The Berlin Apartment Reviews
An interesting and personal feeling set of first person histories that barely constitute a video game and yet wouldn’t really work in any other medium.
The Berlin Apartment is a short but sweet walk through a century of history of the German capital, where the underlying theme is life under oppression; of the Third Reich at first, and of the DDR later. Good voiceover, pleasant visual style, but the "gameplay" is a bit clunky at times.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Minimalist yet poignant, The Berlin Apartment offers a handful of narrative vignettes allowing players to experience the tumultuous history of Germany across the decades. Though brief, its stories pack an emotional punch that won't be forgotten.
The Berlin Apartment is certainly a nice tribute to the history of the titular city. With gorgeous scenery evolving through time that tells the tales of its residents, the apartment is a delight to explore. However, a more intriguing main narrative or engaging gameplay mechanics would’ve been a massive boon for the game. A gorgeous art style and heartwarming sentimentality make The Berlin Apartment an enjoyable experience, albeit one that struggles to stand against the genre’s best.
The Berlin Apartment is not an anthology. It is not a collection of stories. It is a single story told by those who remain. By those who silently observe every departure and every return. And that someone is us. The game doesn't put us in the protagonists' shoes. It puts us in the shoes of the home they inhabit, carrying the full weight of a century of history.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The stories these walls could tell...
The Berlin Apartment is an intimate and delicate experience, capable of telling small but significant stories through a “simple” apartment in the city of Berlin and a narrative arc spanning almost 120 years. Although it does not shine in terms of originality in its gameplay mechanics (not fully exploiting their potential), the title impresses with its narrative effectiveness, the emotional power of the stories it tells, and its artistic attention to detail, making it particularly recommended for fans of historical narratives and lovers of contemplative experiences.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Berlin Apartment is a small narrative gem that encapsulates a century of history through the lives of ordinary people. Blue Backpack’s work moves, surprises, and invites players to reflect on the weight of memory and the value of change, even when it does so with modest means and a few inevitable technical imperfections.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Berlin Apartment is a charming journey into German history through four well-written stories that manage to leave a strong impression.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
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Review in German | Read full review
The Berlin Apartment tells some wonderful little stories that’ll make you feel emotions from both ends of the spectrum, and it gives a heartfelt glimpse into life in Berlin at key moments in its history.
With a short but engaging interactive narrative, the four-hour campaign of The Berlin Apartment showcases a century of transformations in the namesake city. The journey through time in Berlin is seen through the windows of an apartment and reflected in the lives of the people who inhabited it. There are many details to contemplate and some creative interaction mechanics that enrich its stories, although the superficiality of others leave something to be desired.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The Berlin Apartment is a risky attempt at making a story-based video game. It puts historical stories and emotional impact above standard game mechanics, combat, and puzzles. Its episode structure, simple gameplay, and careful attention to detail in the environments make for a thoughtful experience that feels both personal and historically vast.
A smart, sensitive walking simulator built around a real, evocative setting rendered with strong style. Josef, Kolja, and the others carry a focused 4–5 hour narrative that stays engaging despite minimal gameplay and limited interactivity. For players who value story-first experiences, it delivers concentrated narrative substance without distractions.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Berlin Apartment is more of a good idea than a good execution. There's a good story here, but I feel like all the others fall into the category of "good premise that wasn't explored as it should have been."
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
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Review in Italian | Read full review
The Berlin Apartment doesn't have any grinding mechanics. The story is the only way to move forward, and the game opens up more as you get deeper into it. It's a slower, more thoughtful kind of progress, where each step forward feels like it was earned by exploring and thinking about things instead of doing the same things over and over again.
Treat The Berlin Apartment like a quiet evening experience. Make a hot cup of coffee or tea or chocolate, dim the lights, settle in and let the stories breathe. The Berlin Apartment does not try to entertain you with gameplay, it tries to move you with perspective. And if you give it the patience it asks for, it succeeds.
There are few places that can match the modern history of a city like Berlin. The past century has seen regimes rise and fall in a massive way, due to which we often forget that the city was inhabited by regular people like ourselves. These are stories of victims, of those who refused to let these huge events stop their lives, of survivors. They are also tales of the beauty of the human spirit. The Berlin Apartment is a beautiful testimony to the perseverance of the people of Berlin and to human kindness itself.
The game is much more than "just another indie title", yet it competes precisely in this category and must prove itself there. If one were to isolate the gameplay alone it probably wouldn't win any awards, but overall the game is one of the most unique experiences I've had with the medium this year and shouldn't get lost in the vast pool of 2025 releases. The Berlin Apartment tells the story of an apartment in a simplified form, but in doing so it also tells the story of an entire country through four individual fates in a way that is both relatable and captivating.
Review in German | Read full review