Subject 26 is a quiet and strange man who lives in his own little world. This doesn't stop him, however, from trying to leave ours. Trapped in what appears to be a dilapidated abandoned insane asylum, Subject 16 has found a way to get past the locked doors and secret alarms and that is by turning into a butterfly. ...I did say asylum, didn't I? MSiddeek's platform game, made for a Lumdumdare, is a shorter game with a hidden story that you can find pieces off as you search the building for freedom. As a man you can only move left and right, with the arrow keys or [A] and [D]. Interact with objects by using the [E] whenever it prompts you too. Looking into mirrors lets you become a beautiful butterfly that can then travel the entire screen with the [WASD] or arrow keys. While small you can slip through vents and even find other butterflies to help. Hitting the red alarms will turn you back into a man, but the friendly butterflies will still follow you. Just be careful of the bug zappers.
You can't die in Subject 26, which is good because there is no save and no reset. The play the game again you have to just refresh the page. While your immortality would make this point moot the other butterflies can die and will fly to their death if you get them too close to a bug zapper. Also, there is a secret ending and one misstep can make you miss out on it. It would have been nicer with a restart, but it still is a gorgeous game with an amazing atmosphere. The design of the rooms makes you feel claustrophobic as if you really are trapped in there with him, but yet the music brings on a sense of peace as you know the power of freedom is in your hands. There are some tricky puzzles to be had as well, but there is nothing that is so infuriating that it takes you out of the world that is built for you. And whether you really are just a crazy man sitting and muttering in the corner or one with the power of fantastical change this game is going to pull you right in and let you discover the truth for yourself.
You absolutely can not close down Jayisgames website! That's so sad. This is the number one go to gamesite! Can't we do something?
How can this be the last browser game posted forever?!!!
I'm a little devastated that JiG will be ending after all this time. What will I do with my Thursday evenings (Australia lives in the future) if I'm not going playing the games featured in the week's Weekday Escape?
Surely there's a couple of loyal fans who could continue to update the site?
On to Subject 26, I'm not sure what to think.
I think I "saved" the other butterflies by guiding them to flowers/water, but I had the dragonfly killed.
Was it possible to finish the game without killing the dragonfly?
What's with all the showers and blood? Did I maybe accidentally guide a butterfly into a bug zapper?
There's probably a symbolic meaning to all this, but what on Earth is really going on at this home for dementia patients who can secretly turn into bugs?
If you find yourself a little lost in terms of where to go next in the game,
re-trace your steps.
Sometimes, turning off one camera also turns off another camera.
Did a door open?
Did you miss that one switch you have to "get caught" midway to reach, since for some reason you can't jump?
Did you people crying about JIG closing down saw their Patreon? They got 1% of their *minimum* request.
If you need free hosting space, we can do that. We are currently hosting 5 sites and would gladly take you guys on.
I love you website and would be sad to loose it.
Hey Catherine,
From a comment I found on an earlier version they said
that they saved all the bugs including the dragonfly
However not long after that comment a new version was released with glitches in the game being fixed. When I tried
I couldn't find a way to save it. The dragonfly won't kill you but you can't pass by it. It's like a block in your way. and trying to lure it away and then turning off the bug zapper before it dies, but you can't hit the switch again. Perhaps you could try to lure it with another butterfly? I don't know I didn't go back and try that.
But I feel along the storyline that a lot of answers would be solved by getting into that secret room. Until then I can only speculate. In my head though
I'm not sure if I trust the eyes we see it through. Seeing as he is a mental patient. I think the showers flowing blood is a good sign of this. Because they do so even if you saved everyone. I think this man feels trapped in a system that is trying, but failing at helping him. He feels as if their methods are old and useless as you can see in the state of the building.
He looks into a mirror and sees the cocooned like state he's in. Either he will crumble into nothing, or bloom into a beautiful state that will solve all of his problems.
Freedom is his goal but all of the freedom you see is a vast empty space. While he thinks he needs to get out to survive in reality there is nothing out there to help him either.
Perhaps a bit gloomy but what can I say.
I guess there is also a chance he really can look into a mirror and turn into a butterfly and is trying to get away from some devious testing.
But who really knows.
As for the site. I... am still processing what happened. I have been a fan of this site for almost over a decade now. Always a lurker I was shocked and thrilled when Dora and Jeff offered me the job. I still remember the dance I did in my kitchen to celebrate.
And I guess for right now that's all I have to say.
Thanks for commenting. I love to overthink games and hear others theories.
I created this account just to mention that this has been one of my favorite websites since I discovered it around 2005. Ever since I realized that the web game industry is dying, I kind of expected that this would eventually happen to JiG :(
I didn't know they had a Patreon campaign going...which might be part of the problem, since I've been visiting the site several times a week since it was created.
I cannot believe the Jig is up... What in the world happened? It cannot be about just the money, did you lose interest or what?
Ffs I've been visiting this site for as long as I can remember...
Absolute sadness that JIG is closing. I've been coming to this site with my morning coffee for forever.
Like a lot of us, I've been coming to JIG for years and I'm quite disappointed it will no longer be updating. It was my go to for work breaks, and I'll certainly miss it. I'm incredibly thankful to all the people on the site - I've always found this community to be supportive and helpful amidst the internet's sea of trolling/hogwash. I wish everyone the best.
This reminds me of those old DOS games were you got to find items and objectives to solve a mystery... I believe it was called Simon the Wizzard
I was excited when I saw the Patreon addition and signed up to give a measly amount per month. I think the fact that there is still a patreon account means that if enough support the site it could reopen. So please consider doing it!!
Catherine, you may be interested to read the last page or so of comments under Support: https://jayisgames.com/support/
(tl;dr: indeed, if the site can get enough money to pay for the infrastructure, then it may be able to continue using volunteer [read: unpaid] editors/writers.)
JAYISGAMES sorry I can't donate but I have whitelisted your site with adblocker so I hope that helps a little
Thats cool information.
Update