KIDS

The second interactive animation by Michael Frei and Mario von Rickenbach presents another compelling meditation on the human condition. This time it has to do with crowd mentality and the clean slate mind of a child. Growth implies conformity and willing to fall over the precipice if others do so. Even if they reject to follow others they will eventually be misled by somebody else. The dark chasms kids fall into is dark and milky and resembles intestines, and digestion is painful. It is invigorating to participate in a massive flapping of hands or singing in unison or swimming through dark waters of life in company, but do our attempts at establishing connection with others really bring us any closer to understanding our own life? Or could this game be about something else entirely?

PLUG AND PLAY

I thought it was time people used actual video art/ video works in gaming. Sure, Plug and Play is confusing and outright bizarre as a video game , but it works perfectly well as a piece of art sending a powerful message to the viewer,the player. A nightmarish meditation on connectivity and isolation where people and circumstances are sockets,plugs,coins and fingers shows us a life full of half-uttered sentences,emotional and verbal outbursts,the hurting within and outside groups, and all of that is exceptionally depicted with brilliant , hand-written animations and the sparse sound and musical accompaniment highlights.This interactive animation has come closest to a true game of art I've ever seen.

MOSAIC

Any game that dares tackle whatever is mundane in our own lives deserves our utmost respect. And if it happens to do so in a visually compelling way it is bound to become a classic. Though your life might not be as bleak, you’ll see aspects of your nameless protagonist’s life that are readily identifiable. The tasteless meals, the meaningful corporate life of chasing other people’s rainbows, the joyless world of meaningless social interactions and relations, the bland and empty entertainment-everything’s there. The compendium of useless actions and toils is further emphasized by clunky controls and 3d graphics and music that comes off as both optimistic and claustrophobic. It is by putting up a mosaic of your  mundane life that you become aware of the need to change it. In truth, I was expecting something else by becoming proactive, something more daring and unrestrained, a bolder statement against  the world that made the protagonist a shadow of his former self as a perfect ending for this beautiful short game. Or maybe the game was supposed to let us know that misery always remain part of our existence, whether or not you pull the plug. No game’s perfect, right? Games are just games.

 

LIFELIKE

Lifelike is a meditative game exploring a microcosm of interacting particles where shapes, frequencies and sounds make the meat  of this exceptional game. Guiding a bundle of light you touch ,collect and interact with other particles or beings producing soothing melodies or respect their decision to interact with you the way they want to. It's as much about immersing yourself into this wonderful world as it is about the ease and elegance of the game mechanics and discoveries of any particularities of movement or interaction that awaits you. All this bright bioluminescence washing over you is accompanied by an incredible game soundtrack by the inimitable Loscil introducing new melodies with each track/level to accompany new forms of interaction, making  Lifelike a highly immersive experience.

SUPERLIMINAL

Superliminal

This is a game about perspective and our perception of it that uses a lucid dream as a concept as much as it is a mockery of modern attempts to solve individual problems by exploring the depths of the subconscious. Yes, there’s a good bit of the Stanley Parable and Portal in it, but it’s to be expected since all three explore the hopelessness of the human condition. There’s so much that makes Superliminal a unique gaming experience. You manipulate perspective and objects by placing objects above or below you to make them bigger or smaller in order to solve spatial puzzles in each room. The game designers experiment with game’s mechanics and other physical aspects of its world as you progress making you confused and disoriented, and this is also part of Superliminal’s charm. No amount of stale dialogues or seemingly awkward treatment of subjects and philosophies can change the fact that you’re partaking in a unique gaming experiment treating gaming, happiness and life.

KNIGHT QUEST

I love it when game makers are brave enough to tackle board games that have existed for centuries and combine them with other gaming genres. Knight Quest is a unique endless runner-chess hybrid. Your knight piece  prances around evading or taking other moving chessboard pieces against an endless chessboard or 45 different levels collecting keys and treasure chests along the way.To make things real, your piece has to wait for its turn to make a move and thus those who like chess but are not particularly good at it would feel as if their skills at playing chess have significantly improved. This game makes people feel good about themselves, it amuses them and has a high replay value. Another instant casual gaming classic.

APE OUT

Finally a game drummers and lovers of drums will truly enjoy! Though not necessarily a rhythm game, Ape Out follows a large ape fleeing his cage and killing guards in a facility built for biological research in a bloody beat 'em up classic. A steady-paced swinging drum chops are backed by anything you do on the screen, and so the sounds of glass breaking,foot tapping, splashing the guards against the wall or smashing things, and of bombs ticking all  add to the drum phrases that leave the player mesmerised and driven. I haven't been this impressed  by any gaming music in decades.The fact that Matt Boch decided to make the ingame music entirely around solo drumming is enough reason to try the game. The gameplay itself is never dull or repetitive, as the walls and guards are randomly generated with each try. Add the aviary perspective with extremely high walls and exceptional stylized graphics that remind me of beebop and hardbop mid-century jazz coverart and book covers of beat poets and you have a unique piece of gaming history well worth you 15 euros. Highly recommended!