Tonight I played through a short, but very memorable and thoughtful puzzle platformer, self-deprecatingly entitled, Pretentious Game 3. I have yet to play the first two installments, but shall seek them out forthwith.
What would otherwise be a fairly challenging but mostly nondescript puzzle platformer is elevated to a touching experience though the thoughtful application of narrative and a simple, but emotive piano piece.
The game’s simple mechanics and puzzles are made memorable by the narrative bits, which make literal the metaphors in the prose, imparting greater meaning to both. The simple geometric graphics, with their absolutely abstract nature, invite the player to impart their own life experiences into the game, reliving key moments in your own life, mapping them onto the episode presented in each level.
This is ingenious minimalism, with the beauty of a black and white silent short arthouse film. The effect is magical.