The Collage Atlas

It's a walking simulator game, but it's also poetry. It's a book that metamorphosed into a game. That said, I don't really understand it. I feel a little purposeless, wandering into discoveries instead of seeking them out, but it's hard for me to keep up with it mentally. It's doing something that my brain can't seem to grasp. Even if the collage atlas isn't THE game for me, though I still really appreciate what it does. I love seeing games that step out of the expected norms for how they should look and play. I feel like if I took a screenshot anywhere, I could use it like a coloring page. The intricacy of the linework and details show me that an incalculable amount of love went into this. you don't just sit down and make something like the collage atlas.

Came to this via Nathan Gibson's Indie Game Works artbook. An extraordinary amount of time, craft and patience have gone into designing this hand drawn world. For a one-man band, kudos. Clearly, a work of passion and single-minded dedication. Is it art in and of itself? Yes, possibly. Sadly, the largely monochrome visuals in this game weren't my cup of tea. Even after ten minutes I found myself wanting a bit more variety. Again, no dig at the creator; it's just my subjective opinion. The loose, fragmented, abstract narrative wasn't up my street either. Something concrete to uncover, people to discover and names to latch onto - I didn't realise how much a game might need these until it was missing. Unlike, say, Proteus which absolutely has no story or even any gameplay, so doesn't attempt to occupy your time, this game does have something. It's just not nearly deep enough to sustain my attention. Likewise for the gameplay. Perhaps it's meditative for some. For me, I couldn't fully immerse in the lovely setting (the birdcalls, the ticking clocks, the opening out of the landscape to an inky horizon) because every time I captured letters to move on the game, or found a key, or any sort of object - a small cut scene would start with overlaid, reverbed acoustic guitar. Overall, a fantastic effort and genuinely a wonder to view. But, not for me to stay here that long. I would recommend, though, because no doubt it absolutely is up some people's street. Just neither artsy or intellectual enough to stimulate, or gameplay-heavy enough to occupy attention.