A screenshot from Braid, a 2008 indie game made by two people and one of the highest-rated games of all time.
As a writer and avid reader and English major, friends and family often believe I love my coursework. This is not the case. The quest for a liberal arts degree includes a close study of interesting topics—interesting compared to numbers or chemical formulas, anyways—but often those topics are a waste of my time. My five-year goals include publishing a short-story anthology, writing freelance stories for magazines like Wired and Official Xbox Magazine, and maybe sending a few TV spec scripts to Hollywood. So I hope you understand why I believe spending two weeks of my adult life preparing to perform Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream isn’t a good use of time. So on the contrary, I often despise my coursework.
But on rare occasions I do love it. Yesterday, for the Weblogs and Wikis class for which this blog was created, I pitched a project that seemed—gasp!—pertinent and useful. I asked to spend five weeks playing five indie games and writing a series of blog posts about the experience. Today that project was approved.
Each week I will play one game and write three posts about it on my other blog. First, on Monday, I will communicate my research about the game’s context—its inspirations, creator(s), development process, et al—as well as my first impressions. On Wednesday I will write an extended analysis about at least three noteworthy aspects of the game. This includes but is not limited to the game’s narrative, mechanics, and art. On Friday, I will post a full critical review. This will be much different than Wednesday’s post—it will look at the game as an experience from a critical lens.
My work with this blog has attracted people who appreciate art in all its forms, so I hope that even if videogames aren’t your thing you also follow my series of posts there. Your feedback, be it praise or loud yelling, is not only welcome but encouraged.
The project begins tomorrow with a look at Braid, the narrative-driven platforming game which spurred the still-strong indie renaissance. I’ll give my first impressions, then take a look at Braid‘s creator Jon Blow and his bittersweet success story. In the following weeks I’ll be looking at Fez, To The Moon, Spelunky, and Gone Home.
Remember: this project will be hosted on my other blog. Any questions or suggestions about this project? Let me know. I hope to see you in the comments section tomorrow and throughout the next five weeks.
Boats Against The Current 