Art Game Emergence?

The immersion of the idea that games can and should be more focused on events and procedures; mechanics and controls rather than visuals, graphics, resolution and storyline is quite fascinating. The concept that the actions are more important than the visuals representing them can stimulate some interesting sorts of game-play.

Upon playing some of the Artgames mentioned in class and in the Gamasutra article, it truly made me wonder what direction this genre will go. I found most of the games (especially Passage) to be rather dull and boring. In fact, Passage had me more focused on the changing of the scenery than anything else in the game - then all of a sudden the characters died. What I drew from the game was that it was meant to parallel how long and monotonous life can be until all of a sudden you “pass” away (die). Truly, though, this game was unique. I only pressed one button the entire time and as the backgrounds changed I tried to deduce whether or not they had meaning; if they were meant to represent emotions or thoughts with each new stage of life. So then I asked myself: is that the purposes Artgames? Are they meant to stimulate thought and emotion through the perception of a given act (in the case of Passage, going through life).

Another one I thought was particularly interesting was ‘Graveyard’. Talk about morbid. That game really made me ponder what it would be like if/when I’m the only one in my family left … waiting to die. The aesthetics of the game facilitated those ideas; the gray-scale background, the lady’s walk-cycle, her mental monologue, even the whizzing by of birds made it seem like you (as the character) had lost all steam while the world was passing by around you. It was kind of saddening.

Artgames, to me, are almost more like movies (not big Hollywood productions; but small independent films) that really seek to poke and prong at it’s player’s emotions and thoughts. With that said, I can see why the genre was dubbed ‘Artgames’. In my experience, most artwork is meant to stimulate ideas and feelings; to convey the emotions of a given act, time, place, person, etc.

There’s definitely potential in this genre and I’m eager to get some ideas rolling around for my own Artgame.