OMNIUM GATHERUM: The Ones I Couldn't Talk About
SO! Throughout the history of this blog a combination of a theoretical journalistic integrity I don't really have and made up rules I made have prevented me from talking about a lot of really cool projects that still deserve the spotlight, even if I really like them otherwise. So, let's gather them! lets just put some of em' together and tell you that even though my standards are dumb, yours aren't! and you might really enjoy these games even if they don't make it to the final page
AMEN BREAK
https://neurotoxicity.itch.io/amenbreak
Reason for Rejection: I tend to avoid more artsy experimental games. I wouldn't call Amen Break 'art' exactly, its hard to really call it a TTRPG at all, more like... a curse? a cognitohazard? its quite something, alright.
Genre: Choleric
Description: Amen Break is... an acquired taste, its a game that you'll recoil from at first but as you read it you come to appreciate its simple yet effective game design and its... stunning visuals? The art is genuinely very nice, this isn't a Cruelty Squad situation, its just very much overwhelming. If you're into things that are just unabashedly strange and uncaring about marketability. I'd recommend giving it a read through, its dirt cheap (free) and only like. 30 pages long so you have no reason NOT to!
The Time We Have
https://moreblueberries.itch.io/ttwh
Reason for Rejection: Extremely depressing, also two player which I generally tend to stay away from
Genre: Depressing Apocalyptic
Description: You play as a pair of brothers having one last conversation before one fully turns into a zombie. The game is designed to be played with a door, or other physical barrier, between the two players, the door must never be opened. The game is simple and short, involving simply roleplaying one last conversation between brothers using prompt cards related to their past, present, and future. It's mostly meditative and artsy, which is another reason I rejected it, but its a fucking fantastic project
YOU WILL DIE IN THIS PLACE
https://liz-shrikestudio.itch.io/you-will-die-in-this-place-free-preview
Reason for Rejection: [This space intentionally left Blank]
Genre: I believe this to be a Love story, do you?
Description: You Will Die in this Place is one of my favorite art projects in recent years. As well as just functioning as a solid dungeon crawler, its also a story about two women, or perhaps one woman? It's a story about communication, about staying alive in a hostile world, about gender, about fear, and about game design. Its one of those things that's hard to explain, but you immediately get as soon as you start reading it, its great. Oh I will note: if you use the built-in Firefox/Chrome PDF reader, its not gonna work, use an external PDF reader, I used Sumatra and it sucked but it worked
Oh also notably: I wanna talk more properly about this game, but it'll be less of my game design focused game reviews and more a thematic analysis of how its gameplay ties into the whole thesis of the project and the metanarrative and etc etc. When I say this game was rejected, I mean its not getting a 'standard' write up.
Hey so, this next game we're talking about is... messy, its a very sexual game about abusive power dynamics and other abusive dynamics. So if those topics make you uncomfortable, there's no games after it so you can safely leave now. Thank you for reading! I'll set up another part some other time
GIRL FRAME
https://anxiousmimicrpgs.itch.io/girl-frame
Reason for Rejection: Unfinished, also a little more sexual than I tend to talk about in here. so CW for A Lot if you're gonna check it out, there's an extensive content warning list at the start of the book and on the Itch page, take them as warnings or promises.
Genre: Mechsploitation
Description: Girl Frame is a game about playing a group of lesbian mech pilots fucking eachother and your abusive Handler. The game's mechanics deliberately encourage players to fuck each other over and manipulate their identities to turn them into what you want them to be. Characters are legally not human, and are always referred to with It/Its pronouns, Mechs are allowed to be She/Her (or He/Him sometimes), the game kinda slaps you in the face with its themes and allegories. This is not a subtle game, it is a game about having abusive sex with horrible people who are so far detached from humanity they're not dissimilar to the very aliens they claim to be saving mankind from. Its fucked up in all the right ways.
I'll make a Part 2 some other time, there's a ton of super cool games that are maybe just too short to talk about in length, or have a bit of a weird tone compared to my other write ups, or just aren't in a state where I think I can safely recommend it because its so early in dev (I learned my lesson from GB)