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showing 11 games

name	publisher(developer)	year	description
Passage	HC Software	?
Passage	HC Software	2007	This description is one big set of spoilers (see the [url=/game-173178-Passage#art3]official description[/url]) for a spoiler free experience. [spoiler=open spoilers;close spoilers]This is an interactive Memento Mori. The Latin phrase mean "Remember you die" and it referes to a specific subset of art designed to remind the audience of their inevitable death. There is only one permenent death of the protagonist(s) which is based on the author's own (the game is autobiographical). Though the author had not actually passed away yet. There are no saves. Time passes regardless of what the player does. The view slowly passes the protagonist(s). The ultra wide (6.25:1) default view is representative of a passage. The protagonist(s) are passing away. It is intended that one can run the game from the command-line to add to the game experience. It is intended that one edit the unusually stored settings in /etc/passage/ to add to the game experience. Various life events are represented in the game, including romance and marriage. These events can have lasting consequences. [/spoiler] [Zerothis]***Passage is a video game written by Jason Rohrer about navigating the maze that is life and the obstacles, rewards, disappointments, challenges, relationships and the inevitable departure that is part of the adventure of life. Passage is an art game. As a result, some people love it and some people hate it. Check out the links to places it has been discussed on the website for some of the reactions. The mechanics of the game are fairly simple. Your "score" is related to two things; exploration and treasure. Treasure pieces are represented by blue stars that you find in the treasure chests scattered about the maze of life's challenges. Some chests will be empty, so you must learn which sequence of gems on the front of the chests means treasure is inside. You have the option to team up with a spouse. If you do, exploring life will be more rewarding but some treasure will no longer be reachable. As in life, your spouse will die and that death will slow you down. In the end, you will die alone after your 5 minutes is up. The most interesting part about this game is the emotions it evokes within the player of the game. The ultra-low-res pixel art helps here, by not being too distracting and by leaving plenty room for viewer interpretation. Passage has no command-line options. The arrow keys move the player around. The Esc key is used to quit the game. The game resolution and use of fullscreen or a window can be set by editing the files in /etc/passage.
levelHead	author	2008	[media=youtube]dsb76pva4s4[/media]*Requires a webcam and a custom controller. The custom controller can be manufactured at home for free from recycled materials and regular household items. Just see the video.*levelHead is a spatial memory game by Julian Oliver. levelHead uses a hand-held solid-plastic cube as its only interface. On-screen it appears each face of the cube contains a little room, each of which are logically connected by doors. In one of these rooms is a character. By tilting the cube the player directs this character from room to room in an effort to find the exit. Some doors lead nowhere and will send the character back to the room they started in, a trick designed to challenge the player's spatial memory. Which doors belong to which rooms? There are three cubes (levels) in total, each of which are connected by a single door. Players have the goal of moving the character from room to room, cube to cube in an attempt to find the final exit door of all three cubes. If this door is found the character will appear to leave the cube, walk across the table surface and vanish.. The game then begins again. Someone once said levelHead may have something to do with a story from Borges.
Revenge of the Titans	My Game Company;Puppy Games (Puppy Games)	2010
Sleep Is Death	HC Software	2010	This is a two player game, one is the player, the other the narrator. The characters, world, and story is generated cooperatively between them. The story is saved for retelling or replaying. Its definitely a story-focused game. This opens the entire game's story to the realm of user generated content. [Zerothis]
Inside a Star-filled Sky	HC Software	2011	Windows & Mac versions include the source code which the author claims can be compiled on Linux.
Portal	Valve	2013
Rehearsals and Returns	author	2014	Explore the platformer world to find nice, mean or wise things to say and people, both living and dead, to say them too. Definitely something different. Encounters effect others (cause and effect, what was said to whom and in which order, etc). Players will participate in conversions that will (theoretically in some cases) never take place. Some of the people include: Kim Jong-un, Whitney Houston, Hillary Clinton, Mao Zedong, Steve Jobs, George W. Bush, Kurt Cobain, That Cousin I Rarely See, Gangas Khan, Patrick Swayze, Nicoli Tesla, Pope Francis, Edward Snowden, My Hilarious Friend, Ada Lovelace, Saddam Hussein, Harry Houdini, Ludwig Wittgenstein and lots more. It's not too terribly intimidating to those who may not know who the heck they are talking too. The game offers hints such as "Pope Francis (the new one)" and such. dialog-stance
Mountain	Double Fine (author)	2014	The announcement [media=youtube]FpObFKcyLJ8[/media]***At first I read the information on the web about this game and it sounded as if it a neglected niche market that was before tamagochi players and after pet rock owners. I figured a 16K UHD (8640p) 48 inch Electrophoretic Color Display (when these became affordable) framed and hung in my living room would be the best place for it. However, after seeing [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpObFKcyLJ8]David OReilly's presentation[/url] I realized the product has interaction, there are features to unlock, causes to effect. It is on the outside definition of a game. But it is still more of a game than [game=#162665]Narcissu[/game] (which is often accepted as such). And it's minimally subversive (kind of an artistic necessity). I couldn't tell you exactly what, but this guy has probably started something at least as noteworthy as [game=#19073]Kings Quest[/game], [game=#34]Centipede[/game], [game=#173178]Passage[/game], or [game=#107889]Seven Cities of Gold[/game]. However, I'm still looking forward to decorating my wall with this first of the new. "You only live once, buy Picassos whenever possible." Right? $1 is way more than possible for me.
Sacred Fire	Poetic	2015	A different take on narrative driven gameplay. Though it plays like a regular RPG, the emotional state of characters in and out of combat can affect the progression of the game just as if the player were attacking, casting spells, using items, defeating bosses, finding a quest item, etc. The player can do all these things as well, and all options are generally available both in and out of combat. Since story and gameplay affect each other in both directions, this basically makes all gameplay narrative. In addition to 'normal' RPG things, relationships, personal agendas, and personal secrets have roles in gameplay as well as narrative.
The Flock	Vogelsap	2015	The game world has a preset population and in-game deaths remove lives from it. When the population reaches zero, the game goes out-of-print so to speak (no one may purchase it anymore). Those who purchased copies are counted for the second and final phase of the game for a new population to begin. When the new population reaches zero, no more game. The game itself has a durability limit that will be worn down to the games' non-existence.

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