Interactive Art

There are two possible objectives an artist can have.  One is to create something the people will remember, and the other is to make money.

        

Unfortunately, artists have different opinions about what makes a piece memorable, and so when they work together the only way for them to stay unified is to orient themselves towards making money.  That’s why it’s rare to find massive, big budget movies, video games or TV Shows that are truly enlightening.  Unless they are directed by an artist with an iron fist, those forms of entertainment rarely accomplish more than making a profit. 

       

And that’s why in terms of artistic mediums, video games fall short.  Unlike books or independent films, it’s not very easy for an individual to set out on his own and program a video game.  Coding takes a lot of work and a huge team of people, that’s why the big budget games, despite being fun, are rarely very memorable.  Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, such as the indie game Braid created by Jonathon Blow.

        

Most games that are unified under a single artist’s vision tend to be cheap and short.  Here are just a few I’ve found to be exceptional.

      1.  Loved.  Loved takes about four or five minutes to complete.  However, once you’ve finished it I guarantee you will want to return and explore the mechanics because even though there is only one result, there are multiple ways to complete the game.  What’s amazing about this tiny platformer is that two people with different personalities can play it and have entirely different experiences.
Loved

     2.  You Find Yourself In a Room.  Do not play this script based story game unless you want to be insulted and have your inner essence torn out and ripped apart.  It is frustrating, disturbing and more than a little inappropriate as it breaches the subject taboo to gamers of, “Why are you wasting your time with this?”
You Find Yourself in a Room

      3.  400 Years.  I’ve never been brought to tears by a game, but this beautiful platformer came close.  It’s short, sweet and sad – you play as a rock trying to save the world in four hundred years by waiting for rivers to freeze, trees to grow, and people to develop civilization.
400 Years