What Remains of Edith Finch is a tragic tale of life, death, and discovery. As protagonist Edith Finch, you inherit a family estate filled with memories and mysteries. Unfortunately, the abode comes with a curse: Every relative who grew up there has died there. As the last surviving member of her family, Edith returns to her childhood home in search of answers and closure.

Developer Giant Sparrow’s acclaimed adventure game tugged at the heartstrings back in 2017, and it’s every bit as poignant and timely today. Edith’s story may flirt with the supernatural, but the love and loss she has experienced in life is a universal, terribly tangible feeling.

What Remains of Edith Finch tells its story as a series of stirring vignettes, each reliving an untimely family death. From a hunting trip to a seaside view, these moments run the gamut of moods, whether whimsical, campy, melancholic, or nostalgic. While all are memorable, here are five particular tales that sit with you long after the credits roll.

Spoiler alert: This article delves into major story elements of What Remains of Edith Finch. If you’re worried about spoilers, we encourage you to play through the game before reading.
 

Calvin’s Story

Calvin’s vignette is one of the first you’ll encounter at the Finch estate, and it pulls no punches. The twin brother to Sam Finch, Calvin is as determined at 11 years old as he is courageous. Following the death of their older sister Barbara, he and his brother vow to live without fear. 

One day outside the Finch home, Calvin puts that bravery to the test. As the two wait for dinner, Calvin rocks back and forth on the family swing, aiming to complete a full circle. Eventually, the brothers are summoned, but Calvin stays, resolved to see his task through. As the player, you witness this feat firsthand, driving the swing higher and higher. Each tap of the controls gives the boy more speed, more power, and more distance. As the swing groans, Calvin ascends, giving players a glimpse of the ocean and the boy’s still-fresh foot cast. 

Then the wind picks up, the rocking intensifies, and the camera blurs to a near-dizzying degree. Calvin achieves the unthinkable, completing a full rotation—and then two more. He loses control of the swing, bracing his legs for impact. Instead, he flies off the swing, catapulting himself into the ocean as the screen fades to white.

Beyond the scene itself, what makes Calvin’s story so tragic is the way Edith Finch incorporates gameplay into the narrative. You can see the devastation coming, bracing yourself for the unthinkable just as Calvin does. Unfortunately, you must see his story through to its fateful conclusion.
 

Barbara’s Story

Soon after visiting Calvin’s room in the Finch estate, you’ll come across Barbara’s. Calvin and Sam’s sister was a famous child star during the 1950s, best known for her iconic horror movie scream. In a comic book detailing her demise, players experience the exaggerated tale of a then 16-year-old Barbara.

In her vignette, Barbara has faded from popularity. However, she’s received an invite to attend a local horror convention and intends to use the platform to rekindle the spark with her fanbase. As her boyfriend helps her perfect her scream for the event, her father, Sven, is rushed to the hospital after maiming himself with a power saw down in the Finch family’s basement. 

As they await Sven’s return, the couple hears a TV news headline about a mob of masked individuals terrorizing the neighborhood. As if on cue, a thud rings from the basement. After letting her boyfriend investigate, Barbara heads downstairs and is met with blood, darkness, and a masked man. In typical horror-movie fashion, the man reveals himself as Barbara’s boyfriend. But when the actual masked men infiltrate the house, players must evade capture to the tune of John Carpenter’s Halloween theme.

Barbara’s story is campier than others found in What Remains of Edith Finch, despite a rather gruesome end. What makes hers so memorable is the gorgeous comic-book style and tongue-in-cheek homage to horror flicks of old. Edith Finch offers variety at every turn, and Barbara’s vignette is a sterling example of that.
 

Sam’s Story

Sam Finch lives a longer life than his brother and sister, but his death is equally morbid. During a camping trip with his daughter, Dawn, the father takes photos using an old instant-print camera. As the player, you’ll line up the camera’s focus to snap compelling shots against the wilderness backdrop.

First, Sam takes pictures of Dawn, who’s passionately wrapped up in a book. Then, the perspective shifts to Dawn, who captures her dad reading a map of the forest. As her dad lectures her on the importance of survival, Dawn brushes off the notion, content with the comfort of literature.

It’s clear the father and daughter duo come from different worlds. So when the vignette suddenly jumps to Sam helping Dawn hold a hunting rifle, the tension is palpable. In this penultimate shot, you snap Sam’s camera just as Dawn reluctantly shoots a stag. The game cuts to a final shot of Sam and Dawn holding the deer, only for the animal to twitch, hurtling Sam off a cliff.

Sam’s story hits hard not just because of its immersive photo mechanic, but also because we know the stories of Calvin and Barbara. His undying love for his siblings shines through in his desire to protect his daughter. Sadly, Sam’s not able to save himself. Such is the curse of the Finch family.
 

Gregory’s Story

Of all the Finch family stories, Gregory’s is easily the most heart-wrenching. At just shy of two years old, Gregory is playing in the bathtub when his mother, Kay Carlyle, receives a call from her husband, Sam Finch. The couple are facing marital problems, but their love for their child is unconditional. In Sam’s words, "[Gregory] saw things the rest of us don’t.”

As Gregory, players see the bathroom walls through those very eyes. A flick of the mouse or joystick controls a rubber frog that’s come to life. You can swim through the tub water or tap a button to send the frog soaring through the air, all while Tchaikovsky’s “Waltz of the Flowers” plays in the background. The baby’s unbridled joy is a stark contrast to Kay’s pained conversation mere feet away.

Kay returns and drains the water, only for a follow-up call from Sam to send her out of the room. Gregory, unbothered, uses his four-legged friend to turn the bath handle and resume his play. As the water rises, the vignette transitions to an underwater segment and ends with Gregory becoming the frog and swimming down the drain.

In the aftermath of Gregory’s death, Sam and Kay file for divorce. In a letter to Kay, Sam recalls that fateful night and asks his wife to forgive herself for what happened. As for us players, however, it’s hard to forgive when we orchestrated Gregory’s outcome ourselves.
 

Lewis’s Story

If there’s one story that transcends them all, it’s that of Lewis, the cannery worker. Edith’s older brother Lewis has long struggled with mental health. It doesn’t help matters that he works a slog of a nine-to-five: chopping salmon on a conveyor belt. In a letter to Edith’s mother, his therapist explains how Lewis’s imagination proved to be both an angel and a demon.

As Lewis, players chop fish at the cannery while listening to his therapist’s note. As the story progresses, we learn that Lewis had found comfort in the confines of his own mind. His thoughts begin to populate the screen, adding color to an otherwise drab scene. First, Lewis envisions a top-down maze, but his world soon evolves into an isometric role-playing adventure.

After traveling through a canyon and adopting a loyal dog, Lewis arrives at a port city, which he dubs Lewistopia. Settlers from across the land come to celebrate his triumph. Still unfulfilled, Lewis presses on. He takes a ship and journeys the world, building new cities and expanding his empire. As the story progresses, the therapist reveals that Lewis’s thoughts had consumed him, causing him to forget his job, home, and family completely.

By the story’s end, Lewis has become king of his own world. What started as a top-down experience has transitioned into a full-blown 3D adventure. Yet, there is one more scene behind the curtain: one of the cannery, hundreds of dead fish, and Lewis working overtime. In a final sequence, Lewis attends a coronation ceremony as the real-life Lewis takes his own life.

Like everything else in Edith Finch, Lewis’s tale is grim and unsettling. It’s a story that hits close to home, as so many players can resonate with an unfulfilling job or lack of purpose. As Edith’s journey shows, however, there’s power in learning from the past and facing the future, no matter what’s in store.