game and again game

So, as some people may or may not have noticed, at the end of 'game, game, game and again game' there was a note or something about emailing the creator (Jason Nelson) if you finished the game and/or had comments. On a whim, I said "Sure, why not!" and spent a minute and a half typing my thoughts (obviously, there weren't many) and hit 'send'. Of course, being the type of person who checks their email at least once a day (and by that I mean several times a day), I was chagrined to not get any type of response back within a few days or even a week. Ah but what happens when you least expect it! This morning I found this in my inbox:  read more »

It did take me longer to play "game, game, game and again game" than it did to play "Passage", but overall I found them both interesting because they seem to approach the same topic, a life story, in very different ways. Whereas Passage's effect is more metaphorical and effective to the extent that the player identifies its universal life patterns as similar to her own's, gggaag is more of a personal narrative. I'm assuming that the video clips are genuine, but even if not, it presents a provocative way of framing memory within the structure of a game. As I understand it, the different levels correspond to different phases in life, or different roles we play.

According to the artist's "about" statement, "The theme (cringe) hovers around our many failed/error filled/fulfilling belief systems, from consumerism to monotheism." So each level corresponds to some kind of belief system, as indicated by the name of the level, and some are more fulfilling than others.  read more »

I just finished playing Game, game, game and again game, and I have to say that it was not only confusing, but a long game with no clear ending. The first thing I noticed while playing the game was that the game was not keeping track of the points. It had a space on the top labeled "points," but I never actually accrued points. I died quite a bit in that game, and the "come on and meet your maker" line kind of through me off because you didn't "meet your maker" but rather just got moved to where you started in the level. You could die as often as you like and still end up right back where you started.

Traditional games offer points when you land on something special, may it be a mushroom, or treasure chest, however, this game offered a series of phrases that seemed disconnected and confusing, and some even had scribbled out words that made the phrase a bit more confusing to understand. Each level had a general theme with a clip of music to listen to. Some of the music really bothered me, especially level with the red line on it. Overall, as a game, it really was pointless in my terms of gaming, but it did send a message of futility and meaninglessness of life.  read more »