"All Clean and Useable and Entirely Dull...”
Posted December 1st, 2008 by Gemstone"game, game, game and again game", much like "Passage", is a game of life with a rather dark theme, but while “Passage” seems to be about the journey of life, “game, game, game and again game” is very much about the belief systems that form our lives as humans.
Jason Nelson, creator of "game, game, game and again game" goes to great lengths to give his game a chaotic feel, even going so far as to assert “design, design, design, all clean and useable and entirely dull and lifeless and overblown and besides I can’t draw worth a dam.” There is definitely a chaotic feeling in the game, brought on by the continuously rolling creatures, looped video proofs and fast-paced introductions to each level. However, there is a great amount of organization, as evidenced by the different levels of the game, each named after a different human belief-system (i.e. “the fundamentalist”, “the Buddhist”, “the capitalist”.
In the game, the player must move forward, for there is no way to pause the game, or to go back to a previous level. The player must keep moving through levels or start the game entirely from the beginning by re-loading the website, because there are no pauses in life, no retries. Often in life there is little proof of existence beyond the human’s own feeble attempts to record the important moments of their lives. This is illustrated by the video proofs in the game, which offer proof of life, but are insignificant in the grand scheme of things and hold no importance at the end of the game.
"game, game, game and again game" is the progression of life, the human journey of belief, presented with a rather cynical twist. Nelson presents belief systems as “small and clumsy rolling-type creatures,” offering the player the opinion that different systems of belief are inconsequential and often meaningless. A fundamentalist, for example, bases their life on the teachings of the bible, and Nelson shows the futility and often fanatical characteristic of this belief by adding “…or obsessively charmed by the sun” to the title of level one. The sun is a symbol of awakening, of life, and when added to the fundamentalist belief, can stand for the belief in creationism, in God. Nelson adds his own take on each belief system he presents, for example calling the real estate agent (level 3) “…location is fraud and views are hollow,” and presenting the thought that “…you will not ever be debtless” at the end of the level. Game, game, game and again game offers little hope of a meaningful life while picking fun at the fundamental belief of each belief system, saying “belief is only belief is not win, win, win. Your life is really the end.” The game itself ends, but life for the player continues.
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