A list of games that have been featured in my Itching For More series.
A curation of interesting and thought provoking alt/art games. <3
Just play it. One of the most accomplished and emotionally affecting games I've played for Itching For More.
Awkward Dimensions Redux, by Steven Harmon, is about dreams. Steve Harmon's dreams, to be specific. Awkward Dimensions Redux feels like a nonstop flow of Harmon's thoughts, his aspirations, his stupid jokes, his shortcomings and flaws, his worries, his goals, his dreams. In order to communicate all of this, Harmon pushes and pulls on the definition of a dream, stretching it, whilst enjoying the broad strokes it allows him.
Read my full thoughts, here [x]
A small garden with a distinct art style. Peaceful and calm, potter around for a few minutes and refresh yourself.
The Garden feels purposefully lonely, somewhere meant for you to sit and contemplate. The desert like colour of the landscape seems fitting, especially given the absence of people and the presence of huge monoliths, giving an Ozymandias feel to it.
Read my full thoughts, here [x]
Stray is a game consisting of one massive build up, made effective by its excellent soundtrack.
It is one of a slow build-up, over around ten minutes, slowly adding more and more elements (a piece that is almost minimalist, but transforms almost into a post-rock finale), building an atmosphere that, despite the minimal, Firewatch inspired landscape, makes you feel utterly and completely adrift, stuck on a raft in the middle of the ocean with no islands in sight.
Read my full thoughts, here [x]
Spomenik-1 is an art piece about contextual awareness, and projecting your own preconceived ideas onto something that could be meant for an entirely different purpose.
Within Spomenik, Forest manages to create something short and to the point, yet imbues it with enough depth to drive it higher than your usual walking simulator. Forest creates an interesting discussion on contextual awareness, pulling upon the Spomenik series to create a compelling Monument.
Read my full thoughts, here [x]
Little Bug is a visually gorgeous game about coping with the death of your parents. With well thought out mechanics and story, Little Bug should definitely go on your "to watch" list (if that's what the kids use nowadays)
Little Bug is visually unique, mechanically intriguing and contains an excellent allegory for grief. I'm really looking forward to the full game and seeing how Buddy Systems expand upon the already existing puzzles and story, as well as adding more sublime artwork.
Read my full thoughts, here [x]
Dream Dreamer is the closest to daydreaming within a videogame. Gorgeous, unique and very sleepy.
Dream Dreamer reminds me of coastal villages and towns, sea-view facing windows, calm, empty beaches, the salty taste of the sea and the warm feeling of sand on your feet.
My full thoughts on Dream Dreamer: [x]
Sacramento is a gorgeous explorable sketchbook, which lets you forget your current problems, and just drift.
The ephemerality of Sacramento also exists as a reminder to us, that the best things never last long. It has a fading quietness about it as the sun (a big orange hesitant blob in the sky) begins to set and you realise your time is up. The last few moments of it, where you're dragged out of the sketches and back onto the train has a finality and formalness about it, that few games manage to achieve.
My full thoughts on Sacramento: [x]
OASES is a brilliant example of how to find good from bad.
Flying through the different levels feels just like flying through a fever dream, bright acid colours flash and move everywhere, trees or other structures growing from the ground as your plane dives before gliding back up. The feeling of flight in this game is less akin to Microsoft Flight Simulator and more towards small children grabbing a plane and running with it, screaming "NEEEEEEOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRWWWWWWWWW" as they divebomb it screeching towards the ground.
My full thoughts on OASES: [x]
Into is an intimate examination of talking and how we view one another.
Into, moves away from an exploration of self perception and instead towards how we see others. Whilst it explores its ideas more explicitly when compared to Lost Thing, it still manages to maintain a certain distance and abstraction.
My full thoughts on Into: [x]
The Autumn Glen is a low poly abstract story.
Calm meditation also suits the story, which, whilst having a few mistimed beats (the ending especially - whilst lovely and ambigous, it felt like it lacked a proper build up), excels in leaving the player with just enough hints to work it out themselves, without ever explicitly telling them. Implicit stories are something that smallers games seem to be doing excellently at the moment, and The Autumn Glen continues this trend.
My full thoughts on The Autumn Glen: [x]
Hello: Talking Simulator is a fun branching-story, Stanley Parable inspired game.
An obvious parallel to draw within Hello's environments would be Mirrors Edge. Everything is angular and white or grey, with splashes of colour littering the scene - much like Mirrors Edge's The City of Glass - another place controlled by dystopian corporations. The environment is also full of detail; magazines with brilliant front covers, collapsed doors, broken elevators, it all culminates in a way to make you believe that there is more to the world of Hello - something sinister lurking behind the scenes.
My full thoughts on Hello: Talking Simulator: [x]
Syzygy is a brave sequel to Grave Apologies with what initially seems like an entirely different tone.
Syzygy, like a lot of Connor Sherlock's games, just keeps going. Out of the city I stumbled across a wood, before walking into a cluster of red shards. The world is ending, and you have the opportunity to just stop and explore, before everything finishes. Astral Planes are colliding, our world and their world slowly merging, the two not able to coexist. Escape.
My full thoughts on Syzygy: [x]
Brume is weird and bizarre and made my brain tie itself into knots in trying to interpret it, in the best possible way.
Brume is loud, abstract and bizarre. Pinks and whites scream at you from every direction, music swirling in and out of the mists as you grab onto what you can, moving further and further into the mist and out of the sun. Your demise (represented by the arm) guides your body deeper and deeper. Moretti has created an intriguing piece, something that hides itself within the mists, beckoning you to follow it, before shoving you down a trap door.
My full thoughts on Brume: [x]
I've Been Late is a beautiful, short walking simulator about social anxiety.
But most importantly, it's about finding your own space, even in the middle of a group of people. Being able to look away from them, and look up at the stars and getting lost in your own mind, before inevitably, but happily, returning to Earth.
My full thoughts on I've Been Late: [x]
Wood For The Trees is an intriguing exploration of the mind.
Wood For The Trees follows someone lost in their own fabricated thoughts, constantly looping, objects growing and fading as they come in and out of existence, control scheme forcing your brain to be on alert, it is really wonderful. It beings with you faced with one path, wood fenced off as you ponder over the situation, a beautifully textured scenery in front of your.
My full thoughts on Wood For The Trees: [x]
Grimsfield is a surreal point and click adventure with a beautiful art style.
In many ways, Grimsfield is a commentary upon the modern "hipster" - obsessed with the latest trend that rejects society, desperate to seem edgey by following thousands of others with the same ideas, same meaningless poems or prententious clothes, desperate to be one of "the cool kids". Grimsfield is all about outward appearance - the mayor making sure that the press thinks he is out and about with his family when in actual fact he is living in his office, the main character trying to follow all the rules, yet bending them and cheating.
My full thoughts on Grimsfield: [x]
Morphê is a fun soundscape creator, with some really relaxing beats.
I love the strongly accented colours, making it almost feel like it was coloured in with a crayon. The pink to blue, mixing with the reds, oranges and greens create a contemplative atmosphere. During my A Levels, I used to load up a level of Proteus, find somewhere nice to sit and leave it running on my screen whilst revising. With morphê, some of the highest praise that I can give it, is that it comes close to providing the same state of mind that proteus provides, one of thought and reflection.
My full thoughts on Morphê: [x]
Under The Tree is a teeny tiny story, that follows someone's journey of grief.
Yet, there's something pleasant about the entire experience. There is relief in death, a transcendence from the infinite cycle of walking to the peace of Under The Tree, finally reunited with your loved one. Under The Tree is a brilliant allegory for emotional anguish and the journey through it and past it, no longer stuck under a growing tree.
My full thoughts on Under The Tree: [x]
Barb is a quick exploration of identity and snap judgements.
Barb is about being true to yourself and not hiding, but having a go at being you. This sounds like I'm just being one of those typical motivational quotes you see plastered around facebook, but sometimes it needs saying. I like that Barb knows exactly what it wants to say and how to say it.
My full thoughts on Barb: [x]
I Like Walking Very Much is a unsettling experience. With a heavily Limbo-inspired art style, it provides a rather bizarre time.
This final cycle, you transcend nature. Peace and unity all but gone from you, you are a hate-filled machine, come to strike and wage war on humans for treating you so wrong, desperate for the recognition that you "deserve". You use their tactics against you, shouting and screaming.
My full thoughts on I Like Walking Very Much: [x]
Lieve Oma is a wonderful walk through the forest with your Grandma.
I like Lieve Oma, because it understands what it's like to spend time with a Grandparent, and what it's like when they can't spend time with you anymore. The moment it cuts to you alone, felt significant. Whilst you're not mournful, there's a certain melancholy to having lost the ability to walk and spend time with your Grandparents.
My full thoughts on Lieve Oma: [x]
That which you say I am is a beautifully presented walking simulator that effectively conveys doubtful self-conversations.
I love the way TWYSIA looks. A pink, purple and blue island made of crystal, huge obelisks looming in the distance, staring at you, an exposed ink blot. The island feels like the narrator's mind. It feels fragile, easy to smash. It holds a beauty in its fragility, yet a sharpness exists, permeating the island. Rough edges trapp you and break the gentle openness, forcing you to conform to a vague structure.
My full thoughts on That Which You Say I Am: [x]
Ghost Story is a short story, that subverts expectations and manages to convey a cool twist, through subversion.
Is our online footprint what we want to be remembered by? A facebook page full of silly statuses, a blog full of meaningless words, scatterings of personality floating in the clouds, slowly being removed from their chat rooms one by one.
My full thoughts on Ghost Story: [x]
Lost Thing is a short, heavy poem. Whilst a lack of interaction may seem like a hinderance, it makes up for in its oozing atmosphere.
Coming back to Lost Thing's weight, I feel like the gravity of Lost Thing is what really makes it. Much like the naked, headless human, walking down the pathment, Lost Thing is exposed and slow, lumbering through itself, each line a confession, a release of air.
My full thoughts on Lost Thing: [x]
In Requiem is an interactive version of Ozymandias (Look on my works ye Mighty, and despair!) If you have any interest in poetry or Ozymandias, look no further.
Ozymandias is a poem that such hauntingly portrays the temporary nature of human artificiality, about us placing our energy and efforts into earthly desires that will be forgotten or slowly fade with time. The embodiment of this is Ozymandias - a poem about a grand statue with only it's legs remaining, epitomising the human desire to create something that will stand the test of time.
My full thoughts on In Requiem: [x]
Lost Constellation is a beautiful, heart warming, snowy precursor to Night in The Woods and I really really love it. The beautiful colours, the bizarre ghost story and the lovely character design create a very polished and pleasant experience.
Lost Constellation is evidently very confident in itself and it shows. Wandering through the cold forest, snow drifting down from the heavens, trees rising from the depths, gives Lost Constellation a quiet beauty, contrasting cold blues with warm oranges and dangerous reds.
My full thoughts on Lost Constellation: [x]
Little Party is a fun 'Mum Simulator'. Sometimes you just need something nice. (It is also very very pretty to look at)
Little Party is just nice. It's not about a daughter rebelling against her oppressive parents, it's not a grand thriller detailing the murder of your daughter, it doesn't hold the meaning of life, but what it does contain is a gorgeous short story between mother and daughter, a mother trying to understand her child. In a world of thrills and excitement, such a pleasant story is a nice change of pace.
My full thoughts on Little Party: [x]
