Comments on: Austin Breed's art games

Austin Breed's art games

PostIronyIsNotaMyth — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:43:24 -0800

Austin Breed is a 19-year-old game designer. His works are typically said to fall under the "art game" genre but are in fact better understood as interactive experiences that deal with everything from the idea of faith to the emotional turmoil of long distance relationships. Here are my favorites: Distance, A Mother in Festerwood, Sweatshop Boy, Good Fortune.

All of Austin's submissions to NewGrounds.

By: demiurge

demiurge — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:00:17 -0800

I think he has some talent, but maybe he should consider making games.

By: gurple

gurple — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:22:30 -0800

Whoah. "Distance" packs a real emotional punch. It had me completely convinced that the way to get through the day was by clicking rapidly 9 times, but then WHAM! I was only supposed to fast-click TWO times, and I accidentally chose a dialog option. That hit hard. I kid, but it was kind of a good, er, artgame. Taking a medium that offers the idea of control and then using it to demonstrate the inevitability of something is a good idea.

By: byanyothername

byanyothername — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:26:11 -0800

These are pretty interesting. Distance is especially sad. Sweatshop Boy reminds me a little of WTF. Like a lot of similar games, these could have been better with improved writing and more content, but the ideas are good. On kind of a vaguely related note, does anyone remember the game about getting over powerful relationships (not all of them romantic) by leaping through a series of memories or something? Does anyone have any idea what I'm talking about?

By: lemuring

lemuring — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:29:09 -0800

I think one needs to come to terms with the idea that there are artists that use the medium of videogames to create art. It may be good or bad art, but it is art, and playing these games with the primary expectation of being entertained will leave a person disappointed. You need to approach these games in the same way you would approach a painting, poem, or art film. Stephen Lavelle's The Terrible Whiteness of Appalachian Nights serves as a good introduction to the possibilities of videogames as a medium for contemporary art.

By: synthedelic

synthedelic — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:38:49 -0800

Oh boy, another art and video game discussion off to a great start. The term "game" seems to confuse people who I guess seek challenge and want to be rewarded with points. Or something. Personally, I love this new Interactive Art trend. The snark that inevitably creeps up whenever these works are shared kind of bums me out. On preview, what lemuring said. byanyothername, you may be thinking of ...But That Was Yesterday, which I also loved.

By: demiurge

demiurge — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:42:25 -0800

lemuring, I agree with one caveat: call it interactive art, not a videogame, otherwise you confuse everyone. The IF people seemed to have figured that out, and that community makes some good games too, not just one-trick interactive jokes or satirical barbs that some people call games.

By: PostIronyIsNotaMyth

PostIronyIsNotaMyth — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:43:21 -0800

I think the most interesting thing about these... whatever you want to call them... is that the mechanics serve as metaphor for the idea being expressed.

By: demiurge

demiurge — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:51:09 -0800

Um, lemuring, I was kind of digging "The Terrible Whiteness of Appalachian Nights", until the bizarre and NSFW ending. Maybe I just don't like contemporary art.

By: gurple

gurple — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:55:37 -0800

Oh boy, another art and video game discussion off to a great start. The term "game" seems to confuse people who I guess seek challenge and want to be rewarded with points. Or something. ... The snark that inevitably creeps up... Um? I'm not seeing a lot of snark here of the type you're describing. demiurge's first comment, maybe. My snark was about the mechanics, whether it's a 'game' or 'art' or whatever; I leave open the possibility that the frustration that I felt with the interface was intended to be part of the experience. I think you're looking for a fight that mostly happens elsewhere.

By: el io

el io — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:57:18 -0800

I remember as a kid encountering Ungame, and remember thinking 'that's not very game-like', but it did tell you upfront in its name (but it *looked* like a game; a box, a board, dice, etc). And I can't help thinking about Ebert's skepticism that games could be art; when the art games come out we express skepticism that they are really games.

By: lemuring

lemuring — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:12:54 -0800

Um, lemuring, I was kind of digging "The Terrible Whiteness of Appalachian Nights", until the bizarre and NSFW ending. Maybe I just don't like contemporary art. I should have put a NSFW tag, I'm sorry :-/

By: byanyothername

byanyothername — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:21:39 -0800

...But That Was Yesterday ❤! Yes! That's it! I knew someone would know! I think this is one of the better examples of how to take art games beyond clever tricks into something that's both satisfyingly interactive and still 100% focused on its emotional impact.

By: byanyothername

byanyothername — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:23:45 -0800

(Oh, and thank you synthedelic! I thought I had that in my post when I didn't... Yay for sick day absentmindedness.)

By: GilloD

GilloD — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 17:52:22 -0800

I think one needs to come to terms with the idea that there are artists that use the medium of videogames to create art. He uses the aesthetic of videogames which is a very, very, very different thing from making video games. We wouldn't call Roy Lichtenstien a comic book artist, would we? This kid's work is great, but they are absolutely not games. Interactive? Yes.

By: LogicalDash

LogicalDash — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:03:46 -0800

But can he make the player taste a peach?

By: Han Tzu

Han Tzu — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:23:13 -0800

Along the lines of But That Was Yesterday, which is an excellent piece of work by Mike Molinari (as is his other JIG competition game, don't forget Together. Also out there are I Wish I Were the Moon and the Majesty of Colors, both I believe previously mentioned on the Blue. There's a pretty large body of work out there that falls under the heading of interactive art - or narrative gameplay. The Path, for example. But I should probably stop before this turns into a linkypost.