One of those "better" games from the Global Game Jam, Move Mouse to Fulfill Destiny is a short Flash that tackles logistical management with a loose, Benmergui-esque stance. You simply move the mouse around to dictate what your man spends time on over the course of his life. Holding the mouse in one box has you build stuff up, while the other squares have you growing food and entertaining guests. You grow old and based on what you´ve done, you die with varying levels of community support. Calling it "a cross between Agricola and Passage" or "hyper-Harvest Moon" both smack about right, but there´s something distinguishing in the actual gameplay that leaves these descriptions a bit off.
What this game seems to be to me, and you can kind of glean this from the title, is an application of the gameplay antithesis tested (with great success) in You Have To Burn The Rope to the Diner Dash dynamic, formalized with a psuedo-Passage template and drizzled over with a light caramelization of the Jay is Games feeling. What I mean is: it´s easy, you can´t fail, it seems entirely a conductor of effortless dopamine tugs and a final, warm community feeling. The lax gameplay seems to be the point, a radical conceptual shift from games that echo the rat-race economy in their rigid structures and anxious loops. However, like so many games that explore the other side of the medium, active decision making is overtly sacrified to the detriment of the experience´s balance.
Incidentally, this is the kind of life I fantasize about leading after long days in the office, just chilling, working with the earth, trading with your neighbors, having barbeques and stuff. Seems like a real idyllic future or near-term homeostatic anchor for society to reimagine in these times of mass dissonance. What we may have here, then, is a crude kernel for the future of sustainable human livelihood. I hope we take more iteration time on this future than 48 hours, and maybe tighten up the constraints a bit. While we´re at it, let´s tighten up those graphics.
Not quite three stars??
I'm not sure why people keep giving this a low rating. It's one of the most moving games I've ever played. (Although I've reached the point that I'm not that moved anymore.
Yeah I´ve noticed that with
Yeah I´ve noticed that with the other game. I like these games, but I like all kinds of weird shit.
I have noticed that the "meaningful games" all tend to rub off after a while, however some of them have such strategic depth that you find yourself comtemplating things as you delve further into the game´s soul. You could make a game like that in a weekend, but designing a game like that takes years, like crystal formation.