Emily is Away <3 (2021)
Emily is Away <3 takes place in 2008 and unfolds entirely within the world of Facenook, a fictional social media platform based on early Facebook. The game follows the player’s final year of high school, capturing the experience of navigating teenage relationships in the age of public wall posts, status updates, tagged photos, and private messages.
The plot centers on your interactions with two central characters—Emily and Evelyn—and your attempts to form a romantic relationship with one of them. However, unlike previous entries in the series, your story now plays out in a public digital space, where your actions can be observed—and judged—by others.
At the start of the game, you create your Facenook profile by picking a name, favorite quotes, interests, and profile picture. You're then introduced to a group of your classmates, including the two main characters: Emily and Evelyn. Both girls are already your friends online, and you can message them, comment on their profiles, or respond to their posts.
The story kicks off in the first semester of your senior year, with Facenook as the main way you stay in touch with everyone.
Early on, you can begin developing your friendship—and potential romance—with either Emily or Evelyn. Both are charming and friendly, but their personalities are distinct. Emily is more thoughtful, a bit reserved, and likes indie films and emotional conversations.
Evelyn is outgoing, flirty, and more into punk music and meme culture. As the school year begins, the two girls confide in you about their lives: Emily talks about her parents’ divorce and her uncertainty about college, while Evelyn opens up about drama with her ex-boyfriend and her desire for a fresh start.
Your choices during these initial conversations determine how close you get to either of them. You can flirt, play it cool, or offer emotional support. At the same time, your comments on their wall posts, your status updates, and how you interact with mutual friends also affect how your relationships develop. While previous games in the series focused on one-on-one chats, Emily is Away <3 adds the social element: your conversations and actions are observed by others and can trigger consequences.
As the school year progresses, a homecoming event becomes one of the first major turning points. Both Emily and Evelyn hint at wanting to go with you, but you can only ask one of them. Choosing one may upset the other, and your decision starts to shape the path your story will take. If you choose carefully and manage conversations without contradicting yourself, you can maintain good relationships with both girls. However, if you're dishonest or try to play both sides, things will begin to unravel.
During winter break, tensions start to rise. Friends begin tagging photos from parties, and some of your private interactions become public. If you flirted with both Emily and Evelyn, for example, one might see a post or message that contradicts something you said earlier. The game's design makes it easy to feel like you're in control—but just as in real life, every action has a ripple effect. As emotions heighten, trust becomes a central issue.
By the time prom season arrives in the spring, the stakes are even higher. Emily and Evelyn each want clarity. One of them may ask you about the other, putting you in a position to either come clean or continue hiding the truth. Meanwhile, their friends—like Kelly, Matt, and others—may post about you or tag you in ways that expose things you were trying to keep private. Depending on how you've handled your relationships, you might be viewed as a loyal friend, a heartbreaker, or worse, someone who can’t be trusted.
Prom is another major branch point in the story. If you’ve maintained a good relationship with either girl, you might be invited to go with them. If your actions have caused too much damage, you might find yourself going alone—or not going at all. After prom, the emotional payoff comes into focus. This is when the consequences of your yearlong decisions truly manifest.
In one possible outcome, you end up dating Emily. After prom, you two continue to talk online, make plans for the summer, and discuss staying together during college. But even here, there’s complexity. She might express concern about long-distance, or bring up old insecurities, like trust issues from earlier conversations. The ending may feel sweet, but it’s often tinged with uncertainty—true to the bittersweet nature of graduating high school.
In another route, you might end up with Evelyn. This path, too, depends on how well you handled her past heartbreak, your honesty throughout the year, and how well you managed social pressure. Evelyn is more expressive than Emily, so your ending with her may feel more dramatic—either full of energy and excitement, or a complete emotional breakdown depending on your choices.
Of course, the game also allows for things to fall apart. If you lie, manipulate, or ignore red flags, your relationships will suffer. Both Emily and Evelyn may stop talking to you entirely. They may even post vague, emotional statuses about betrayal, and mutual friends might start to unfollow or avoid you.
In these endings, your Facenook becomes quiet—a digital ghost town where no one writes on your wall anymore. It’s a powerful reflection of how easy it is to isolate yourself through selfish decisions, even if you thought you were doing the right thing.
The final chapter of the game takes place just before graduation. Depending on how your relationships have developed—or collapsed—you'll experience one of several endings. Some are hopeful: a romantic partner standing beside you as you plan your future. Some are melancholy: conversations filled with “what-ifs” and goodbyes that feel unfinished. And others are downright lonely: no messages, no responses, just the silent hum of your own profile page.
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