Posted July 23, 2017 by alienmelon
I read this cute tweet about finding joy in your work. It struck me how important it is to keep your focus on that. It might sound cheesy, but it's easy to loose sight of why you are doing what you are doing... or even care about doing it at all
"Everything is going to be OK" has received a lot of positive recognition, but also the rate at which its been attacked (mostly angry emails) tells me that there's a lot of work still to do to carve out a space for experiences that aren't' aimed to just entertain.
Art asks questions, and often leaves the viewer feeling uncomfortable. It's not just about "happy feelings".
If games are art then they should be able to do this without having to "explain themselves" to angry players who feel betrayed that a game dared make them feel that way.
When I see comments on games about (for a lack of a better term) "human experiences" along the lines of "lol why are all games done by X about gender?" or "lol why are all games done by X about dating" it goes to show that games couldn't be more misunderstood. I feel like this sort of behavior condemns the medium to a certain controlled, and comfortable consumable format.
I really want more games that make people uncomfortable, hopeless, betrayed, naked, exposed... to be normal. We are so fixated on placing all the value on "entertain" that we miss so much.
I know this all has been said before, but the last few weeks after this early release have shown me that there's a lot still to do.
I don't know, maybe it's just me, but when I receive hate mail it tells me that I'm doing something right because what I've created has provoked someone enough that they took the time to get angry. Maybe that's too optimistic, but it goes to show that there's a lot of space, in games, that hasn't been explored yet.
That's good news, at least for people that are into doing new things. :)
I have a total of 3 more pages left before this game is done! I'm also working on a new, and interesting, totally unusable website for it.
I've also added the final portions of poetry. There's a lot of hidden writing in this game. Not everyone will find it, but if they do they will understand what this game is about on a much deeper level. That's good... It's like getting to know a person. There are many layers! :D
I'll be so happy when I release this.