An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a brief, wordless adaptation of a Civil War story where you assume the role of a soldier dreaming of executing a daring escape. It's a short game as it took me only 4 minutes to finish it and it doesn't have any achievements. I would rate its difficulty at 1/10, given the minimal gameplay and clear instructions throughout (simply follow the soldier's story). It has only one ending and there isn't a save feature, so you will need to complete the game in a single sitting. Created by James Earl Cox III for his '100 games in 5 years' project, the game is based on Ambrose Bierce's story of the same name. Bierce's story was unique for its time because of how the reader is able to directly experience actions and feelings of the central character (Farquhar) as if it is their own. In contrast, what is portrayed during the occurrence is a wonderful early example of a viewpoint outside of a linear story until the finale reveals itself. If you want, you can read the full story here - https://www.classicshorts.com/stories/owlcrk.html. This game is a simple side-scroller that has 8 bit visuals and animations. At points, it uses variable background and foreground layers to add a little variety to the journey. Besides the title screen, there are no words (spoken or written) within the game allowing the art and mechanics to tell the story. In my opinion, this game does a good job at depicting the original story and I really appreciated the little details. Also, this game sends a strong and com­pelling mes­sage that demon­strates how game design can be an art and how video games can be used to tell a story. All things considered, I would recommend this game to players that like war related games (especially the Civil War) or to the casual players that are trying new games/doing playthroughs. If you want, you can check my full game playthrough here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFKMkJINX2o&ab_channel=Spartakus

sad!

Nifty and fun short adaptation of a classic short story.

Короткая игровая адаптация рассказа Амброза Пирса 'Случай на мосту через Совиный ручей'. Перевод на Русский язык есть, рекомендую прочитать / прослушать аудиокнигой это произведение; существуют кинематографические адаптации и опера. Говард Лавкрафт об Амброзе Пирсе > "Ближе к настоящему величию был эксцентричный и мрачный журналист Амброз Бирс, который родился в 1842 году и тоже участвовал в Гражданской войне, но уцелел и написал несколько бессмертных рассказов, а потом исчез в 1913 году в загадочном тумане, словно сотворенном его собственной жутковатой фантазией. Бирс был известным сатириком и памфлетистом, однако своей литературной репутацией он обязан мрачным и жестоким рассказам; большая их часть так или иначе связана с Гражданской войной и составляет самую яркую и достоверную картину, какую когда-либо это событие имело в литературе. Если по справедливости, то все рассказы Бирса принадлежат литературе ужаса; и, если многие из них имеют дело лишь с физическим и психологическим ужасом внутри Природы, то самые значительные предполагают сверхъестественное зло и составляют значительный вклад в американский фонд литературы о сверхъестественном."

I just realized by comparing it to the trailer that my game was playing at 1/4 speed. I don't know why this happened but the slower experience, which I thought was intentional, made the [spoiler]ending such a rug pull. All that buildup to say "life sucks." :lunar2019laughingpig: [/spoiler] Even with that anomaly, I still found the game immersive and appreciated how it said a lot with a little. I was going to recommend trying it up until [spoiler]the end, which soured the experience.[/spoiler] The longer I sit with it, the more I ask myself...what was the point of telling that story? [spoiler]If I were about to be executed, I'd probably daydream about escaping and reuniting with loved ones too.[/spoiler] Is this supposed to be a mind-blowing epiphany about the human psyche?

. . . 'Oh wait I think I know this one!', 'aw, . darn' 'man I hate humans, why, why you do this? Why u still do this!?' Yes nice game, very short, but also very good.