i don't really wanna put a rating on a thing like this, though i kinda wish i could put a <3 on it the way you can with letterboxd. but anyway. this hits very close to home.
i moved back to my original hometown in michigan after living in portland, oregon for about 13 years... at the end of 2019. at the end of a relationship which had lasted for nearly 10 of those years. i stayed with family briefly and then moved into a smallish 1-bedroom apartment that i hate (with my cat, kismet, who i brought home with me because i couldn't stand to leave her (and i wish i could've brought more of my cats with me)).
one big difference (between myself and this game's creator, according to the game itself) is that my mental illness gets in the way of me keeping jobs and i've been unemployed for most of the time since. i'm currently receiving assistance through september, and i need to have some sort of income before then. i also want to move. living alone is killing me.
honestly, i don't even know if i'd still be here without the small irc channel occupied by longtime friends providing me with some sort of anchor. i do wish i could hear people's voices more often, though. one of the things i miss most about living with my ex (and, for a time, a roommate) is that constant source of company. i just need to be near people, even when we're all tending to ourselves, in our own space (within the same space).
my desk is positioned right in front of one of my 2 windows and i have a decent view of trees and sky, but the loneliness is inescapable. i don't live downtown, either, so i rarely feel like going outside unless i have a place to go - otherwise the aimlessness of "going out for a walk" just makes me feel even lonelier.
my cat cries a lot and i think she's lonely and bored. i feel awful about it. i would like to get another cat, but i'm too poor and i pretty much only spend my money, whenever i do have it, on video games and weed. sometimes booze.
writing this isn't actually making me feel any better.
damn it
i moved back to my original hometown in michigan after living in portland, oregon for about 13 years... at the end of 2019. at the end of a relationship which had lasted for nearly 10 of those years. i stayed with family briefly and then moved into a smallish 1-bedroom apartment that i hate (with my cat, kismet, who i brought home with me because i couldn't stand to leave her (and i wish i could've brought more of my cats with me)).
one big difference (between myself and this game's creator, according to the game itself) is that my mental illness gets in the way of me keeping jobs and i've been unemployed for most of the time since. i'm currently receiving assistance through september, and i need to have some sort of income before then. i also want to move. living alone is killing me.
honestly, i don't even know if i'd still be here without the small irc channel occupied by longtime friends providing me with some sort of anchor. i do wish i could hear people's voices more often, though. one of the things i miss most about living with my ex (and, for a time, a roommate) is that constant source of company. i just need to be near people, even when we're all tending to ourselves, in our own space (within the same space).
my desk is positioned right in front of one of my 2 windows and i have a decent view of trees and sky, but the loneliness is inescapable. i don't live downtown, either, so i rarely feel like going outside unless i have a place to go - otherwise the aimlessness of "going out for a walk" just makes me feel even lonelier.
my cat cries a lot and i think she's lonely and bored. i feel awful about it. i would like to get another cat, but i'm too poor and i pretty much only spend my money, whenever i do have it, on video games and weed. sometimes booze.
writing this isn't actually making me feel any better.
damn it
Day 873: probably one of the only times that a "lack" of "gameplay" actually enriches the final product. The promise of a video game – movement, exploration, achievement – is denied almost entirely. Conventional indicators of progress have been reduced to essentially superficial changes, your group chat being the most dynamic thing that you can interact with (such as it is) in the room.
Probably more interesting as a commentary on video games than on world events, but I did enjoy it in that light.
Probably more interesting as a commentary on video games than on world events, but I did enjoy it in that light.
A Solitary Spacecraft is, essentially, a series of diary entries about early COVID. Released during May of 2020, it relates first-hand the uncertainty and depression that many were experiencing during that time. Our entire world had been turned on its head, and there was no end in sight for this new lonely reality.
In A Solitary Spacecraft, you control a person quarantined alone in their tiny apartment. The days bleed together as the pandemic stretches on. Nothing ever changes, except for whatever they’re currently distracting themselves with - TV, exercise, family issues. The only real source of happiness is their online friend group.
I honestly don’t think this is a perfect game; it even acknowledges itself as messy in the description. My most petty nitpick is that some of the dialogue leans into ‘online speak’ a bit too much. A more important issue is the exceedingly simple presentation, especially the complete lack of audio. There’s not any real gameplay or interactive element, either - although I think that’s more understandable, since it was a short story released under difficult circumstances.
All of that being said, A Solitary Spacecraft’s writing is very poignant. There’s some great core symbolism, and an interesting visual element that ties into the themes. Perhaps most importantly, it’s a look-back on a time that was universally difficult for many. It's just a game that a lot of people can relate to.
In fact, I don’t think that this was ever meant to be a ‘five-star game’. It's just venting the very real frustrations that so many of us were feeling in the wake of COVID.
In A Solitary Spacecraft, you control a person quarantined alone in their tiny apartment. The days bleed together as the pandemic stretches on. Nothing ever changes, except for whatever they’re currently distracting themselves with - TV, exercise, family issues. The only real source of happiness is their online friend group.
I honestly don’t think this is a perfect game; it even acknowledges itself as messy in the description. My most petty nitpick is that some of the dialogue leans into ‘online speak’ a bit too much. A more important issue is the exceedingly simple presentation, especially the complete lack of audio. There’s not any real gameplay or interactive element, either - although I think that’s more understandable, since it was a short story released under difficult circumstances.
All of that being said, A Solitary Spacecraft’s writing is very poignant. There’s some great core symbolism, and an interesting visual element that ties into the themes. Perhaps most importantly, it’s a look-back on a time that was universally difficult for many. It's just a game that a lot of people can relate to.
In fact, I don’t think that this was ever meant to be a ‘five-star game’. It's just venting the very real frustrations that so many of us were feeling in the wake of COVID.
day 691
I was looking for Pre-Fortress 2, wtf is this?
Nothing else has come close to accurately describing the loneliness that has come with the "Q" as they call it in the game.
I wish I'd made this. I think it's cool that someone made this, it is short but exhausting, and I'm glad it exists.
This game ends on day 78, and I played it on day 472.
I was wondering when it would end as I was playing it, and I have to assume the creator imagined exactly my experience as a player happening.
"I wonder what day they'll be on, 78 seems like a big number, I wonder if it will feel small to them."
Not to put words in someone's mouth, but I just figure that would've been a thought they had. I was certainly thinking about it in reverse the whole time.
I think you should either play this game right now while this is still going on, or play it 5 years after things have gone back to normal as a period piece to take you back down shitty memory lane.
This game ends on day 78, and I played it on day 472.
I was wondering when it would end as I was playing it, and I have to assume the creator imagined exactly my experience as a player happening.
"I wonder what day they'll be on, 78 seems like a big number, I wonder if it will feel small to them."
Not to put words in someone's mouth, but I just figure that would've been a thought they had. I was certainly thinking about it in reverse the whole time.
I think you should either play this game right now while this is still going on, or play it 5 years after things have gone back to normal as a period piece to take you back down shitty memory lane.
tremendous respect for the semicolonically conjoined double title. that's how titles should always be.
beautiful prose. remember how fucking dire the state of making art about the pandemic was, back in 2020? remember how it hasn't gotten much better at all in the two years since? well, videodante pulled it off wonderfully, while the state of the world was still at its worst. remarkable.
beautiful prose. remember how fucking dire the state of making art about the pandemic was, back in 2020? remember how it hasn't gotten much better at all in the two years since? well, videodante pulled it off wonderfully, while the state of the world was still at its worst. remarkable.
Eu odeio o quão empatizável esse jogo é.
For what it is, it's pretty impactful.
All Things Equal I Would Prefer (nem a pau que irei colocar o nome inteiro disso) é uma das obras mais interessantes que achei sobre a pandemia. Ele é bem parecido com And the Band Begins to Play, no seus visuais, gameplay e por ser um game sobre a pandemia, mas é diferente na sua forma de falar sobre ela (além de ter saído antes e não ter sido feito pela mesma pessoa). Esse é um jogo no qual não ser muito polido ou não ter uma gameplay muito elaborada ajuda na efetividade do que ele quer passar. Tudo que você faz é andar e interagir com objetos num quarto pequeno, sair pela porta te leva pro dia seguinte, e interagir com os objetos te dá caixas de texto que demonstram a situação do próprio desenvolvedor/autor, e por ser sobre a pandemia, é bem fácil de empatizar com o que ele passa. Este jogo é uma autobiografia sincera e catártica sobre a nossa situação, e é exatamente o tipo de história que eu queria sobre a pandemia.
(foi mal, mas o meu segmento de prós e contras não serve pra esse game)
(foi mal, mas o meu segmento de prós e contras não serve pra esse game)
not really a game,so no stars