The art of gaming
Katelynn Wilton
Issue date: 2/18/08 Section: News
Rohrer also brought up some games that are turning the corner and beginning to display a window into the human soul. He discussed in detail three games which lead the player through a world of emotion as well as game play. The first, The Marriage, made in 2007 by Rod Humble, uses only two squares and a series of circles. The point of the game is to retain both squares through the marriage. The pink square grows when you hit the two together and the blue square shrinks. The blue square in turn grows when it hits any of the spheres. The pink square begins to fade if the two squares spend too much time apart. This supposedly simulates the creator's view of his own marriage, though there have been multiple interpretations.
Braid, the second artistic game that Rohrer discussed, was based on text and storyline seeming to be a different plot than the game play itself. The storyline speaks messages that correlate to the overall game play, speaking of love as the character seeks out a princess who seems to never be in the right castle. The ending brings all of the seemingly segmented pieces of the story together.
The third game was definitely the most controversial. Entitled Super Columbine Massacre RPG, the game made by Danny Ledonne in 2005 has been viewed as a documentary of the Columbine school shooting in game form. It displays the entire plan of the characters Eric and Dylan, as well as what life was like for them. After killing the classmates, the player is asked if they wish to commit suicide, but if they do so too soon, they will not receive the experience points to be able to win the game by conquering the demons in hell. Therefore, the player keeps returning to kill more. The game, while it might seem overly vicious and violent, attempts to show the world through an outcast's eyes.
He then went on to discuss his own game, Passage, in which the player is forced to deal with his own mortality and the loss of a loved one. He commented that at many game expos, people will play his game and then ask for a moment alone in order to reflect. Passage is making an impact that few games ever do, just as Rohrer hopes to do with his work.
Braid, the second artistic game that Rohrer discussed, was based on text and storyline seeming to be a different plot than the game play itself. The storyline speaks messages that correlate to the overall game play, speaking of love as the character seeks out a princess who seems to never be in the right castle. The ending brings all of the seemingly segmented pieces of the story together.
The third game was definitely the most controversial. Entitled Super Columbine Massacre RPG, the game made by Danny Ledonne in 2005 has been viewed as a documentary of the Columbine school shooting in game form. It displays the entire plan of the characters Eric and Dylan, as well as what life was like for them. After killing the classmates, the player is asked if they wish to commit suicide, but if they do so too soon, they will not receive the experience points to be able to win the game by conquering the demons in hell. Therefore, the player keeps returning to kill more. The game, while it might seem overly vicious and violent, attempts to show the world through an outcast's eyes.
He then went on to discuss his own game, Passage, in which the player is forced to deal with his own mortality and the loss of a loved one. He commented that at many game expos, people will play his game and then ask for a moment alone in order to reflect. Passage is making an impact that few games ever do, just as Rohrer hopes to do with his work.
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