Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Tuesdays With Memento Mori: Vidiotic Interlude:



http://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net/passage/

Passage, linked above, is a most unusual game. I insist you play it before reading this because, well, text doesn't do a very good job at describing the sensation of gameplay. It only takes a few minutes.

Now, in Passage you begin with your avatar at the far left of the screen. Immediately at the beginning of the game you see a female companion for your avatar, who you can run to or ignore. As you walk to the right your score goes up, and if you find some treasure chests your score goes up more.

The more you walk to your right, the more the seasons change. The landscape gets greyer and wintrier as your avatar (and the female if you got her) gets older. Eventually you die. The end.

There's no goal, there's no end boss. If you get the companion you can't access the treasure chests, but it doesn't matter, your score is totally irrelevant, a large bunch of numbers. You always die in the end. Thus the reason for posting this on Tuesday.

2 comments:

  1. It's well known that you are not supposed to spoil the ending of Passage!

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  2. He DID give a warning, though.

    I thought the gradual change and loss of hair was quite poignant, as was the moment when the girl died. I wonder if she has a chance of lasting longer than you do.

    Is there any background or history to Passage itself?

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