game, game, game and again game
Games can do two things really well. They can be Fun, and they can be Not-Fun. Lots of games are Fun and Not-Fun in a mediocre way, and some games are amazingly good at being Fun. But when a game is great at being Not-Fun, the deep play of the mind comes tumbling down the mouse.
Like Ayiti: The Cost of Life, but in a totally different aesthetic, game, game, game and game again is not fun to a point of exquisite craftsmanship, but then turns around and surprises you with a sort of pleasure you didn't quite expect. The game combines the simple platform mechanics of Mario with sketch/crayon/scribble graphics (hanging together nicely) and post-post-modern lyric poetry. Great audio and video Easter eggs are scattered throughout.
Surreal does not adequately describe the buzz you'll get off this digital jungle juice. Belief systems are your enemies, storms of blue scribble with a chocolate center, patrolling in pre-programmed patterns. Levels are worldviews, representing addiction, religion, consumerism, Buddhism, and the design takes the psychological metaphors of Psychonauts down to 2D, leaving you charmed and bouncing to the subconscious rhythms of thought-space. If that sounds pretentious, you better just play game, game, game and again game.
That is one of the best games I've ever played. Why's it PG13, though?
Oh, wait. Now I see. Haha. Stupid mechanical monkeys...
Not fun. The poetry didn't do anything for me, but then I think there's much more to be said about each belief system, even if you're going to pack it into post-post-modern verse. Neither is it remotely challenging. But getting stuck in a corner on a late level was the worst thing, with the advice "if your creature gets stuck, try jumping" both useless and annoying.
Whoa. This is crazy. And by crazy I mean craaaaazzyyyy. In a fun way.
booooooo
Thought it was completely opaque, in that I didn't get what he was trying to say about anything he was talking about (this is not, contrary to popular belief, the hallmark of genius.) Great idea, terrible execution.
Best part was the video at the very end, which made the thing almost worth playing.
This can only be classified as post-modern art. To me this was not challenging, neither entertaining nor thought provoking.
Takes less than 10 minutes of your time. If you don't believe me try for yourself.
All i have to say is...
"come on and meet your maker!"
That's funny!
I'm sorry, but wrapping up a terrible game in pretentious poetry doesn't make it any better. I can see where he (the author of the game) was going with the whole belief system and pyschology thing, but unlike Pyschonauts, this game is neither redeeming nor fun; it's just annoying. Not only that, but parts of it come off as kinda preachy.
I'm probably gonna get yelled at for this...
In the realm where the making of sense is strictly prohibited, this could run for some sort of office. Still, I admire people who can think up something completely odd from start to finish and still have a point to it in mind, while other people would have to give up on sobriety to even come up with the initial idea.
While the "move and jump" thing just made it more drawn out, it still made it more of a "game" than just an "interactive artwork".
Poor little evolutionary analogies... I hope they make it...
Oh no! If hell is made of messy lines we're all in trouble.
This game was a curveball. Way out of left field. See, I make analogies too.
I, for one, liked it. It reminds me of absurd.org
This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It made no sense at all, but then neither does life.
I wonder what this guy is going to think of his creation when he comes down off his high.
Seizure warning much?
The poetry was nonsensical and the execution too quick and dirty. It's like the ugly sister of the Museum of Broken Memories.
The game kinda gave me a headache... However, I still liked it. Whatever.
It was just.... Either brilliance or insanity.
That was odd.
I actually enjoyed it a lot. There were only a couple levels that I'd consider completely opaque, and even those got me thinking. Or maybe I created my own meaning when there was none. But if that's the case, then it still served its purpose.
While I agree that it's hardly subtle, I'm not sure you can call something "preachy" when it takes a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" perspective. It was simply made clear that there was a method behind the madness, something that could have been easily missed otherwise.
And the places where the gameplay was very interwoven with the meaning
(the Buddhist level or level 12.5, for instance)
were pretty clever. It would be awesome if more games did that.
hehe.. and the buildings fell... and then this oene fell again =P that vidio totally flipping rocks my socks to china and back !!
Well, i am so sleepy right now ! i do not know am I dreaming or playing this game !! yeah its like a dream !
i did not finish it because when i reached level 12 i went to the wrong door i did not trust the words hehe
any way nice game guys sweet dreams are made of these hehe :)
This game was pretty neat. It was a little wierd but i guess it wasn't supposed to be about the game play. It was a nice thing to do while I was waiting for this Re-Image to finish.
For the most part I hate art for art's sake, and hate confusion for confusion's sake.
Something about this didn't strike me as being either of those, though. I felt the author was earnest in his desire to express... something. He may not have been completely successful (for everyone, he seems to have made an impression on some people), but in art the sincere attempt is what counts in my book.
That was simply a piece of inspired Sillyness. Probably not meant to be thought-provoking, just weird and cool, if somewhat annoying on the cars level.
I understood this 'game'.
Judging by the comments, nobody else did.
Sorry, but this is not something you can explain.
You have to understand to understand.
>"Sorry, but this is not something you can explain."
ROFL. That reminds me of a line I once heard from Firesign Theatre: "You can't get there from here." Genuine comedy.
Perhaps it's not something *you* can explain. Heh.
Wow, this effort was pathetic. The scribbly graphics were ugly and unartistic, the 'message' texts were annoying on a level second only to 'Truth' ads, and the gameplay was next to non-existant. Overall..a waste of time, bandwidth, and whatever money the author spent (if any) on Flash.
this is really something else. jason nelson is an amazing artist. you really can't judge everything he's done based on this alone.
however, some of what he says is not only thought-provoking, it seems to be dead on. "do you need to be told where to go?" this is a daily struggle for every american, and i'm sure every human. we're all looking for answers, and it would help ever so much if we were simply told where to go.
while the art may be subpar as far as beauty is concerned, it certainly helps get his point across. if, however, you didn't think there was a point, i'm sorry. try out some of his other creations, such as this one http://www.heliozoa.com/clone.html - or just look through his website, there are some really interesting things.
I enjoyed this one quite a bit. (I was kinda hoping I'd see it on JIG at some point.)
This is honestly one of the best flash games ever created. It pushes the boundaries, it's totally unconventional. Avant garde creations like this always get bad a wrap! The sheer novelty and strangeness of it more than make up for it's sloppily created graphics. I admit the gameplay could be a bit more fun. Whatever the case, I hope Nelson creates more games similar to this.
wow this was truly bizzare... well worth it for the large winnings at the end (hilarious)
I liked it, I'm not going to pretend to understand it fully, but I liked the overall vibe, the texts, and especially the crayon-scribble backgrounds.
Oh, and the Buddhism reincarnation level, I got a real kick out of that.
Strange game. My first impression was "this author has some issues" :-)
Well this one is really one of those "love it or hate it".
Me, I hate it. It's pretentious. It's arduous. It tries to appear "smart" by sheer sensory overload.
However a lot of work has gone into this, and I guess that along the way it does make a few interesting points. I'd just rather have them served in a bit less irritating package.
It doesn't take much to see how pretentious or snobby the author is or how highly he thinks of himself. Try counting how many times he beats you over the head reminding you of his name.
Whatever!!!
It will all come out in the wash.
A little scary...
Can someone please help me with the level with the two doors that say right way and wrong way? I tried the wrong way, and it brings me way back. The right way is under the bridge. Whenever I jump off the bridge, I fall and die. If I land on the arrow, I get stuck.
I thought it was pretentious, repetitive and irritating.
I'm sorry, I can't call anything like that a 'game'.
I, personally, liked it. Apparently most people don't understand this, but it's a simple matter of understanding it to begin with. It's artistic, it's deep, it just "is." I really have nothing negative to say about this game.
Finally, a game you can judge by a screenshot. Does that screenshot look messy or endearing? Is the title "game, game, game, and again game" oddball or irritating? The answer to those two questions will help you decide whether to play this thing. Keep in mind, this is a very specific type of game, made with a very specific mood and person in mind.
boring, all this junk kept popping up that i really didnt feel like reading. What did it have to do with the game, someone tell me
I love people who say they "get it" and then say that "if you don't like it, you don't understand it" or "it can't be explained". The sad truth is, there's nothing to get, and you probably just want to look annd feel like you're deep or thoughtful or whatever. Or even worse, you think you DO get it, and you see something where there's nothing. Don't worry, there's lots of people just like you. They want to share some Kool-Aid with you... Enjoy!
The whole thing had a rather depressing mood, but the
"big prize" at the end was pretty funny.
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