itch.io

More manifestos need giant pride flag bridges, box pushing, and cat drum and bass raves. New gold standard. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I like the way you went on lots of mini rants and side tangents. Felt raw and real. 

Oooo this is a good one. I've started to plant these seeds last year and this is like pouring some super growth juice on them seeds. I'm starting to think that sharing stuff to be experienced offline is the best way. I still share stuff but more often it's under my controlled conditions.

This site is full of some of the most deranged comments where people pick apart someone's free personal art project like they own every piece of it. Artists are cool though. Love being in spaces where we all just show our gleeful awe at each others stuff.

Damn, Cool format for a manifesto

Lots of great points. As someone early in curatorial hobby, many things you wrote spoke to me. Currently my site (https://exhibitplay.com/), has a lot of niche topics in games, but its lacking many things that go beyond it just being a listacle. I want community, discussion, collaboration, critique. A hub of new ideas where the curation is just the spark for something deeper. Thanks for writing this manifesto.

Real. Hoping things get better. For you, and all of us that are feeling the weight of it all 🩵. Thanks for sharing this.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I really enjoyed reading this and I agree, I like to think about how a game, or really any piece of art, made me feel rather than finding some objective truth. And that feeling comes from many factors both on the surface and through the players own experience in life.

The screen tearing was intentional. It's interesting to explore "engine glitches" as a material for art. Z-fighting, low framerates, boundary breaking, etc. Lots of interesting applications to explore (I'm sure you're familiar with Yuha's Nightmares which is also doing this on a larger scale)

Yes! It has became such a common pattern for games to be talked about as "replay value, multiple endings (I must see them all!), achievements (I must get them all!), daily quests/rewards (I must return everyday!)". I like it when a game tries to be one thing, committed to telling one story, evoking one thought that you can sit with and absorb for a long time without the noise of all the retention strategies dissolving the thoughts before they can enter longer contemplation. 

As soon as I told myself that I wasn't going to make products/seek commercial success, I started making my best art. I'm starting to believe in this theory of obscurity where the most pure and original art comes from having zero audience, zero expectations, and being completely unknown. It's why I think kids make the best art.

Still waiting on a web 3.0. Better yet, no 3.0, just a new web. New ways of navigating that dont feel like an endless content scroll. New ways of making and sharing art. New ways of forming, maintaining, and nurturing healthy communities.

Now that is a manifesto. Bravo. I'm going to make a visual novel now

Love it all! Very inspiring. When it comes to visual novels, Set Yourself on Fire by denhop  fits as an extremely good example of something released recently that showed a new potential for visual novels. It's extremely experimental and uses cinema/experimental storytelling in ways I've never seen a visual novel do before. And it's made in RenPy which I think is even more radical because it breaks out of all the constraints you see in so many RenPy games.

Thank you for making this! For so long, projects have filled up a space of my mind that is hard to decouple when doing literally anything else. A part of it is a deep passion, excited about new ideas constantly and finding everything an inspiration. But it's so exhausting. Impossible to live in the present often. But this is a good reminder to just enjoy the process without big expectations.

This was really magical. Felt like a sandbox of playful interactions. The kind of game you play on a rainy day with a cup of tea. Excellent work on the sound design too. I played trumpet near the waterfalls and enjoyed every second. A game with a playable trumpet always brings me to a smile.

Really love the washed out and blurred art style. Interesting concept too. Even growing up in North America I don't relate with a lot of environments in liminal games but do still get the nostalgic sense of it. Like there's the childhood hazy memory of something that isn't fully in focus. The feeling is more clear than the actual image. Well done.

Wow, very cool coming back to this after 5 years. This was a special experience for me to play during the pandemic. And its extra special now that I have met you in-person. Thank you again for making this.

Congrats. This is one of the most beautiful visual novels I have ever played. Floored me so many times. Will share more thoughts soon. Seriously, this deserves to be treated as a standout experience and a new classic among the genre.

I can tell you that a game design document is a living document. It evolves with the project and acts as a source of guidance and truth in the present moment. I personally couldn't see the point in "creating" the whole game in the document before actually making the game. The document is initially very simple and rough and is guided by the project goals as you run into design challenges spread through all skills (level design, gameplay, sound design, music, art, vfx, programming, etc) related to the project.

Holy shit I miss living near a Costco and being a hotdog and drink fiend

WOW! Unbelievable. Microgame poetry that I've always dreamed of seeing (and making). Incredibly inspiring and moving. So many beautiful interactions all weaving into a quiet, yet grand journey. Bravo!

Wow this is pretty amazing. Starts off as a fun joke, but it's actually really involved with clever designs with good mechanic twists that get added gradually. Didn't expect to hunch over my desk and go into super focus mode. I was motivated to see the next wonky looking horse.

I just completed it. I was really motivated to see all the planets. Fishing was a bit too easy.  I didn't need to buy any upgrades, and was a bit let down that the final catch was extremely easy.  Difficulty could use some fine tuning for those that want a fun challenge (wasn't a big deal for me because I enjoyed the vibes a lot). The art and music was really well done. The cloud planet was my favorite.  The star map reminded me of Star Fox, so I was really intrigued what awaited me on each planet. By the end of it I was pretty invested in the world. The royal cats. The chef. The tiny bits of lore in the descriptions.  Great experience overall. 

This has so much personality. Loving the art direction and random sound bites. Silly fun time.

Wonderful art. Love it

Hey. I've been thinking about this game since I last played it. I like to take notes when playing games with a lot to think about, and I transcribed the notes I took for this game. Again, such an important project. Something I plan to explore again and take more notes. There's a lot to ponder.

https://farfamahar.github.io/digital-garden/rebody-notes/

I was looking for desert wandering games (minimal goals, atmospheric focus) for a curated list of games I'm making for my website Exhibit:Play. This fit perfectly and I'll be sharing the list soon. You can check out the site here

https://exhibitplay.com/

Enjoyed exploring this a lot. Brought back good memories of wandering Winnipeg on cold sunny days. I moved away from the city 4 years ago and kinda miss the winter atmosphere. You did a great job and as far as I know this is one of the only games set in Winnipeg? Great job

Great use of music and subtle storytelling. Leaves a lot to the imagination. Lovely to explore.

This was really exceptional. I have a lot of thoughts! Firstly, such an interesting way to tell a story about your relationship to games. 

I felt a long lost craving open up. My introduction to MMOs came as an adult. MMOs during my childhood were too financially prohibitive for our household. I was also raised in a low income housing unit where playing outside and making friends was low friction and the default way to spend free time. As I became an adult, I had the financial access to a better computer. Also a basement. 

I would sink countless hours in fantasy MMOs. The free ones which ask for more of your time. I look back at those days as a time sink, but also with a strange fondness. I had little ambition during those times. How comforting it was for that to be the only thing in life to worry about.I realize it was only a conceivable enjoyment when the idea of experiencing the complexity of life seemed like something impossible.

I don't play Video Games™ that much these days. I avoid all "big number goes up dopamine hole" type games, but it was immediately clear that this was more to it than that. At times I wondered if the endless grind for tidbits of story was also the point. I grew fatigued and trapped waiting for my excitement to light up when more of your story was told. 

I'm glad I stayed until the end. You've made something reflective. Critical. Personal. And not simply black or white. There are deep layers to how we all experience  playing games that starting playing us. I know of deep friendships solidified through just being in these addictive spaces with shared goals. "access to a part of him that he was too embarrassed to show anyone else". But also know of many that step away from the screen one day to realize that all offline goals they had a decade ago feel so out of reach. Memories and experiences detached from reality"...spent in a world that left no trance"

Searching for kissing games and found this accurate simulation of  evil man.

Laughed a lot! Made my day

Looks great! Will be using this for a prototype build of a game idea I had. Would love to know the process of texturing this. Learning Blender and hoping to create my own workflow one day, but for now I must rely on these well crafted models of yours. Thanks!

I was stuck on lv1 for so long before I realized the worms were actually pretty chill when you don't go on a shooting spree that causes a cloning horror catastrophe. Very cool style.

This is so silly, I love it. Would be great if it supported local multiplayer, the AI is a bit too easy to defeat once I started spamming.

Congrats on the nomination! 🎉

Really enjoyed the story setup and atmosphere. I'm not used to these kind of games so I struggled with the puzzles and finding items, but the overall experience and world felt lovely to explore.

Interesting to see the early technical designs that would become part of Player Non Player. I played this without realizing it was made by you and was thinking that it felt similar to your designs haha.

This is great. I persisted with patience and luck to get through the second platform area. But I was too late...and all I was left with was a corpse and infinite amount of space to mourn. Beautiful little piece.

Hello. Thanks for playing. There's a warning before you download, and warning on the title screen. As well as an instant exit on escape. I'll add a third warning on the page just in case people somehow miss the other warnings. I do agree that it is an extremely seizure prone experience.

Oh wow. Congrats. They are lucky to have you on the team and now I'm looking forward to both games.

First game I've played in a while that made me hunch over like it was a boss fight. I needed to see this through. What a thrilling twist on the typing game.

This is exceptional on so many levels! Without a doubt the best autobiographical game I've played.