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Figure Citation

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn02.nintendo-europe.com%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F10_share_images%2Fgames_15%2Fnintendo_switch_download_software_1%2FH2x1_NSwitchDS_Undertale_image1600w.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nintendo.co.uk%2FGames%2FNintendo-Switch-download-software%2FUNDERTALE-1347694.html&docid=v11ppn9LXzD3gM&tbnid=8RNt3Va9E0XYNM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjQzO7xko7fAhVJmeAKHeOFDF4QMwhvKAYwBg..i&w=1600&h=800&bih=697&biw=1433&q=undertale&ved=0ahUKEwjQzO7xko7fAhVJmeAKHeOFDF4QMwhvKAYwBg&iact=mrc&uact=8 (Undertale)

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nag.co.za%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F10%2FThe-Beginners-Guide-Above-the-Maze.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nag.co.za%2F2015%2F11%2F03%2Freview-the-beginners-guide%2F&docid=amcrGq4BkjN8TM&tbnid=3ctr7fSXxLiHCM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwilzNuElo7fAhVqc98KHT7oCPIQMwhwKBcwFw..i&w=1280&h=720&bih=697&biw=1433&q=the%20beginners%20guide&ved=0ahUKEwilzNuElo7fAhVqc98KHT7oCPIQMwhwKBcwFw&iact=mrc&uact=8 (The Beginner’s Guide)

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.animeherald.com%2Faniheraldcdn%2F2018%2F05%2FTo-The-Moon-Header-001-20180519.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.animeherald.com%2F2018%2F05%2F19%2Findie-game-to-the-moon-gets-anime-movie%2F&docid=YPS2lrtN-42XoM&tbnid=m2YCCzwQ2y1_UM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwizl6yilo7fAhUtU98KHW_WCmEQMwhMKA0wDQ..i&w=740&h=400&bih=697&biw=1433&q=to%20the%20moongame&ved=0ahUKEwizl6yilo7fAhUtU98KHW_WCmEQMwhMKA0wDQ&iact=mrc&uact=8 (To The Moon)

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rockpapershotgun.com%2Fimages%2F14%2Fdec%2Fcsaw.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rockpapershotgun.com%2F2014%2F12%2F05%2Fs-exe-creatures-such-as-we%2F&docid=85O67gxmjHHIaM&tbnid=1-hWMwpMCvyAaM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwj3rcXklo7fAhUqh-AKHfF8C-AQMwg_KAIwAg..i&w=620&h=320&bih=697&biw=1433&q=creatures%20such%20as%20we%20game&ved=0ahUKEwj3rcXklo7fAhUqh-AKHfF8C-AQMwg_KAIwAg&iact=mrc&uact=8 (Creatures Such As We)

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.tvtropes.org%2Fpmwiki%2Fpub%2Fimages%2Fpassage.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Ftvtropes.org%2Fpmwiki%2Fpmwiki.php%2FVideoGame%2FPassage&docid=NQ99SIXrzqwCAM&tbnid=5jhjFTva40FctM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjyxLGQl47fAhXOnuAKHdFwCn8QMwg7KAIwAg..i&w=550&h=214&bih=697&biw=1433&q=passage%20game&ved=0ahUKEwjyxLGQl47fAhXOnuAKHdFwCn8QMwg7KAIwAg&iact=mrc&uact=8 (Passage)

https://youtu.be/RBK5Jheu0To (The Beginner’s Guide)

https://youtu.be/KqNQjyDCYg0 (Creature’s Such as We)

https://youtu.be/sqkJuSV-23U (To the moon)

https://youtu.be/s9AYjM-2y1c (Undertale)

https://youtu.be/n3o0HFXPfco (Passage)

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The Beginner’s Guide

by Davey Wreden (2015)

This brings us to our first game, The Beginner’s Guide.  The Beginner’s Guide was created by Davey Wreden. The entire game is a narration by Wreden of his relationship with another developer named Coda. Through a series of puzzles the player discovers that the narrator may not be trustworthy. The two developers co-developed a game and Wreden began to show it off without Coda’s permission. This causes Coda to separate himself from the relationship. Wreden begins to pick apart all of Coda’s work, looking for clues on his friend’s mental state. Based on what you/he finds, he determines that Coda is actually depressed and unhappy with his own work. Coda believes that Wreden’s act of projecting his own beliefs onto the games takes away from them. It appears to violate the line between game developer, game and player. Perhaps intended, Wreden creates the same effect in his own game. He provokes players to project their own thoughts onto the game. Patrick Klepeck makes some great points in his paper The Controversy Over A Video Game’s Suggestion Of A Crime, where he evaluates The Beginner’s Guide. Today, because Wreden has chosen to be silent on the matter, people are still developing theories about whether or not this was a work of fiction or nonfiction. They also debate whether this means that the work Wreden shared was actually technically stolen by being distributed without the consent of Coda. This game addresses deep philosophical questions about what artists consent to when they have produced something (Klepeck). Should their intentions be taken into account? Can the player project, like Wreden, their own assumptions onto the games’ maker? Should they? How much of themselves should developers place in their games? Wreden is clearly trying to provoke these questions, by using his own name to insinuate himself into his game. It appears that the game creates the same effect that Beck was speaking about, referenced earlier, a feeling of cognitive dissonance. Beck writes that that, “The Beginner’s Guide disturbed me. It felt invasive—predatory, even. The mere possibility that Wreden had repurposed Coda’s work for his own, selfish purposes was uncomfortable to consider” (Beck). 

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Creatures Such As We

by Lynnea Glasser (2014)

The next game I found is Creatures Such As We, made by Lynnea Glasser. It is a game that follows the same structure of Depressions Quest, allowing the player to have control over the main characters choices. In this game the main character is a tour guide on the moon. In her off time this character plays videogames but ends up being upset by the game’s unsatisfactory ending. Luckily, her next tour group consists of the people who made that very game. The game begins to take on a dating-sim feeling, as the character decides whether to romance certain characters in the tour group or to stay strictly professional. The really fascinating part of the game, though, is the commentary on the relationship between the game and the player. The game addresses whether or not developers actually owe positive endings to players. Players often go into a game thinking that by the end, their character will have reached a satisfactory outcome. When this doesn’t happen, the player feels betrayed by the developer, often deciding that they do not like the game and it is bad. Game developers often walk a fine line between pleasing players and satisfying their own intentions. The great thing about these new, small indie games is that they do not necessarily need to cater to players desires. They are allowing a new front in games that is working to combine entertainment with important messages.

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To The Moon

by Kan Gao, Freebird Games (2011)

The third game I found was To The Moon, a videogame created by Kan Gao of Freebird Games. The game is based in the future, where people have figured out how to manipulate memories. In this case, they are manipulating them to give dying people their last wishes. Two scientists go to perform this job on a man named Johnny, who is on his death bed. Johnny has false memories, creating the need for the two scientists, controlled by the player, to look around for clues outside and inside Johnny’s head. All they know is that his last wish is to go to the moon. It is found that Johnny had a wife, and that she had a sort of low-functioning form of Asperger’s. Because she could not directly tell Johnny, she kept leaving hints about something Johnny had forgotten from when they were kids. He doesn’t understand her, and he falls ill while feeling this guilt. In the end of the game it is revealed that he couldn’t keep the promise because of a tragic loss and a consequent issue that causes him to lose some memory (Gao). This game is incredibly emotional and sentimental, with very beautiful imagery and narration. It is meant to provoke strong feelings in the player and make them think about their own lives. It touches on topics like guilt, loss and death. I think, most of all, that this game is a message to the player, telling them to resolve problems with the people important to them in life. Life is fleeting and unfortunately, in this age, we don’t have the technology to grant last wishes.

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Undertale

by Toby Fox (2015)

The fourth game I looked at is Undertale. This game was developed almost solely by Toby Fox, including most of the score and art. In this game the player plays as a young child who has fallen down a hole and into the world of the Underground. In the Underground the character is taken in by a motherly goat-like monster but decide the player decides that they need to get back to the human world. To get there, the player needs to go through the entire underground but they have choices to make. When players encounter monsters, they can choose to either use mercy on the monsters or fight them in order to defeat and progress. This, and other interactions with NPC’s, will determine the ending that the player receives. If the player chooses to never harm a monster, then there is a great ending where the player and all of the monsters, who also want to be free, escape to the human world. Along the way the player encounters funny characters, pun-filled dialogue and the mystery behind the main antagonist, an odd little flower named Flowey. This game is interesting because it really gives players the opportunity to depart from the typical trope of violence common in videogames. It gives players the option, if they really want to use violence, to do so, but gives another option that I think is just as entertaining. I think this game is a clear comment on the amount of violence in the gaming industry and in society. Toby Fox used the structure of a dungeon crawler, where fighting is the expected action, intentionally. Undertale is actually advertised as, “an rpg where you don’t have to destroy anyone” on its official website (Fox). What Undertale lacks in combat (if you do the pacifist route) it makes up for in humor, heart and story. 

[madelineelleramst3570-blog]

Passage

by Jason Rohrer (2007)

The first game I explored is Passage. It was developed by Jason Rohrer, a Cornell graduate who began to ponder life and death when a childhood friend passed away. In the beginning of the game you start at the far left of the screen, only able to move right. The game is purposely designed to be narrow, to create the idea of this timeline. As time progresses and you keep going to the right, the center shifts to the right and you begin creeping towards the other side of the screen. As you do your character becomes older, until he eventually passes away and becomes a tombstone. While you progress through the beginning of life to the end you can make several decisions that will effect game play. You have the opportunity to have a wife, however, taking said wife limits what you are able to do. There is treasure that cannot be reached if you choose to have a wife. I believe this is symbolic of some of the opportunities that are given up when one chooses to marry. Although, the creator himself says that having companion can also be seen as more enjoyable and the other version being lonely. Throughout the game, either way, your goal is to collect treasure and walk around obstacles. Having a wife reduces the treasure you can get but when you die, your wife is buried with you. I interpreted this as a comment on materialism. Although the player gathers so much treasure he still ends up dead in the end.

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Curatorial Statement

Although it is often thought that videogames are a shallow form of entertainment, I chose these pieces to prove otherwise. Each of these videogames is a piece of art expressing a philosophical lesson or question. I was especially focused on how the player relates to these videogames. For my gallery I selected Passage by Jason Rohrer, To The Moon by Kan Gao, Undertale by Toby Fox, Creatures Such As We by Lynnea Glasser and The Beginner’s Guide by Davey Wreden.

It is true that some games have no substantial message, but if one does, is it then considered to be a piece of art? I found differing opinions on the subject in Games Can Never Be Art by Roger Ebert and Perspectives on Videogames as Art by Jeroen Bourgonjon, Geert Vandermeersche and Kris Rutten. Roger Ebert argues, as the title indicates, that games can never be art. In Ebert’s piece there is a quotation which is applied to videogames, "Art is the process of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions” (Ebert). Ebert finds issues with this definition, as well as others, finding there to be exception almost everything. In the end he does correct himself though, saying, "No one in or out of the field has ever been able to cite a game worthy of comparison with the great poets, filmmakers, novelists and poets" (Ebert). But I have to disagree with him. As he writes, based on conversations with an advocate for games as art, it is possible that art should be judged within their own time period, to truly be able to distinguish what was genius and what was not, during the time. But I would counter that many artists only became critically acclaimed after they passed. In this case, when does the art become real art? Simply when enough people like it? No, I believe that anything which is intended to carry a message to the viewer or player is a form of art, regardless of how many people like it.

In their paper, Jeroen Bourgonjon, Geert Vandermeersche and Kris Rutten enforce this belief, but also reveal an important aspect of the current gaming world. Recently game developers have become more aware of the familiar tropes that videogames have always followed: shooters, racers, fliers and builders. They believed that videogames were not really art when they took these forms. The games lacked depth and were only for entertainment purposes, not to make the player think (Bourgonjon, et al.). But now, with this awareness, developers have begun to branch out into different genres. Many of these developers are, in fact, indie. Perhaps this can be explained by a lack of corporate or social influence on these companies.

But how do game developers relate to the people who play their games? And how do players relate to the games that developers make? Shall we play a game?: The performative interactivity of video games has some of the answers, but really, these questions are still being figured out. The author, Micheal J. Beck, emphasizes the players place in the relationship. He explains that people in videogames will closely associate the avatar with themselves. They can do this even to the extent that is a level of cognitive dissonance in cases where the player needs to act unlike themselves within a game (Beck). However, he explains that this may be more likely in games where the player makes choices in order to arrive at a certain ending. They have greater control over their avatar, increasing the connection to their character and to the game (Beck).

This brings us to our first game, The Beginner’s Guide.  The Beginner’s Guide was created by Davey Wreden. The entire game is a narration by Wreden of his relationship with another developer named Coda. Through a series of puzzles the player discovers that the narrator may not be trustworthy. The two developers co-developed a game and Wreden began to show it off without Coda’s permission. This causes Coda to separate himself from the relationship. Wreden begins to pick apart all of Coda’s work, looking for clues on his friend’s mental state. Based on what you/he finds, he determines that Coda is actually depressed and unhappy with his own work. Coda believes that Wreden’s act of projecting his own beliefs onto the games takes away from them. It appears to violate the line between game developer, game and player. Perhaps intended, Wreden creates the same effect in his own game. He provokes players to project their own thoughts onto the game. Patrick Klepeck makes some great points in his paper The Controversy Over A Video Game's Suggestion Of A Crime, where he evaluates The Beginner’s Guide. Today, because Wreden has chosen to be silent on the matter, people are still developing theories about whether or not this was a work of fiction or nonfiction. They also debate whether this means that the work Wreden shared was actually technically stolen by being distributed without the consent of Coda. This game addresses deep philosophical questions about what artists consent to when they have produced something (Klepeck). Should their intentions be taken into account? Can the player project, like Wreden, their own assumptions onto the games’ maker? Should they? How much of themselves should developers place in their games? Wreden is clearly trying to provoke these questions, by using his own name to insinuate himself into his game. It appears that the game creates the same effect that Beck was speaking about, referenced earlier, a feeling of cognitive dissonance. Beck writes that that, “The Beginner’s Guide disturbed me. It felt invasive—predatory, even. The mere possibility that Wreden had repurposed Coda’s work for his own, selfish purposes was uncomfortable to consider” (Beck).

The next game I found is Creatures Such As We, made by Lynnea Glasser. It is a game that follows the same structure of Depressions Quest, allowing the player to have control over the main characters choices. In this game the main character is a tour guide on the moon. In her off time this character plays videogames but ends up being upset by the game’s unsatisfactory ending. Luckily, her next tour group consists of the people who made that very game. The game begins to take on a dating-sim feeling, as the character decides whether to romance certain characters in the tour group or to stay strictly professional. The really fascinating part of the game, though, is the commentary on the relationship between the game and the player. The game addresses whether or not developers actually owe positive endings to players. Players often go into a game thinking that by the end, their character will have reached a satisfactory outcome. When this doesn’t happen, the player feels betrayed by the developer, often deciding that they do not like the game and it is bad. Game developers often walk a fine line between pleasing players and satisfying their own intentions. The great thing about these new, small indie games is that they do not necessarily need to cater to players desires. They are allowing a new front in games that is working to combine entertainment with important messages.

The third game I found was To The Moon, a videogame created by Kan Gao of Freebird Games. The game is based in the future, where people have figured out how to manipulate memories. In this case, they are manipulating them to give dying people their last wishes. Two scientists go to perform this job on a man named Johnny, who is on his death bed. Johnny has false memories, creating the need for the two scientists, controlled by the player, to look around for clues outside and inside Johnny’s head. All they know is that his last wish is to go to the moon. It is found that Johnny had a wife, and that she had a sort of low-functioning form of Asperger’s. Because she could not directly tell Johnny, she kept leaving hints about something Johnny had forgotten from when they were kids. He doesn’t understand her, and he falls ill while feeling this guilt. In the end of the game it is revealed that he couldn’t keep the promise because of a tragic loss and a consequent issue that causes him to lose some memory (Gao). This game is incredibly emotional and sentimental, with very beautiful imagery and narration. It is meant to provoke strong feelings in the player and make them think about their own lives. It touches on topics like guilt, loss and death. I think, most of all, that this game is a message to the player, telling them to resolve problems with the people important to them in life. Life is fleeting and unfortunately, in this age, we don’t have the technology to grant last wishes.

The fourth game I looked at is Undertale. This game was developed almost solely by Toby Fox, including most of the score and art. In this game the player plays as a young child who has fallen down a hole and into the world of the Underground. In the Underground the character is taken in by a motherly goat-like monster but decide the player decides that they need to get back to the human world. To get there, the player needs to go through the entire underground but they have choices to make. When players encounter monsters, they can choose to either use mercy on the monsters or fight them in order to defeat and progress. This, and other interactions with NPC’s, will determine the ending that the player receives. If the player chooses to never harm a monster, then there is a great ending where the player and all of the monsters, who also want to be free, escape to the human world. Along the way the player encounters funny characters, pun-filled dialogue and the mystery behind the main antagonist, an odd little flower named Flowey. This game is interesting because it really gives players the opportunity to depart from the typical trope of violence common in videogames. It gives players the option, if they really want to use violence, to do so, but gives another option that I think is just as entertaining. I think this game is a clear comment on the amount of violence in the gaming industry and in society. Toby Fox used the structure of a dungeon crawler, where fighting is the expected action, intentionally. Undertale is actually advertised as, “an rpg where you don’t have to destroy anyone” on its official website (Fox). What Undertale lacks in combat (if you do the pacifist route) it makes up for in humor, heart and story.

The last game I explored is Passage. It was developed by Jason Rohrer, a Cornell graduate who began to ponder life and death when a childhood friend passed away. In the beginning of the game you start at the far left of the screen, only able to move right. The game is purposely designed to be narrow, to create the idea of this timeline. As time progresses and you keep going to the right and the center shifts to the right. You begin creeping towards the other side of the screen. As you do your character becomes older, until he eventually passes away and becomes a tombstone. While you progress through the beginning of life to the end you can make several decisions that will affect game play. You have the opportunity to have a wife, however, taking a wife limits what you are able to do. There is treasure that cannot be reached if you choose to have a wife. I think this is addressing how having a life partner can limit options in life but can also make your life happier. Although you now cannot reach as much treasure, the creator himself says that having companion is more enjoyable (Rohrer). Throughout the game, either way, your goal is to collect treasure and walk around obstacles. Having a wife reduces the treasure you can get but when you die, your wife is buried with you. I also found this game to address materialism. Although you can gather treasure with or without a partner, no matter how much you get your avatar will die in the end. Perhaps it is a somewhat melancholy message, but I look at it as advice to live life to the fullest without obsessing over material things.

In conclusion, these games all have substantial messages that the game developers have intended to impart to the player. Or at least, that is what I would like to conclude. However, I think it is interesting to ponder the philosophical questions brought up by Davey Wreden regarding videogames. Although I know for a fact that Passage and Undertale were created for the reasons I stated, it is difficult to say whether or not I have projected my own world views onto the remaining games. It could be that I, as the player, am merely seeing what I want to see. It is an interesting question, but either way, each of these games stands apart from the standard games that exist today. These games are often not as popular as the mainstream first person shooters but have substantial messages that players can interpret in their own ways. After all, this is the definition of art. Who is to say what Leonardo Da Vinci intended people to think when they viewed the Mona Lisa and who is to say what a game developer has intended someone to view in their game? I think one of the most interesting lines I found in curating this gallery was on Jason Rohrer’s site. Before giving an account of his game he wrote right at the top, “Your interpretation of the game is more important than my intentions. Please play the game before you read this” (Rohrer). 

Bibliography

Beck, M. J. (2014). Shall we play a game?: The performative interactivity of video games (Order No. 1601221). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1719513722). Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.uconn.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.uconn.edu/docview/1719513722?accountid=14518.

Bourgonjon, Jeroen, et al. "Perspectives on Video Games as Art." CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, vol. 19, no. 4, 2017. Literature Resource Center, http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.uconn.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA529046139&v=2.1&u=22516&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w#. Accessed 7 Dec. 2018.

Ebert, Roger. "Video Games Can Never Be Art." Roger Ebert's Journal (2010): https://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/video-games-can-never-be-art. (This source was used in an academic journal and is peer-reviewed).

Fox, Toby. Undertale. Undertale, 2015. PC, https://undertale.com/about/.

Gao, Kan. To The Moon. Steam, 2011. PC, http://freebirdgames.com/to_the_moon/.

Glasser, Lynnea. Creatures Such as We. Choice of Games, 2014. PC, https://www.choiceofgames.com/creatures-such-as-we/.

Klepek, Patrick. The Controversy Over A Video Game's Suggestion Of A Crime. Kotaku, 2015, https://kotaku.com/the-controversy-over-a-video-games-suggestion-of-a-crim-1749448664.

Rohrer, Jason. Passage. Sourceforge, 2007. PC, http://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net/passage/.

Rohrer, Jason. What I Was Trying To Do With Passage. Sourceforge, 2007, http://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net/passage/statement.html.

Wreden, Davey. The Beginner’s Guide. Steam, 2015. PC, https://store.steampowered.com/app/303210/The_Beginners_Guide/.