Looking Outwards 01

“Loved” is a short story told in the format of a platformer type video game. It was created by Alex Ocias using Flash, Pixelmator, and Audacity. The purpose of its creation was to see if games could present a story in a meaningful way like books and movies do, and to get people to really think about the games they were playing. Ocias was able to create the story in just a month, and since its release in 2010 the game has been played over 5 million times. Hopefully this means that others will take inspiration and make other emotionally-charged, meaningful games and that video games will be seen as a legitimate form of storytelling. Ocias himself was inspired by games like The Last Guardian and Deus Ex: Human Revolution, as well as game companies Thatgamecompany and Edios Montreal. The gameplay, while being quite simplistic, quickly becomes irrelevant once you begin playing. You’re completely immersed in the story, and even the less-than-perfect controls can’t overshadow that. I’d highly recommend this game to anyone – it only takes max 15 minutes, and is best if you play alone and with the sound on.

You can play the game here. (Please note that this game deals with heavy subjects such as abuse, and in the words of Ocias, “contains content that some players may find disturbing”)