7/10 A virtual exhibition of art objects which are 2D shapes in motion.
Good:
- the 3D gfx of the game are great. Well, the dev is a 3D artist after all and people like him work on AAA projects. I mean, the museum's building itself looks great, the trees around it, the water
- the concept of having 2D shapes in motion has come up before (and the dev shows that) but the idea of making it a sculpture is indeed innovative.
- free
So-so:
- I'm not sure that such sculptures look nice as 3D objects. It would be probably of more value to have sculptures that are beautiful as just a 3D object but then you find out that it's a sequence of 2D shapes. Maybe to achieve that the time axis would have to be curved. When it's just a straight line, you essentially end up with cylinder- or prism-like shapes that are boring as 3D objects
- there isn't any interactivity here. I mean, we're gamers here after all. So, we expect to be able to DO something in games. In real world I have been to museums dozens of times at least, and it's always a passive experience. Moreover, it's forbidden to interact with the exhibits and there is usually some angry old lady sitting there in the corner and watching you so that you don't damage the art pieces. But here it's a game. So this direct "porting" of a passive-watching museum simply uncovers how boring real museums are. Instead, a gamer wants to affect what's happening. E.g. you perform some moves in the game - and then see your moves transform into a sculpture. Or you play Pong and then see a recording of your game as a 3D series of shapes. Or you play Tetris. Or there could even be a puzzle game where you need to do something with shapes to get a required 3D sculture. Or guess the correct 2D shape from a 3D timespan. See? I mean, interactivity, gaming. But yeah, the dev is an artist. He is used to what artists do: put up a painting in an art gallery and then watch idle people walk around, and hopefully someone buys the physical painting. That whole set of behaviors and the institution of a "museum" feel just outdated when you have the power of virtual 3D spaces and interactivity. This game kinda tries to bridge the gap between the mediums and the epchos (pre-digital and digital) but doesn't do enough
- the shapes are all dancing humans. One is a hand. Maybe it would be interesting to have more variety. Animals, maybe vehicles, abstract geometry, NSFW?
Bad:
- well, no gameplay. It's a walking sim or "experience". Again, the dev is not a game designer, he is an artist. Games made by artists usually look great but have mediocre or non-existent gameplay, and it's normal. That's why they need a programmer or a game designer to make an actual game
Overall, it's worth a look, especially if you don't know much about 4D geometry. It's just that the dev only scratches the surface, and you end up with an impression that a lot more (also game-wise) can be done with the idea. Which isn't really that much of downside. So, it's a definite upvote.
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