A simple review of some effective games for my third blog post.
Dys4ia tells a personal story of going through hormone
therapy. It does so with a narrative and mild game play. What I find
interesting is how with little interactivity and text in this game was able to
produce a strange and comfortable feel in me. I am sure my mild discomfort is
nothing compared to the actual trials of going through hormone therapy. Games
like Dis4ia that can produce a strong emotional response in a player are very powerful.
Canabalt is another game that evokes an emotional response
in me with little interactivity and text.
The game play is simple, run and jump, but the background
happenings of destruction and chaos make me feel nervous, worried, and generally
panicked.
The game Passage, makes me think
about life, partners, games and growing old. The game play is just walking. I have read many game design books that say that walking is never
game play but I think Passage is the exception to this rule. Passage makes just walking a thought
provoking experience.
Everyday the Same Dream is another thought provoking game.
It takes the everyday experience of the workday and twists it into a freaky,
morbid situation. This game makes me think about life but entirely different
than Passage does.
Don’t Shit You Pants. This game makes me laugh. I love the
simple objective of the game paired with the crude illustrations and simple text
interface. Simply a fun game.