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
Grave Apologies is a pleasant walk around a Graveyard and again, a brilliant exploration of endings.
The looming buildings in the background contrast to the painterly style the rest of Grave Apologies gives off. Towering high up above you, they too are dead, lack of character or substance, instead standing, impartial and immobile, huge gravestones to human culture. When I started Grave Apologies, I went clockwise around the graveyard, observing and watching, taking in the landscape. My favourite part about all of this is that you choose when to finish. You choose when and where you can stop and leave, the experience being open ended.
My full thoughts on Grave Apologies: [x]
Reparation Eulogy is a brilliant writing prompt that forces you into some very unique constraints.
What I really loved about it was the permanence of it all, the fact that the game seemed so ready, so eager to let you write and almost make you think and write something meaningful, something that you would be proud of. Once you reach the end however, just like life, you can't go back. Even if you were in the middle of a sentence, your journey, and thus your message is over, irreversible and final.
My full thoughts on Reparation Eulogy: [x]
Last Visit To The Shard is a gorgeous, sprawling walking simulator - exploring themes similar to Connor Sherlock's other works.
Last Visit To The Shard is a blurred memory someone is desperately pulling at, pushing their way through, broken and unstable and yet slowly piecing together parts, red and pink recognition scattered across the landscape of forgetfulness, shards of thought and understanding shoving their way through broken, shattered monuments.
My full thoughts on Last Visit To The Shard: [x]
Rain, House, Eternity is another interactive poem, with some beautifully created and fitting environments, which help to reinforce the poetry.
At it's heart, Rain, House, Eternity is an interactive poem about frustration. Frustration concerning the way your life is going to pan out, frustration concerning being thrust into a path of life that you didn't choose and a path that doesn't make you happy and being frustrated at the lack of support and empathy that comes with it.
My full thoughts on Rain, House, Eternity: [x]
Every City Is The Same creates a minimalist interactive poem, inside of a beautifully lit flat. One for late at night.
However, Every City Is The Same seems to be about more than the existentialism of finding identity within places. It's about the infinite loneliness of moving into a new place, where the only refuge is your bedroom - reflected in this case by a rather brilliant light in the bedroom giving a beautiful glow to the otherwise cold flat.
My full thoughts on Every City Is The Same: [x]
Orchids To Dusk is a gorgeous experience, with a beautiful ending.
Orchids to Dusk isn't about exploring. It's about contemplation, about choosing where you die rather than continuing to try to grasp on to every inch of life you have left.
My full thoughts on Orchids To Dusk: [x]
I loved the atmosphere that They Call It Lucy creates. It feels oddly wrong and unnatural.
This tree, this growth, is something unnatural, something not meant to be created, reflected by the glitchy, consuming movement of the tree, the way it drags itself out of the planet, morphing and changing depending upon what you give it.
My full thoughts on They Call It Lucy: [x]
Homesickened was the first game I covered in Itching For More. It's very visually distinct and manages to communicate some really interesting thoughts.
Overall, Homesickened is an experience that accurately portrays the fears of going home. Will my mistakes still be remembered? Will people still judge me for my former self? Have things changed unrecognisably? Have some things stayed completely the same?
My full thoughts on Homesickened: [x]
