Comments on: Is The Ascent a cliché?

By: Nadine

Nadine — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:18:00 +0000

The murder flowers made me swear...a lot. I kind of don't weigh in on the art / not art in the gaming world, I kind of figure its whatever the maker of the game decides to classify it as.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:12:06 +0000

let it be known that E.T. and Irritating Stick are the two most fantastic art games ever made! I kid I kid.

Thanks for the insight, Miguel and Barry!

By: Barry

Barry — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:08:35 +0000

To me, it seems like it's the same thing as in any other medium. Any game has a spectrum between being artsy and being entertaining. If you think it's artsy, then it's art. If you think it's entertaining, then its entertainment.

Entertainment is usually associated with popularity among the majority, while art is popular with some minority.

So, in my world view, if a game is entertaining, then it's just a game, if it's not, then it's more of an artsy game.

As such, I would consider The Ascent not an art game because it is not (if you will) "crappy" enough for my standards.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sun, 31 May 2009 14:46:07 +0000

If I was gonna label something an art game, I'd probably agree with most of what you've said Miguel. In The Path, you lose if you win, and vice versa. It's quite a strange way to play a game (I also have some issues with how you "win" and the implications of knowing what's going to happen when you do "win", but that's for a discussion when there's beer involved).

In the end, I'm asking for objective answers to a question where the only way to "win" is to answer subjectively. I'd call The Ascent an artful/platform/post-apocalyptic game if I had to give it a label.

By: Miguel S.

Miguel S. — Sun, 31 May 2009 06:29:25 +0000

I don't really feel that the Ascent is an art game. Just to be clear, I'm not saying that it isn't art and nor am I making a value judgment either way on 'art games'.

When I think of art games I think of very specific types of games where either:

A) The game mechanics are meant to convey meaning themselves through pure mechanics (eg The Marriage, Passage)

B) The game is light on traditional game mechanics and instead relies heavily on art and sound design to convey it's artistic message. (eg The Path)

Both types of 'art game' share in a common a tendency to either subvert the traditional concept of 'winning' the game or in many cases they're just plain un-winnable.

Other then it's short length the Ascent is a very traditional game in it's structure and format. It requires hard core traditional platforming skills to win and it's mechanics seem to be more about play then about meaning.

It's a beautiful little game and one of the gems from this years TOJam but I don't really see it fitting into the quote unquote "art game" category just because it has a purposefully ambiguous plot and a short length.