ISLANDS: Non-Places

Meh...

This one was pretty tough to judge. As people have pointed out, this is more of an interactive art gallery than a game. There isnt any gameplay. You click some prompts for scenes to unfold. The art centers around places of the modern environment. Vending machines, cash machines, parking lots, hotel lobbys, etc. There are 10 of them. And it portrays them in a surreal magical way. Visually pleasant, but simple, its up to the viewer to derive context from them. From some I did find meaning, others not. And thats where the issues lie. Its hard to recommend something you only somewhat enjoyed. If you are really into art and deriving abstract meaning, you might find this a decent experience. Regular folks should skip this.

As many others have pointed out, this really isn't so much a game as it is an audio-visual art piece with very simple puzzle elements. If you want an actual puzzle game, this won't satisfy you, but if you're here for artful liminal vibes and a surreal blend of the artificial and natural, this is your game. That being said, the experience is extremely short, and once finished, you cannot select individual chapters to replay. As such, while the full price is reasonable, you might want to wait until it is on sale.

Just as the title suggests, this is built entirely from independent islands of non-places. It reads more as an interactive art piece than a traditional game — each "island" can be poked at and prodded, and the visual styling of every liminal space carries its own distinct emotion and atmosphere. As quickly as it starts, it's over, wrapping up in roughly 45 minutes even at a modest pace. Honestly, I'm surprised more YouTubers haven't picked this one apart the way they do with so many other visually driven games. Visually, it's a treat, and it feels like a precursor to the backrooms and liminal space wave currently inspiring so much media. This is something I could easily imagine stumbling onto in the 2000s, waking up at 3am during Adult Swim. Each island has a unique way of revealing itself as the framing unfolds, and the ending sequence in particular felt wondrous — brief, but capturing a feeling that's genuinely tough to replicate. Looking into developer Carl Burton, it seems another game, Mirria, is in the works, and I'm looking forward to it. The $5 spent here feels reasonably earned, though I'd suggest grabbing it on sale. A collection of neat ideas packaged into a familiar space with light puzzle elements. 70/100

The art was surreal and stylized, with a strikingly beautiful aesthetic. The interactive experience was soothing and truly breathtaking.

ISLANDS: Non-Places is basically a series of art exhibits composed of common objects and displayed in liminal space. The goal is to interact with buttons and various lights to fit the needs of the piece, and then move on to the next. It's pretty and decently interesting while it lasts. Not much depth to the gameplay here beyond an exploration of the medium as art.