hannahk2-LookingOutwards-12

Loved is a browser based platform game by Alex Ocias, a graphic designer and artist. Written in Adobe Flash and released in June 2010, the game is a slightly sadistic exploration game where the player moves through a pixellated world and chooses to obey or disobey commands from a mysterious abusive narrator on the screen. The game is psychological in nature and thought provoking, and features a minimal landscape which becomes more and more complex as commands are disobeyed (the world gets more colorful). The other project I chose to write about is Limbo, a puzzle-platform video game developed by independent studio “Playdead” and released in July 2010. The game is a 2D side-scroller, and contains a physics system which controls objects in the environment and the character. The players job is to guide a mysterious little boy through dangerous environments and traps as he searches for his sister. The game was built with the expectation that the player would fail many times before finding the correct solution. The art in the game is made in black and white, and uses many effects including sound to create the eerie atmosphere of the world. I seriously admire these projects for their ability to immerse the player in the world built by the artists. Both of the games contain a sort of sadistic aspect which interests me, and Loved touches on really interesting themes of power and control, and abuse. What is really amazing is that both of these games turn games into a sort of art form, through both sophisticated visuals and complex concepts. People complain that limbo, however, could have had a more complex story line, and while I partly agree, I think the game suffices as one that paints a convincing environment and forces the player to overcome puzzles to survive.

 

 

Limbo gameplay

loved gameplay

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbo_(video_game)
limbo wiki

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loved_(video_game)
loved wiki