Jan 30, 2012

Et in Arcadia ego

Jonas Kyratzes can do much more than design innovative games; he is a brilliant writer and, well, writers do actually tend to write well and even tend to not be afraid of making games with lots and lots of glorious text. And, apparently, no puzzles either. Or anything that could stand in the way of leisurely exploring a fresh version of 19th century romanticized Arcadia, while avoiding each and every design commandment ever put to paper (or, more appropriately, posted on them internets). That game is none other than Arcadia: a pastoral tale.

Arcadia: a pastoral tale is quite a bit like a choose-your-own-adventure and you can play it for free over at that link I just posted. Though I wont be spoiling what it's all about, I have to admit I was impressed with its rich setting, its subtly subversive ideas, its whimsical creatures and the sheer quality and quantity of its words. Words are much trickier than polygons you know. And as the in-game choices provided by Arcadia are mostly concerned with aesthetics, those Jonas-crafted words do some amazing tricks. You'll see them all if you play through Arcadia twice.

It is, after all, supposed to be a stroll, an afternoon walk, and two walks are always better than one. There’s no challenge, no puzzles, no wrong choices. There’s just the path that you take and the things that you see. Oh, and it's all crafted with the excellent Twine, mind.

Related @ Gnome's Lair:

12 comments:

  1. Ah, finally a game that does everything those internets say not to do! I had an excellent, meditative time with this title, and it inspired me to download Twine and poke around a bit. The program seems impressively intuitive.

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  2. Impressively intuitive and -rather shockingly- not deceptively so. The hard part, after all, is coming up with great concepts and stories.

    Mind you, I'd love to see something by you. And am rather chuffed by the fact you enjoyed JOnas' work in Arcadia.

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    1. I have been toying with the idea of just sitting down and writing something some weekend. Just hammer it out and worry about polishing it later. A prototype of sorts. I'm worried if I toil over some grand idea I'll never actually create anything resembling a "finished" product. I've never really done anything with games creatively, though I have looked into some of the tools meant to bridge the gap between non-coders and game design (gamemaker, rpgmaker, twine, etc.)

      Does that sort of thing interest you? Do you have any projects of the sort going?

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    2. I think you are doing this the correct way; I did actually try going for grand things but haven't managed to properly release anything just yet. Then again, that's about (well, relatively about) to change... :) Also, I'll be making some interesting announcements tomorrow... And maybe even find the time to work on my short Twine project.

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    3. Sounds like exciting things are afoot!

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    4. Well, I sincerely hope. Otherwise, it was another lost year. How very uplifting, eh? :P

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  3. Give me my Bob Ross game and I'll die happy!!

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  4. Bob Ross eh? That definitely sounds a bell.

    (a wikipedia search leater)

    Ah, yes! Now I see :)

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  5. (enters carrying a Kyttaro placard, grabs a tuna sandwich...leaves)

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    1. (admires Kyttaro placard, wishes for a sandwich... waits)

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  6. (returns with a live Tuna, a perky faced milk cow and a bread Baker... grabs more beer...leaves..)

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    1. Hits tuna with perky faced milk cow, milks milk cow, examines beer (there is no beer) and wishes for a walkthrough.

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