Fuzzing about

When life gives you lemons.... ya know... you can do a whole lot of things with them, dammit!

Yeah... Often it's difficult to realize when something isn't going the way how it should be and to identify the changes that have to be made in order to continue onwards on your chosen path. Sadly enough, whilst writing these few lines and trying to convey these feelings and thoughts of mine to you, my dearest reader, as well as to myself as strange es it may sound, I come to think of a video game.

Yes, a video game.

Now just before you close this site infuriated from this insolence of mine, I'd like to point out the nature of said game. It is considered an indie-game of some sort and by all means... it is... well... different.
The 'strangest' and most likely the really rare part about this game, which makes it so 'special' is that it gets the player to think, not about any puzzles or something similar like in the vastly popular Portal franchise, but mainly about him- or herself. And the deeper you get into it, the deeper ones thoughts grow. I own it myself and it's a shame I don't get to play it more often (plus its frikken hard - if I may add on a less serious note).

Enough with beating around the bush, the game I'm talking about is called 'The Void', also known as 'Tension' in some parts of eastern Europe, created by the masterminds of Ice-pick Lodge. (Trailer - erm, warning? digital nudity for art purpose?)

The game itself could probably be considered as a hybrid between mainly Survival-Horror and Strategy game with influences from Action- & Adventure titles. As you can tell, it proves hard to put it into a distinct category.
It is also one of the games that throws you into a strange surreal world without giving you a clear idea of what brought you there, or where you are at all during the first minutes. You do get a few hints, or rather opinions presented by the first sister you meet in the game, but all of them are rather vague (at least in my opinion and you are supposed to make up your mind on your own after all).
In short; you play as a lost soul, which for whatever reason instead of dying completely, lingers on in a place called 'The Void', detached from life and death just alike. The first person you meet is a frail young woman referring to herself as a sister. She is the one who grants you your first heart as well as gives you basic ideas of how to survive in this void and withstand the peril of the malicious brothers.
Yet in the end it is almost completely up to the player with whom he sides; either the beautiful and alluring sisters, the grotesquely deformed monstrosities called the brothers or whether you only side with yourself.
Game play is governed by one sole resource... color.
It serves as the means to fight, to give life to this strange world around you and as your very own lifeblood. If it runs out, so does the life of the soul. Therefore it is incredibly easy to die in this game if you don't watch your reserves. To obtain said lifeblood, you can simply collect color which sprouts from the areas of the void, as it comes pouring into the chambers of this world sometimes, or you can 'grow your own' by giving color to the trees and by that bringing them back to life.
Color basically influences everything in this game, depending on which colour you use to draw your glyphes you alternate the void itself irreversibly, causing several different effects and events to be set into motion.

The areas you are able to explore in this game are usually surreal, yet of remarkable beauty (especially a fully grown garden, which can be seen in the trailer at several points).

Sadly, as every game it has it's flaws. The drawing of the glyphs sometimes gets awkward and the game tends to act a bit strange with recognizing them. Despite this and it's rather high level of difficulty it is a truly unique experience.
I personally would recommend checking it out and if you get hooked on the idea I might as well add that it is available on Steam for 8,99€ which is about 12,00 - 13,00$

I admit I got carried away a bit. ^^" But well... happens. To get back to my starting point, after finishing this truly remarkable game I came up with several thoughts concerning my stories (don't be alarmed, merely new ideas) as well as the rest of my life... How I'd like to change several things.

And as per usual... it's not about the things you think to be impossible, it's just about doing them.

Stay tuned for more!
As always, thanks for reading.
Marc, the Strange and Thoughtful.

P.S.: New Kitteh probably pouncing on to the site sooner or later.