Tune Den: A Story About My Uncle

A Story About My Uncle does not have weapons, armor, or any shiny loots. You do not play a grand adventurer, a hero or villain changing the world. You play as a young boy searching for his missing uncle, armed only with a grappling hook and a suit that lets you jump very far. You won’t fight your way through enemies but you will explore a strange and wonderful world using the few tools that you have. The emphasis in this game is the story, the scenery, and flying through the air at dizzying speeds.

The story is short (it took me 6 hours to play through it) but cute and heartwarming. It’s narrated by a father telling a story to his daughter about when he was young and his inventor uncle disappeared for months. The voiceovers seem a little off sometimes but other than that, I think they’re well done. The graphics are quite beautiful, as you’ll see in the screenshots at the bottom of this post. And while some of the level designs were frustrating to get through, the mechanics overall were a lot of fun.

But enough of that. This is a Tune Den post, which means that we’re going to talk about the music. In A Story About My Uncle, your character is by himself, facing these obstacles alone. And there’s almost no monsters to speak of, so the soundtrack (or lack of it) is what’s used to set the mood.

The theme that you hear on the main menu gives you a good idea what the rest of the soundtrack will sound like. There’s a feeling of exploration, curiosity, and reminiscing about the past.

A Sign of Life is my favorite track. I don’t want to give away any spoilers but you can just feel the wonder and harmony the boy experiences when he comes across a beautiful, peaceful village.

The Wishing Stones is as energetic as it gets in this game. It also plays during the level where I had the most trouble! Because you’re not just grappling from place to place, you’re grappling from objects that are also falling down into a bottomless pit. I know it did a good job of making my palms sweat.