A WAY TOO SCARY GAME
September 26, 2013 4:17 PM Subscribe
Catachresis is an 8-bit-looking indie flash game of cosmic horror and some bureaucracy and bickering with colleagues. The launch trailer provides a selection of the reactions you will likely experience while playing it.
[The developer of this game would like you to please sigh out loud. Use your full lung capacity. Thank you for embracing the interactivity of this medium and therefore making this art 'better' in some small way.]
I am enjoying this game very much except for the footsteps thudding.
posted by carsonb at 4:59 PM on September 26, 2013
I am enjoying this game very much except for the footsteps thudding.
posted by carsonb at 4:59 PM on September 26, 2013
It's working well in Firefox, but wouldn't move past the save game instructions in Chrome. Seems interesting so far!
posted by brundlefly at 5:01 PM on September 26, 2013
posted by brundlefly at 5:01 PM on September 26, 2013
Oh, it's HTML5? That makes me like it more, actually. Fun.
Also, it's not so much a game as a vaguely interactive story, but still.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 5:13 PM on September 26, 2013
Also, it's not so much a game as a vaguely interactive story, but still.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 5:13 PM on September 26, 2013
Great concept, terrible execution.
Or perhaps I should say: THIS CONCEIT HAS BEEN WRITTEN. I HAVE READ IT ON THE WIRES AND IN THE BITS. ITS LAURELS WERE SEEN BY THE WARHOL, AND ITS END IS NIGH! THE INEVITABLE PROCEEDS.
posted by bfranklin at 5:16 PM on September 26, 2013
Or perhaps I should say: THIS CONCEIT HAS BEEN WRITTEN. I HAVE READ IT ON THE WIRES AND IN THE BITS. ITS LAURELS WERE SEEN BY THE WARHOL, AND ITS END IS NIGH! THE INEVITABLE PROCEEDS.
posted by bfranklin at 5:16 PM on September 26, 2013
I was annoyed by the expository dialogue in the beginning, but quite amused by the (first) main character's role as a straight man to all the cryptic doom priests and assorted entities.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 5:21 PM on September 26, 2013
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 5:21 PM on September 26, 2013
Stuck on my back and can't move!
posted by two7s_clash at 6:08 PM on September 26, 2013
posted by two7s_clash at 6:08 PM on September 26, 2013
Incidentally, the trailer is made from webcam video of real users. DO NOT PLAY WHILE NAKED.
posted by miyabo at 6:47 PM on September 26, 2013
posted by miyabo at 6:47 PM on September 26, 2013
On a semi-related note, I've described Lone Survivor to people as "like Wes Anderson directs Silent Hill" and "like a feel good indie movie set after the end of the world." Tastes may overlap here.
posted by byanyothername at 7:36 PM on September 26, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by byanyothername at 7:36 PM on September 26, 2013 [2 favorites]
Nope, not a single scare. But I still liked it.
posted by chainlinkspiral at 8:05 PM on September 26, 2013
posted by chainlinkspiral at 8:05 PM on September 26, 2013
Without spoiling this, can anyone tell me if there are multiple endings? I enjoyed it but I'm not sure I can handle walking to the right that much again to check.
posted by postcommunism at 8:26 PM on September 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by postcommunism at 8:26 PM on September 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
postcommunism: "Without spoiling this, can anyone tell me if there are multiple endings? I enjoyed it but I'm not sure I can handle walking to the right that much again to check"
I was also wondering about that, depending on what artifact you pick.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 8:28 PM on September 26, 2013
I was also wondering about that, depending on what artifact you pick.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 8:28 PM on September 26, 2013
I ran through the artifacts (I chanced to finish the game after a fortuitously placed save) and it didn't make any difference, as far as I could tell. It seems like there was no real narrative effect of any interaction in the game, which is fine, though there's always that nagging feeling that maybe you missed something... Although inevitability and the inefficacy of action is pretty heavily telegraphed in the script, so in this case I'm thinking yeah, that's it.
I liked it, including the bloviated HARK THEE ELDRICHT HORRORS writing. I like the look of what this guy is up to in general, actually, and look forward to reading/playing more of his stuff.
It still seems to me that I haven't yet gotten through one of these interactive not-quite-a-game, not-quite-a-comic/cartoon/??? art pieces that didn't feel like it was less than half experiment/proof of concept/sketch. I think this is okay, it feels to me like there is a viable medium in there that's going somewhere. Eventually I think I will run one of these things that really leaves a mark on me, as certain video games and interactive text fictions (though that is a medium that I fear peaked too soon and will never be more than a curiosity again, though worthwhile pieces like Shade may crop up time to time by hobbyists) already have. Maybe it's already out there, though I think I've seen the most well-regarded examples. I'll risk the odd half hour here and there finding out, anyway.
posted by nanojath at 10:27 PM on September 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
I liked it, including the bloviated HARK THEE ELDRICHT HORRORS writing. I like the look of what this guy is up to in general, actually, and look forward to reading/playing more of his stuff.
It still seems to me that I haven't yet gotten through one of these interactive not-quite-a-game, not-quite-a-comic/cartoon/??? art pieces that didn't feel like it was less than half experiment/proof of concept/sketch. I think this is okay, it feels to me like there is a viable medium in there that's going somewhere. Eventually I think I will run one of these things that really leaves a mark on me, as certain video games and interactive text fictions (though that is a medium that I fear peaked too soon and will never be more than a curiosity again, though worthwhile pieces like Shade may crop up time to time by hobbyists) already have. Maybe it's already out there, though I think I've seen the most well-regarded examples. I'll risk the odd half hour here and there finding out, anyway.
posted by nanojath at 10:27 PM on September 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
This is literally the most boring game I have ever played.
posted by empath at 10:47 PM on September 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by empath at 10:47 PM on September 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
empath: "This is literally the most boring game I have ever played."
Well, good. Here I was hoping modern life hadn't numbed me to terror.
And, ummmmm, despite the teensiest Laundry feel to it, I am still a little baffled as to the point of the whole exercise.
posted by Samizdata at 12:28 AM on September 27, 2013
Well, good. Here I was hoping modern life hadn't numbed me to terror.
And, ummmmm, despite the teensiest Laundry feel to it, I am still a little baffled as to the point of the whole exercise.
posted by Samizdata at 12:28 AM on September 27, 2013
Got to the screen detailing the save and load buttons. It stayed on that screen so I quit. Google Chrome.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 1:59 AM on September 27, 2013
posted by GallonOfAlan at 1:59 AM on September 27, 2013
Google Chrome.
Same here, and it eventually worked after about 3 minutes (I was doing other stuff in another tab). I didn't play long once it loaded.
posted by Elementary Penguin at 5:24 AM on September 27, 2013
Same here, and it eventually worked after about 3 minutes (I was doing other stuff in another tab). I didn't play long once it loaded.
posted by Elementary Penguin at 5:24 AM on September 27, 2013
nanojath, perchance you to have played any original-English-language visual novel games lately? I found Dysfunctional Systems ep1 pretty compelling; it shares with this game and Analogue an approach to interactivity that highlights the futility of the choices you're offered.
(those games aren't as purple tho)
posted by LogicalDash at 5:36 AM on September 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
(those games aren't as purple tho)
posted by LogicalDash at 5:36 AM on September 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
I find even classifying this as a "game" a little misleading. There's no freedom of movement, barely decision making, not even any rules. That's not to say it's not worthwhile (though they could have made it much tighter with a *lot* less walking) but a game usually has someoption to play. There was no playing in this "game." Just walking. and walking. and walking (and some talking).
posted by to sir with millipedes at 5:50 AM on September 27, 2013
posted by to sir with millipedes at 5:50 AM on September 27, 2013
'Game' is definitely a misnomer. It's an interactive story, like Dear Esther. I enjoyed this so much more than Dear Esther, at least.
Someone clue me in: who the hell is Chloe?
posted by spamguy at 6:58 AM on September 27, 2013
Someone clue me in: who the hell is Chloe?
posted by spamguy at 6:58 AM on September 27, 2013
If you press up repeatedly, while holding left or right and walking he develops a particularly silly walk. One Monty Python could be proud of.
posted by DynamiteToast at 8:55 AM on September 27, 2013
posted by DynamiteToast at 8:55 AM on September 27, 2013
The part with the demon computer was entertaining, but yah I don't think I'll be "playing" Walk to the Right Simulator 2 when it comes out.
posted by DynamiteToast at 9:24 AM on September 27, 2013
posted by DynamiteToast at 9:24 AM on September 27, 2013
Thanks for the suggestions, LogicalDash, I'll check those out. I definitely do not have anything like an exhaustive experience in this vein, I check out what happens to make it over the transom, so to speak.
posted by nanojath at 10:11 PM on September 27, 2013
posted by nanojath at 10:11 PM on September 27, 2013
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Worked fine in Firefox, btw.
posted by LogicalDash at 4:44 PM on September 26, 2013