You played Passage, right? You know, the little five minute game which managed to cram more thematic meaning and sheer emotion into a 100x16 pixel window than anyone would have ever thought possible? If you didn't, you should. If you did, join me at the next paragraph.
Jason Rohrer, creator of Passage, just finished his follow-up game. Titled Gravitation, Rohrer describes it as "a videogame about mania, melancholia, and the creative process."
That is literally all you need to know about it. Arrow keys move, spacebar jumps, every game mechanic has an intentional symbolic meaning. Don't read the artist's statement until you're done.
I plan on doing a dual Indie Nation article on Gravitation and Stars Over Half Moon Bay this Friday, when we can all ruin both games with obvious analyzation and deconstruction. For now, just download Gravitation and enjoy it. And if you like it, donate a few bucks.
Contest:
2:27 PM on 03.05.2008
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With Passage I just played, and when it ended I said "Wow".
Q is for Quit btw...
This, while a different metaphor, was way too simple a theme to care about.
The man's games leave me drained and feeling a little uncomfortable.
As a creative person, playing Gravitation was like playing myself.
yeah, I got that too. The fire thing kind of made alot of sense. I didn't read the controls before hand, but when the fire part came into play, I KNEW there was something I was supposed to do.
Oh, so was that what it was about? I could not for the life of me figure it out. I figured that chic died while I was looking for TREASARR!
Simply the fact that I need more time to think about it is a testament to Rohrer's talent.
I dare you to find a game that wouldn't benefit from a deathmatch mode. With gibs.
Heh heh. I haven't said "gibs" since 1996.
Also, where did the little girl go? Why does the character catch on fire from time to time? I panicked the first time I saw that, figuring that somehow playing ball with the child too much was a bad thing, and I had just somehow killed the guy.
I know when I'm doing something creative, the feeling isn't at all like "going out, bringing something home, then destroying it". Maybe if he was going out and doing something that caused new stars to appear out of thin air around him, which he then led home and instead of shoving them in a fire, he laid them down onto paper or blocks or something, forming a collection of sealed stars.
The metaphors in this game don't quite add up for me.
Unfortunately, that same place where you process your ideas into something (literal metopphorical, w/e) is the same place where you find your loved one.
And damned if it isn't easier to process something if you only have one idea, but if you have lots at once, then it gets tough.
That's what I get from that mechanic, anyway.
"If you don't get this or Passage and think they are a waste of time kindly go back to your madden :P!"
Comments such as these make me want to puke.
Passage was a game that made me want to stab everyone in the eye that sad the game made them cry and was a beautiful work of art.
I will paste what I wrote about passage when Dtoid did the fluff piece on Passage.
"Games are supposed to be mediums for entertainment and invoke joy with a person, either through story telling, gameplay, thought provoking challenges and or just fun. I got nothing from this game. This "game" was a serious waste of my time, saying this game is a work of art is the biggest overstatement I have ever seen.
Yes I did get sad when the girl died, but I would get sad if I went to Wendy's tonight and the fastfood line was closed.
All in all, some people have commented on artistic works and say it was genius, the work of a madman or a savant. Then turns out the painting was made by a 4 year old in preschool.
What a waste of 5 minutes."
Just because something is simple does not making it beautiful.
and I'm kinda cool with, but when these people then don't accept that, as with all art, it's subjective and personneland just say it's crap., those people need to stfu. Seriously. Just shut up. You don't like art, you don't like people trying to make artistic games. I know, make a fanboy-ish comment about it. Good job. Fucktard.
Just because something is simple (a sentence), doesn't mean you can't get alot out of it (The English language is difficult, some people have trouble with it, some people can't accept something being more than the visceral sum of its parts, beauty is often confused with art, simplicity is sometimes confused with being profound)
sounds kinda gamey to me . . .
Perhaps you shouldn't think of this as a game. It doesn't seem to fit the definition you have for what a game should do. It's okay if it doesn't move you in a way it has seemed to move others or in any way at all, but because I liked it a lot as a work of art and deem it beautiful is no reason for you to say that my comments aren't valid. Subjectivity, dude, you know?
I was taking college art classes in the 6th grade here at NCSU. My ex GF was an art major. Our first date was to the Art Museum here in Raleigh.
:/
All that, and your comment still comes off as ill informed, closed minded and ignorant.
fascinating . . .
@Painuser
Say what you want, but be civil about it. Looks to me like you're new here, so I would suggest a little tact to go along with that pedobear avatar. I would imagine that there would be only two reasons to talk like that here: to change people's minds, or piss them off. You're not doing much good by pissing everyone off, and if you want everyone else to come around to your way of thinking, you need to be a little more diplomatic.
You talk about this game as though it offended you.
Slow down and take a deep breath, will ya?
WHY WAS THAT ALSO MY FIRST THOUGHT?!
SEVEN RINGS IN HAND! NO SUCH THING AS AN ARROW THROUGH-OUGH- DREAMS
...amazing.
I love how, as you pluck more stars, you completely smother the fun that your child was having. You take all of their space and leave them crushed into the corner... alone and without the previous fun.
However, as you melt the blocks... you are rewarded with points. More importantly, however... you free your kid and are able to play with them again. Tried as I might the first time I returned after grabbing stars, they wouldn't throw me the ball. After clearing the room, though... I spent the rest of my timelimit playing catch with 'em. Was a lot more fulfilling to me than seeing what else was above me.
Not sure why, but the simple pleasure was all I needed.
I liked both Passage and Gravitation, and I wholeheartedly believe that they are art. You're entitled to your opinion, and that's fine. I'm not going to get all worked up about you not agreeing with me. But don't comment about how everyone's wrong just because they don't feel the way you do. Also, try presenting some form of argument about why you feel the way you do. Just saying "Passage was a game that made me want to stab everyone in the eye that... [said] the game made them cry and was a beautiful work of art" is not going to win anyone over.
One point you brought up was that "games are suppose to mediums for entertainment." It's true that majority of the games on the market are made to entertain. That's what most people want; something to take their mind of everyday life. But what if a game went beyond that. What if a game was made solely for the purpose to make you think. A game that forces you to reflect on your life. For me, that's how I felt about Passage.
Passage was one of the most meaningful games (notice the lack of quotation marks around the word game) I've ever played. The thing that really blew me away was something that most "games" now a days fail to do, set up a world in which the player interacts with to create their own experience. It wasn't just a preconceived series of events that I progress through until I reach the end. Yes, there was a beginning and an end, but what happened in between was entirely up to the player. And what you did in that intermediary time was what defined your experience, ultimately creating a co-authorship between the game's creator and the you. That's why I found Passage so great. Every action I did in-game meant something symbolically, and I was the reason it was happening. And that, my friend, is why I found Passage to be one of the most rewarding games I've played.
I'd have to say that's the most accurate description of the game I've heard so far. Also, it seems has if you dedicate yourself to your work you begin to lose your friend, which in turn makes it harder to come up with new ideas. The way I see it, it's always easier to "find" ideas when you have people around you who can spurn the creative process.
And as to why this is game is a work of art? It's because it can inspire this kind of (mostly) intelligent conversation and in some people inspire a need to think harder about what they are doing, instead of mindlessly completing tasks. And it manages to do all that with a fraction of the graphics and game-play that most blockbuster games have today.
PS: Cut the arteeest some slack. He's permitted to have an opinion, too. Don't get so defensive.
But just because it's not to my taste doesn't mean it's not valid music, or lacks the potential to entertain, or isn't art.
As for Gravitation, another good show. I think Chad might have to do a Memory Card on the turning point; it hit me pretty good.