The End of Gameplay

Don't take the thumbs up too seriously. This is an interesting game and I'm glad it exists, but unless you're really invested in how games can be used as an art medium and want to hear many different voices on it, I wouldn't recommend it. I'll use this review to try to parse my feelings on the rhetoric presented by this game. Before playing this, I had no idea who droqen was, nor did I know what the kill gameplay philosophy was about. I recommend looking into droqen and kill gameplay after playing, it contextualizes this game nicely. Also, I apologize if I misrepresent the kill gameplay philosophy. The End of Gameplay advocates for a rather extreme position that forbids all "extraneous" gameplay. Essentially, gameplay should solely serve the message of a game. There should be no gameplay for gameplay's sake. I think there is worth in gameplay for its own sake, but we might call these games "toys" rather than actual interactive art pieces. My issue moreso comes with the definition of "extraneous gameplay". The dissonance comes in two levels: "gameplay (killing)" and "dream of fire". These are two of the only traditionally difficult games in the collection. gameplay (killing) asks: "how should I kill the bunny with fairness? how should I kill the bunny mercifully? how should I kill the bunny kindly?" and so on, until "how and never why. the bunny should not stand for this kind of cruel treatment yet bunnies cut themselves bleeding bleeding bleeding bleeding blood blood blood" I was having a lot of fun with this level, but this kind of pissed me off. "the bunny should not stand for this kind of cruel treatment." Says who? I'm the bunny, and I stand for it gratefully. I enjoyed this level immensely because of its difficulty. When I finished it, it felt good. I had pushed through something difficult and solved a problem myself. Why shouldn't the bunny stand for it? It's in the struggle where one learns about themself. Maybe droqen's response to me is found in dream of fire: "of course i'm afraid of burning to death!!" on the next screen: "but i'm even more afraid of asking 'who am i without the fire'" What, is droqen calling me a masochist? Am I being accused of having no identity outside of playing difficult games? Maybe my interest in difficulty is an addiction, one I would be better off without? I play difficult games because I think they are fun. I like the struggle. I do not do it to lord my accomplishments over others. I do not do it because I don't know who I am. I understand that this game is not meant to be a personal attack on me, and is trying to speak to the medium as a whole. But the attitude here conveys to me that droqen really does not understand what difficulty can contribute to a game, not just for friction but also storytelling. Difficulty is one tool in the designer's toolbelt, and it seems that droqen want us all to have one less tool. Interesting game, play it if you want your conceptions about games to be challenged, play it if you have $20 to burn, play it for whatever reason. I've been harsh but I am glad that this game and others like it exists, and I am glad I played it. It did leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, though.

I bought this at launch but for some reason decided two months later, holding a heat pack to my jaw while in horrible pain, was the correct time to play it. I'm not sure why, but, I think I was correct. I don't know what the point of this review is. I'm glad I played this game.

As a game developer myself ( and playing throughout the entire thing ), this gave me a thought-provoking new outlook on game development as a whole and all the quirks and things to come with game development. To call this a game would, by technicallity, be correct, but it is more so defined as an interactive poem. It is something to be experienced, and it is something to be bought for. 10/10

A poetic look at an idea of an idea about gameplay and the lack of it. Much food for thought, mixing with some ideas in my own head about game spaces and freeform experiences. I can already feel it inspiring little seedlings in my mind. Ironically enough, some of the platforming challenges were frustrating. There was one later in the game I just gave up on and skipped the level. But, one does not need to experience every bit of a game. Some things can remain just out of reach.

i love you droqen

As the title may imply this is less of a game and more of an art piece with walking sim meets 8-bit platformer. A series of interactive vignettes that deconstruct gameplay while exploring themes of creation, emotion, humanity, and struggle through the framework of levels, while mixing in poetry and prose. The art is minimal but each tile set brings a precise visual style and tone to their respective scenes, and the crudely made bunny you play as has an amateurish look to it, not quite sitting properly on the level and controlling with an imprecision that disguises the careful attention to detail in platforming and movement. The music too is simple without being simplistic and the bit crushed tones help to convey the emotion of the scenes. At once the game looks unpolished, rough, glitchy, and imperfect in such a way that is technically impressive. The world feels liminal and old, like a NES title was left on for 30 years and you're exploring whats still kicking around in the memory register. Some levels are short and pointed, others longer and more sprawling, but most are accompanied by writing - stories, analogies, and prose in the form of hypertext. Exploring a variety of paths in a level may reveal slightly different versions of the text and change the tone of its message. There are some levels encapsulated by gameplay but less in the sense of trying to provide a traditional gaming experience and more in such a way that it emphasises a point, embodies a theme, or conveys an emotion - often contrary to convention or encapsulating moods not usually conveyed by games. There's an abstract core to the title that permeates most levels leaving the writing vague, unfinished, or even garbled such that it's all open to interpretation. The more direct text seems to form a dialogue with the player conveying a very human inner turmoil - expressing anxiety, confusion, longing, and questioning in ways that can be disarming and provide truly unique clashes with the medium that are thought provoking. Though there are some peaceful and beautiful moments too. Clearly this isn't going to be for everyone, personally I love games as art. Employing the medium of games and their language of game design to convey a message is itself an art. As much as a musician would use music to express themselves with notes, here the changes in gravity and mobility combined with music, art, and animation convey emotion, accented by the platforming and level architecture. There are some funny moments and a lot of very human reflections, but all of the writing feels personal, honest, and above all relatable. If you're interested in a more cerebral and artistic approach to what a game can be I'd say it's worth a play but expect to do your own interpretation of the work. I feel like I've only scratched the surface after a single playthrough.

Thanks for making this It sparked deep thoughts and feelings for me; I hope it does for you too

Very thought-provoking! 10/10

i've been watching droqen work through or talk around the idea of "kill gameplay" and one thing that's fascinated me is in these monologues and dialogues is the refusal to reduce "kill gameplay" to a simple definition or a set of principles. i don't think i appreciated how valuable that is until playing the collection. it's easy to imagine versions of these works that are cynical, that resist or frustrate the player, but there's a gentleness to each work and over time i felt some tension dissolving. there aren't really "puzzles", but some interactions drive a theme home or surprise and delight. and you can just leave! after an hour or so, i felt like i could just stop playing a difficult work. the one about forests really got me. thanks droqen, kill gameplay