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ORDEEER! (2020) - Ordeeeeeeerr!

Anicet Ngrt Free

“Imagine that you are in the House of Commons and you play John Bercow, the Speaker of the House. Shout at the mic in rythm and bring back order in the room for as long as you can.”

Developed during a game jam, this game is very difficult to play because the synchronising has to be exact but it is hilarious, such a fun idea in theory and practice.

#Free #Pixel #Short #Humorous

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Path Out (2017) - Escape war

Causa Creations (Germany and Austria) Content note: War, Forced migration Free

“Path Out is an autobiographical narrative game following the real journey of Abdullah Karam, a young Syrian escaping the civil war in 2014. Abdullah himself comments the game through Youtube-style videos, giving insights into his dramatic travels through Syria's war torn countryside & daily life.”

Based on his true story, the game is narrated by the protagonist, who looks back on his escape from war in his country.

This was an interesting approach to forced migration, the voice over narration of the protagonist gave even more depth to intentional pixel art depicting Syrian landscapes.

A short witty game from a primary source on a heavy subject.

#Free #Pixel art #Keyboard #Survival #Political #Human #Upbeat #Melancholic #Sombre #Humorous #True story #Short

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Under Leaves (2017) - Feed the animals

Circus Atos (Czechia) €4,99

“Journey into the forest, the jungle or the depths of the deep blue sea. Find chestnuts for the pigs, a caterpillar for the crocodile or a starfish one, two three. A color-filled hidden object game from the world of animals.”

Find the flora and fauna that feeds the animals in their monochromatic environments. The game relies on low contrast for difficulty so it is not suitable for colorblind people.

#Point and click #Animals #Peaceful #Hidden objects

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A Space for The Unbound - Prologue (2020) - Superpowers and domestic struggles

Mokjiken Studio (Indonesia) / Toge Productions (Indonesia) Content note: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental Health Free

“Prologue chapter of A Space For The Unbound, an upcoming slice-of-life adventure game with beautiful pixelart set in the late 90s rural Indonesia that tells a story about overcoming anxiety, depression, and the relationship between a boy and a girl with supernatural powers”

Protect your mental health and your friend.

So far you play a boy who befriends a girl who is being abused at home, so you offer to go back to her house to pick up something for her before going on a quest together.

I look forward to the full game, the storytelling is already emotionally engaging and the artwork is fantastic.

#Keyboard #Pixel #Relationships #Mental Health #Set in the past #Melancholic #Soundtrack #Sombre #Upbeat

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Space Between World (2017) - Abstract relationships

4H StudioLab (Italy) / GrabTheGames Free

“Did you ever pay attention to the importance of space? Space Between Worlds is a short puzzle game that expresses the concept of proximity and lets the player interpret the context and arc of the story.”

Play some shapes moving around different shapes and project your feelings onto them, it’s pleasant.

#Free #Keyboard #Relationships #Short

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Don’t Give Up: A Cynical Tale (2019) - Take control of your demons

Tristan Barona (USA) / Taco Pizza Cat Games (USA) Content note: Suicide, Mental health €0,79

“A comedic RPG about the cynical and hilarious realities of social interaction, personal growth, and confronting your inner demons.”

Recover and fight for yourself after a failed suicide attempt.

A cynical and hopeful game about pushing through darkness and coping with stressful social situations in the form of an RPG with battles and scavenger hunts.

A cute approach to a traumatic situation and some insight into the developpers’ lived experience.

#Pixel #Mental health #Battle #Upbeat #Melancholic #Human

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Her Story (2015) - Search and rewind

Sam Barlow (UK) Content note: Disappearance, police, murder €8,19

“A woman is interviewed seven times by the police. Search the video database and explore hundreds of authentic clips to discover her story in this groundbreaking and award winning narrative game.”

Find and play interview clips to get to the truth.

You search terms to play short clips of interviews on different days that contain the searched term.  I was skeptical about this premise at first but the more I played the more I enjoyed it. It is satisfying to work out which terms to search to isolate interviews, a very interesting narrative mechanic.

#Point and click #Live action #Puzzle #Point of view #Human #Set in the past

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Candypink (2020) Short and sweet horror

ribyrnes Content note: Mutilation Free

“A perfectly normal cooking game. Made for the Two Minute Horror Jam (horror games playable in under two minutes).”

#Free #Pixel #Point and click #Short #Sombre #Upbeat #Human

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Photographs (2018) Remembering mistakes

EightyEight Games (UK) Content note: Illness, Grief, Drug use, (I didn’t finish so probably a lot more) €9,99

“Photographs is a Narrative Tragedy Puzzle Game?”

I enjoyed the storytelling in this one but the gameplay not so much, it consists of mini puzzles in a graphic style very different to the main cutaway and photo taking one so I didn’t finish playing but I still think its worth checking out.

#Melancholic #Pixel #Point and click #Puzzle #Sombre #Human

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Four Last Things (2017) - Sin to be forgiven

Joe Richardson Content note: Murder, Illness, Voyeurism €7,99

“Four Last Things is a point-and-click adventure game made from Renaissance-era paintings and public domain recordings of classical music. It is about sin, and the Four Last Things – Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell – and strives to be intelligent and ridiculous in equal measures.”

You must re-commit all sins in a new parish because they don't take confessions for sins commited in another parish.

I love the concept of animating paintings and I like Jheronimus Bosch art, which this game features prominently, the execution is spectacular. The gameplay is fun and easy despite featuring gruesome ideas and complex imagery

There are objects to find and people to interact with in each environment, which are based on paintings featured in the painting room shown above. 

In 2020 Richardson published another game in this style, Procession to the Cavalry. I didn’t enjoy it as much but it is worth checking out and playing through.

#Point and click #Medieval #Humorous #Sombre #Upbeat #Human #Soundtrack #Set in the past

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Bruises (2020) Keep your friendship alive

leafthief (Austria) Content note: Grief, Accident (reference to) Free

“Bruises is a short point & click adventure about keeping a relationship alive. For three weeks now, you weren't able to skate. Your board is still up in the 'home', a self-made hideout in an abandoned industry building you and your friends use to skate. For three weeks now, it was just you and your thoughts. Barrages of the same thoughts over and over again. You can't bear it. You HAVE TO skate. You have to GO GET IT!”

Reconcile with your friend after the accident.

A short emotional experience with a cute color palette.

#Melancholic #Pixel #Point and Click #Short #Human #Relationships

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Muriel Tramis: Liberation, erotic thrillers, and education

Content note: Military, Erotica, Slavery

Someone on twitter asked if any adults with ADHD could give advice on homeschooling a 7 year old child with ADHD and I immediately thought back to the ADI videogame series which I grew up playing. I also fell down the rabbit hole of director Muriel Tramis’ ecclectic career.

Muriel Tramis is an engineer born in Martinique in the 1950s who worked for the French arms industry programming drones before pursuing other avenues through which to work on simulations. 

The first games she worked on were Mewilo (1987) and Freedom (1988) set in Martinique and created alongside the writer Patrick Chamoiseau and illustrator Philippe Truca.

Mewilo

Freedom

Her work then shifted to erotica with the games Emmanuelle (1989), Geisha (1990) and Fascination (1991). The first video below is  from the Lo-fi Let’s Play series by Leigh Alexander.

Meanwhile she was also working on the groundbreaking ADI educational series (1989-) for children which I grew up playing.  The concept was providing various formats for exercises to cater to children who became easily bored of repetitive exercises. It started out being for maths but expanded to all subjects and ages.

Adibou 2 from 1996 (above) is the first point and click game I played. He is an alien who hosts a world of exercises. I have French speaking parents but didn’t have French lessons at school so the game became a recurring learning companion. I also played ADI 4 (1997) when I got older.

The ADI series contributed to the awarding of a Legion of Honor to Tramis, the highest medal awarded to French citizens, for her contributions to French culture through educational videogames.

Deep diving into the career of Muriel Tramis has been an emotional rollercoaster, from finding out the designer of a game that shaped my childhood is a black woman, to reading her shift from revolution themes to exotification and learning more on her stint in the arms industry. A few of her interviews from the last couple of years are online (in French).

The last activity I’ve seen her associated to is a 3D company based in the Caribbean back in 2018 through their social media pages, the website link is dead. She launched a fundraising campaign to remake her game Mewilo, but it only reached 9% of its goal so it did not succeed through that avenue, hopefully it will see the day. The teaser trailer is still online

#Article #Black #Pixel #Point and click #Retro

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Kult (2019) Snapshot game

Submitted to Cyberpunk Jam 2019 Content note: State violence, Cult Free

“Cyberpunk journalism investigation point&click. Investigate and collect clues before confronting the leader of a mysterious cult-like organization, and unravel the terrible lies that have been spread for generations.”

#Pixel #Point and click #Short #Human #Robots #Free

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The White Door (2020) - Help yourself remember

Rusty Lake (Netherlands) / Second Maze (Netherlands) Content note: Death, Grief, Mental health, Psychiatric institutionalisation €3,29  

“Enter The White Door and discover Rusty Lake’s universe in a new game with a unique style! Explore Robert Hill’s dreams and help him to find his lost memories. Can you survive the strict daily routine and bring back color to Robert's life?”

Puzzles inside a psychiatric institution in 1972

You play Robert, a patient who has self checked into the room, looking to recover his memories. It is a wholesome depiction of psychiarty which deviates from the usual sensationalisation and caricaturisation that stigmatises people with mental health issues.

The game takes place over a week throughout which you follow a routine that leads you to progressively unlocking more memories, which affect how you carry out your routine.

I enjoyed the versatility of a two pane screen for puzzles and interactive cutaways (for the memories). The room itself is used as a puzzle, which contains puzzles in the “closeups” and in the feelings that the memories trigger. It’s a simple narrative that honors the complexity of recovery.

That said I am fully against psychiatric institutions, those places are a hotbed for abuse, we need solutions in the community, we need to surround ours with care and resources, not send them away.

#Point and click #Puzzle #Sombre #Human #Set in the past

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Puentes (2019) - Sal que te esperan

NarrativasLab (Argentina) Contiene: Abandono paternal (mencion de), Insultos Gratis

“PUENTES, producido por Virgo Game Studios (nombre ficticio), es un juego inspirado en el cuento "Puentes" del libro "La noche en plena tarde", obra de Pablo Colacrai. Puede leerlo haciendo click aquí. El juego es un point and click con pequeños puzzles que te van a ir guiando a lo largo de la trama, poniendo al usuario dentro de la historia y recreando las emociones que siente Ricardo.”

Mini puzzles para conseguir salir de tu casa despues de cenar con tu madre y tu hermana.

#Pixel #Point and click #Short #Free #Castellano #Puzzle

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Apocalipsis (2020) - Bring your lover back from death

Punch Punk Games (Poland) / Klabater (Poland) Content note: Death, Corpses €6,99

“Apocalipsis is a point-and-click adventure game, in the vain of Samorost and Machinarium, where all puzzles have a hidden meaning. With a unique artstyle inspired by 15th century engravings it tells a story about heartbreak, redemption and, quite literally, the end of the world.”

Morbid puzzle quest through a dying world.

You play Harry, a 15th century European peasant who’s lover dies, so you summon dark forces to find the path to her to bring her back (I think, I can’t remember properly).

The graphics are stunning and horrible in a good way, inspired by medieval art and the general disgusting vibe. The soundtrack matches, very solemn and ominous.

The mechanisms of the puzzles are different in each environment and they suit the story nicely.

#Point and click #Puzzle #Sombre #Soundtrack #Medieval #Human #Supernatural #Set in the past

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The Supper (2020) - Feed your guests

Octavi Navarro (Spain) Content note: Death, Corpses, Cannibalism, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse (reference to) Pay what you want

“The Supper is a short adventure game about the darkest side of the human soul. Ms. Appleton was always a wellspring of kindness, until The Voice started talking to her.”

A short violent game on violence.

Play Mrs. Appleton, a cook for a pier tavern haunted by the past.

I didn’t expect the ending to be so sad, it was an interesting exercise in perspective and reframing violence.

#Free #Pixel #Point and click #Short #Sombre #Human #Supernatural #Antropomorphs