10 Seconds of Fear: 10 Seconds in Hell, 2013

Sometimes there are moments in life, so brief, yet so impactful, that you can't help but recall every second of it in excruciating detail. This seems to be the premise of 10 Seconds in Hell, a first-person game made by Amy Dentata for the Ludum Dare 27 Competition. The game places you in the midst of a terrifying situation, one which is remembered as only lasting 10 seconds; the outcome of those 10 seconds is left up to the player. The immediate situation is that your boyfriend/companion/friend/ is very angry with you for not following him out the door, but the more fundamental issue lies in the abusive relationship at hand and your character's fear to follow: "He thought I walked out the door with him. I don't want to go. I know what's going to happen if I do."

Don't be fooled by the robotic speech: this is a very human tale. The room in which these 10 seconds are spent is the only thing the character of the game remembers clearly. In this way, the environment is especially important to the value and conception of this game. Dentata calls the game "like horror but more like real life." The effect is devastating. The choice you make may be as well. Consider 10 Seconds in Hell an exercise in confrontation--that is, in confronting one's traumatic experience.

Available to download for mac, windows, linux, or simply play the game in your browser.

Choose Your Words Carefully: NSA Game

Game developer and all-around activist Grayson Earle is responsible for the brief yet powerful message of NSA Game.

The game is comprised of choosing between words not on the NSA's Internet watch list. The task proved far more challenging than originally thought. Earle comments: "In case you are wondering, yes--these words really are used by the government when monitoring your electronic movements and communication."

Reimagining the Party: At the Bonfire, 2013

At the Bonfire is an extraordinary Twine game, created by the talented finny. I cannot say it better than Portpentine over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun:

"At the Bonfire is about a party that really happened, just reimagined.

It borrows from those sleepless nights staring at the ceiling thinking about words you said/wish you said/wonder what would happen if you said them.

There are several paths based on who you choose to spend your time with. There is the knowledge that even a seemingly laid-back gathering is tense with unspoken dynamics of gender and performance.

Finny’s games charge directly at thoughts instead of abstracting them to the capital letters of Big Emotions. This is hyper-introspection, the kind of writing that stops me repeatedly with its lucidity, with its explicit naming of things we bury in the dark, hoping they’ll suffocate. They never do."

platform utilized: browser
genre: text-based game
where to find: You can find At the Bonfire right here.

Make the Corporations Pay!: Tax Evaders, 2013

From the Tax Evaders site:

"Incredibly, some of the wealthiest, most powerful corporations pay less than you or I do in taxes. While the rest of us pay our fair share, these corporate Tax Evaders are stealing nearly $100 Billion a year out of our national economy – every year. Meanwhile, drastic cuts to our public services are taking place, threatening social security, health care, education, and much more.

"It’s time to stop talking about cuts, and start talking about the corporations who have changed the laws in order to avoid paying their fair share. It’s time to make them pay."

Upon completion of the game, you are given the opportunity to "blast the tax evaders for reals", in the form of a Twitter bomb. For example, here is the message given me to deliver to GE: "GE has more money offshore than any other U.S. corp: $108 billion. Hey @GeneralElectric, pay your taxes!"


platform utilized: browser
genre: arcade-style action
where to find: You can make 'em pay, right here.

Hot in Herre: Martian Middle School Dance, 2013

I remember my middle school dances. They were awful. They were some of the most awkward experiences of my teenage years. The girls would stand on one side of the cafeteria, the boys on the other. Music would be playing at these dances -- music about relationships, being in love, and sex: all this at a middle school dance. Seriously, who thought that would be a good idea? I would love to meet the teacher, or parent, or student that thought that would be a good idea.

Benedict Fritz's Martian Middle School Dance is an insatiable little game, that is as much nostalgia as it innovative.

platform utilized: browser
genre: other
where to find: Check out Martian Middle School Dance right here, and let the awkward begin.

Observing Life Begin: 40 Seeds, 2013

40 Seeds will not take you long to experience. It will not take much effort. It will not even take game playing experience. What it will take is a few minutes of patience, and an open mind, as the significance of this game is subtle. According to the game's creator:

"40 Seeds is an ambient game, about planting seeds on an island. The wind and an aspect of time allow the interaction with life as well as death. Similar to watching rain, 40 seeds is an experience that clears the mind in hopes of immersing and bring forth thought."

I enjoyed this so much. I hope you do too.

Brought to you by KinzyBW.

platform utilized: browser
genre: atmospheric, experimental
where to find: You can plant your 40 Seeds right here.

Cloudmaker: jerry clouds, 2013

Check out orange08's jerry clouds. It's a brief, interactive story, but I am certain you'll enjoy the experience for what it is.

platform utilized: browser
genre: interactive story
where to find: Play through jerry clouds right here.

Perusing for Vinyl: Daymare Cat, 2013

The beautiful hand-drawn Daymare Cat is a delight to play. Part puzzle platformer, part point-and-click adventure, Daymare Cat confidently and maturely tells the story of a girl trying to escape from a gloomy town. The gameplay is straightforward, modest even, but the end product is memorable. And creator Mateusz Skutnik makes it even more unforgettable, as you will see with the completion of the game. Check it out.

platform utilized: browser
genre: puzzle platformer, adventure
where to find: You can play through Daymare Cat right here.

Vanished: Argentum Form, 2013

When I played through this, I was expecting something different. But what I got instead was a deeply involved game, with rich atmospherics and overwhelming moments of emotion. Argentum Form is about a 1960s man, whose evening is disrupted by frightful act. Or realization. Or delusion. You decide.

Created by Blackotus.

platform utilized: browser
genre: explorer
where to find: Play through Argentum Form right here.

You've Got to Save the World!: Redo the End, 2013

Redo the End is an apocalyptic action platformer from Disco Fish. It's the sequel to Undo the End. Basically, you have to save the world from an almost certain doom by traveling back in time and killing an individual. You are given various devices that send you back in time for brief intervals. The concept is a lot of fun. Don't let this intimidate you: Redo the End is an easy game that is very generous to the player. There are no lives; if you die, you are transported back to the spot right before you expired.

platform utilized: browser
genre: action, platform
where to find: You can play the game right here.

Don't Push the Button: Button Roulette, 2013

Button Roulette is a short, hilarious concept, crafted by Lana Polansky. Take a few minutes out of your day and have a good laugh. Check it out.

platform utilized: browser
genre: other
where to find: You can find it right here.

Tomb Raider: Room of 1000 Snakes, 2013

If you're an Indiana Jones fan, you might want to try this. Just sayin.

platform utilized: browser
genre: other
where to find: Play it right here.

As if in a Dream: Welcome to the Forest, 2013

I began Welcome to the Forest with a somewhat different perspective than when the game ended. First, I assumed that the screenshot I had seen was of a text-based game. While it does utilize a lot of text, Forest is not of the text-based variety. Second, within a few moments of beginning, I had become highly critical of the game's text, noting its slapdash composition and often meandering voice and style. It was rather distracting. But the storyline turned out to be anything but unkept. Truly, its subtlety surprised me and encouraged me to continue.

In my opinion, the game was much too brief. However, it was rewarding to play.

Welcome to the Forest is the handiwork of one Nuprahtor, a Russian game developer, from what I can tell.

WASD - movement
Left mouse button - action
Right mouse button - progress thru dialogue

platform utilized: browser
genre: interactive story
where to find: Play Welcome to the Forest.

Talking Your Way Out of Being Eaten: Bite Me, 2013

Bite Me is a game about talking your way out of a dangerous situation -- of being eaten! You play as a hero caught up in the grip of a terrible flannel-wearing giant. You engage in conversational intervals with the giant, being given three choices at a time. Each choice will either bring you closer to his hungry mouth, or put you further away. Created by technobeanie (Pierre-Luc Poirier) of Montreal.

platform utilized: browser
genre: puzzle
where to find: You can find the game right here.

Making Geographically Informed Guesses: GeoGuessr, 2013

GeoGuessr is a game about knowing where you are. Drawing from the visual databank of Google Street View, the goal of the player is to discern and make an informed guess as to their location. The concept is incredibly simplistic, yet so rewarding. My first play through resulted in a score of 8798 points, having been given location clues in 1) Taiwan; 2) Brazil; 3) Idaho; 4) Russia; and 5) Missouri.

This game is a blast. I have designs to play it quite regularly in the coming weeks. This may, too, be a fun game to show your coworkers down at the office. Perhaps you could hold in-home tournaments with your roommates or friends. Whatever you do, please check out this great game.

platform utilized: browser
genre: point-and-click
where to find: Play GeoGuessr right here.

Considering Interaction: The Majesty of Colors, 2008

The Majesty of Colors is a game that sees you playing as a large, curious sea monster. You are looking for a way to interact with the world around you. The option is yours as to how you will go about interacting with it. Will you interact with curiosity? With violence? Will you hurt those helpless little humans? Will you simply watch them? And what about when they try to hurt you? What, then, will you do? Retaliate? Disengage? Submit yourself to death?

The Majesty of Colors is short, only taking a few minutes to play. However, there are five possible endings that you may try for. Created by Gregory Weir.

platform utilized: browser
genre: puzzle
where to find: Play The Majesty of Colors right here.

Like a Stone: 400 Years, 2013

400 Years is a short, tranquil game about a stone idol who must forge ahead, in time, to fulfill his destiny. It's a platformer (if you can call it that, given that there is no jumping), and the art is beautiful. You'll interact with worshipping natives, trees, water, and experience the frequent changing of seasons. You see, in order to achieve certain tasks, you must have patience and wait, sometimes a very long time. You are given the ability to wait, and watch the passage of time rapidly unfold. It's a fun feature. From the mind of Scriptwelder.

platform utilized: browser
genre: platform
where to find: Play 400 Years on Newgrounds, Kongregate, or Armor Games.

Polar Dream: Alone in the Light, 2012

Alone in the Light is a mystical, dreamlike experience that will have you lost in thought. In an arctic setting, we see the spectacle of the aurora borealis. We are told that the light has separated into crystal-like tonal shards, "three shards for each note, seven notes in all." Each shard gives off a distinctive melodic tone. You are looking for these shards in the arctic winds of the North. You are a polar bear.

Your goal is simple: explore the vast arctic landscape, looking for the separated shards of the aurora. The experience is so coherent, I guarantee you'll lose track of time as you play through this simple platformer. The music is simplistic, and the art is absolutely gorgeous. According to the lead designer of the title, Chelsea Howe, "Alone in the Light is dedicated to Kim 'NeoGeen' Koskamp [the project's artist], whose commitment, effort and attitude inspired us to see this through to the end."

A couple of things that really stood out to me: the sounds and music were incredibly executed. Everything is so crisp and tasteful. Every sound utilized seems imperative. The music is sparse but affective. Something else that stood out to me, obviously, was the unique artwork of the game. The polar bear, in particular, epitomizes the efforts of Koskamp, with its elegant features galloping across the snowy terrain, playfully groping the earth underneath him, in an unforgettably graceful motion. Lastly, one of my favorite features of the game is the deep, "black ink" colored water in which you find yourself swimming through. As you descend, the water darkens, making it near impossible to see. The effect is unlike anything I've seen before.

This is a game worth your time.

platform utilized: browser
genre: platform
where to find: You can find Alone in the Light at its own dedicated site, right here.

Impending Suicide: Inner Vision, 2013

Made by independent developer Sunil Rao, Inner Vision is a short, dark game about talking three individuals out of committing suicide. The gameplay is simple and I think the concept is telling especially when considering your motives for intervening on behalf of these lonely individuals.


platform utilized: browser
genre: other
where to find: Experience Inner Vision right here.

An Endless Humdrum of Monotonous Gray: Every Day the Same Dream, 2009

bedroom - kitchen - apartment hallway - elevator - street - commute - boss - cubicle - repeat

Every Day the Same Dream is another title from those scandalous individuals over at Molleindustria, though this one is a few years old. There seems no end to their pushing the limits of what is permissible to say within the realm of video games and I really like that about them. In this game's case, I found the themes at work to be less offensive but just as serious as their other titles. According to Molleindustria, Every Day the Same Dream is "a game about alienation and refusal of labor." I can see that. However, there is more to be said about this tale than merely isolation and rebellion (though I must clarify: I certainly see isolation as a major theme in the game).

The nature of every choice available to the player is alarmingly real. everything seems so actual and unoccupied as the character's choices contrast sharply with the blatant routine of the everyday hum.

The repetition is enough to drive you mad. With every choice presented to you in a monotonous fashion, it would seem that you are determined to choose as you will and must, as if no other option were possible. It is at this point that to not choose seems the most viable way to exercise your dominance over determinism--that is, to make choices that defy the conventional and available decisions.

The fascinating realization is that you are a suit, working in a building with hundreds of others that look like you. Your job is not unique. Your wife is uninteresting and prosaic. Every aspect of your life seems determined, and every facet of existence seems meaningless--except that facet where you deny what you are expected to do, to perform. This is the spirit of Every Day the Same Dream. It is where you deny the very logical conclusion of your vocation that your existence makes the most sense. It is empty and atheistic, but it is satisfying and nihilistic.

Lastly, a tantamount and most serious consideration must be made. The heart and soul of Every Day the Same Dream is in its amazing ability to touch and feel like a real human being. It is its stark disparity that cogently marks it as a human experience. It is in those moments of impotence that the human comes most alive: when driving to work, you stop your car in the middle of the highway and leave it to go put your hand on the muzzle of a gentle cow; when you stand at the base of a tree that is almost stripped of all its color to witness a single and final leaf drift toward you in utter sublimity; when the homeless man just outside your work complex confesses that he knows a quiet place he can take you--whereupon he takes you to a graveyard, which is truly the most satisfying and elating thing that has every happened to you in all of your dreary and bourgeois life. This the heart and soul of the game. This game is not about sticking it to the man. It is about being human in a world and a society that begs you not to be.

platform utilized: browser
genre: interactive story
where to find: Experience Every Day the Same Dream on your browser, right here. If you like, download it for mac or for pc.