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     [ LordRegulus's blog ]

Please Play This Game. I'm Serious.
LordRegulus 2:52 PM on 12.05.2007 16 comments


I'm sure at least some of you guys have heard about the Gamma 256 competition created by Kokoromi, the ever-so-slightly-hipsterish progenitors of the totally righteous Cave Story/Echochrome mashup Fez. If you haven't, it was a competition to design a game with a resolution no higher than 256x256 pixels.

Quick interjection, from an email to Jason Rohrer:

As someone who spends a lot of time discussing games analytically and debating their creative potential, I've often grappled with the question of whether a game can make a player cry. Many developers have tried - with what I consider to be limited success - but sometimes I wonder if it's even worthwhile to pursue the goal of depressing one's audience. What I always longed to see was a game that could evoke tears of joy or understanding; the sort of "beautiful sorrow" that comes with a moment of revealed truth or heartfelt inspiration. I've long since stopped expecting to see this emerge from the industry at large, since escapism remains the medium's bread and butter. But to witness this achievement for the first time in a game small enough to fit on a floppy disk... Well, let's just say I was taken by surprise.



Passage is tiny. The Windows installer is less than 500KB (though the Mac and Linux versions are a bit larger), and the game screen is 100x16 pixels. That's it. And yet, this game did something to me that NO game, EVER, has been able to do:

It made me so happy I actually started crying.

There's not much else I want to say, because over-analyzing this little gem would be shamelessly pretentious of me, plus I don't want to ruin the experience for you. Just download this game and play it; there's a five-minute timer, so you won't be wasting your time. When you're done, read Rohrer's statement, and tell me if it affected you as much as it affected me.

I think you owe it to yourselves.

There are 16 comments about this post:
Butmac's Destructoid Blog
Yeah...exe's that small are normally virus winners.
dvddesign 's Destructoid Blog
Well, this is a sourceforge project, so, it's considerably less likely to contain a virus.

Good game. I was saddened.
Aerox's Destructoid Blog
I sat through the whole thing and had no idea there were treasure chests in the game until I read the statement.
LordRegulus's Destructoid Blog
@Aerox

I like to think that was deliberate. Coasting off in a straight line is a viable strategy, but your score won't get very high by the time you bite it. It's kind of interesting how many of the things that would normally be considered flaws in the game's design actually work out metaphorically. It's a very clean package.
MechaMonkey's Destructoid Blog
I'm not sure how moved I was by playing it, but the ideas behind it are certainly very intriguing.
Rockvillian's Destructoid Blog
Yeah I just kept walking and died. Cool, though.
Justin Villasenor's Destructoid Blog
I remembered reading something about this on GameSetWatch a few days ago when they listed the finalists but didn't actually try any of them out. Thanks for pointing Passage out and getting me to try it because it was a pretty cool experience.
Spartacus's Destructoid Blog
I downloaded it a few days ago and forgot about it. I'll have to play it now.
king3vbo's Destructoid Blog
I'll have to try it later
Aaron Linde's Destructoid Blog
Holy shit.
Quisling's Destructoid Blog
sad game is sad. Like panda.
Tristero's Destructoid Blog
Thanks for the recommendation. This was inspiring.
Husky Hog's Destructoid Blog
This game was fucking

woah
Wedge's Destructoid Blog
Depressing. Also lacking explosions =<.
Niero's Destructoid Blog
Speaking of getting offbeat games, has anyone ever played Rocky and Pocky on the SNES? THAT GAME RULES!
Elder Scrolls Altmer Hater's Destructoid Blog
So one of the biggest choices that affected my game, was if I should go with the girl or travel alone. If I travel alone I can reach many more areas and get more points. But the journey is kind of dull without your companion. But she does slow down your exploration. Hmm.....

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Founder and Sole Member
Midgaard Studios


PRO TIP: Regulus was the ice boss in
Bomberman 64, a great game that was
nonetheless forgotten so quickly that I
currently own half of all the existing
cartridges. The other one belongs to a
seal trapper in Finland, and if the two
are ever brought together, it will bring
about the End of Days.