Credit: Blue Backpack / ByteRockers’ Games / Parco Games

Despite its mechanical shortcomings, The Berlin Apartment is compelling thanks to its structure and storytelling. The gameplay may not be particularly engaging, but the narrative is powerful enough to carry the experience. More than anything, the game shines as an educational tool. It’s one of the most effective and empathetic presentations of this historical subject matter I’ve encountered in the medium.

The Berlin Apartment is available now on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Overall Score: 7/10

Played on: PS5