It's almost impossible to bring this topic up without mentioning Roger Ebert, since he was a film critic with enough skill and talent to influence the very nature of written criticism. But as we all know, he made the infamous comment that video games could never be art, and then later revised the statement to mean they could never be 'high art', whatever that is.
The bottom line is, nobody can really nail down a concrete definition for what is and isn't art. And since the subject is so inherently ambiguous, we may find it easier to wrap our heads around it by denying entry into the clubhouse for the newest media. Television got picked on for decades. Before that, the film industry itself was considered a vulgar alternative to literature. Then of course there's the famous quote inspired by the invention of photography (usually attributed to French artist Paul Delaroche) "At this moment, painting is dead." And while this remains unconfirmed, new evidence suggests that Neanderthal Ned got death threats from the Rock Banger's Association for drawing stick figures on the wall.
But let's face it. Art isn't dead. It never will be. If you subscribe only to the rules of nature, art had no business existing in the first place, but damn it, it came! What is it's purpose? I don't really know. Maybe art is its own entity with its own purpose and has no need to share it with us. All I know is, humanity has an inner compulsion to create; sometimes shallowly and sometimes with depth. Sometimes clever and sometimes basic. And while it's possible (and likely) there are many things called art that actually aren't, devised by people credited as artists who are actually narcissists (those two things are incompatible), I don't believe there exists an argument capable of dismissing an entire media form as art on any level. Anything can become an art form if enough people do it poorly.
So that brings me to www.jayisgames.com (at least in my own thought processes). I discovered the site in 2008 and fell in love with the room escapes I could play in my browser. The site was updated pretty regularly with new games from independent developers pouring their time, skill and energy into a product and receiving (what I imagine) nothing in terms of financial compensation. Perhaps just the pleasure of knowing that someone out there is experiencing their work and loving it.
Jayisgames became a sort of virtual museum to showcase gamer exhibits. And while most of the games were standard throwbacks to Atari/C64 type graphics and gameplay, every once in a while a game would come along and say something to me, by challenging a gamer trope or doing something unique with the concepts.
Now that the site is officially no longer updating, I'm guessing soon we'll see broken links and content loss, and eventually the site will shut down entirely. It makes me sad. I've grown attached. But while the site is still functioning properly I want to encourage everyone who stumbles onto my blog to pay the site a visit. There is a LOT to do there.
With that said, here are a few of my personal favorites, each with a certain artistic quality that I'm happy to point out.
6 Differences
Surely you're familiar with the spot-the-difference-between-pictures concept. Take that and add a little movement and you've got this game in a nutshell. But it really begins to shine with the use of music and the careful ordering of the images. You feel like you're going through a night's journey awake and asleep at the same time. A man relaxes in a park with a McDonald's in the distance. Late night traffic creates a sound similar to the ocean waves. Streetlights seem to run at a slower pace. Then the images begin to take a surreal turn. Dreamlike. Maybe even a tad nightmarish. But only for a little while. And then the city starts to wake up again before the sun is anywhere in sight. It's a simple game that makes you earn your serenity.
Air Pressure
Hoo boy, what can I say about this one without spoiling it? This is what's called a visual novel, akin to a choose-your-own-adventure story. The 'novel' is short, but it gives you the exact flavor you need. Your character seems to be in a relationship with a girl, that might have run its course. But depending on your choices, you can receive the sucker punch ending that reveals the game is only presenting a metaphor for something significantly heavier. Mature audiences recommended.
ASCIIvania
This is a short puzzle/platformer but it really hits the sweet spot. Our alphabet has an inherent beauty to it, something I take for granted as I keep mindlessly hitting these keyboard keys. The goal here is to collect the entire alphabet by navigating a cave-like system where words tend to get in the way. The place has a gentle personality to it, and perhaps a subtle hierarchy of which letters tend to be treated as more valuable. ASCIIvania 2 would be greatly appreciated.
The Asylum
Is there a point where a game becomes so much of an interactive story that it ceases to be a game? I would argue no but I tend to lose arguments, so instead I'll say 'Oh, shut up.' This experience could only have been told as a game. If Toy Story convinced us all that our toys had feelings, then this gem demonstrates what happens when those feelings develop into full blown mental health issues. A group of stuffed animals are in a psychiatric ward, each with their own unique pain. The concept requires a certain suspension of disbelief, but the seriousness with which the game takes each creature's therapy is truly inspired. If you have any sense of empathy, the turtle is going to make you cry.
DROD: King Dugan's Dungeon Lite
This is a top-down dungeon crawl and probably the most standard game on this list. But artistry presents itself in a plethora of avenues. The brilliance of this game series lies in its mathematical layout. There is no randomness in the 'Deadly Rooms of Death', every step you take is a cause and effect relationship with the creatures sent to kill (or run from) you. Try the game, and pay attention to how MUCH time you spend figuring out each room. Then imagine if this game you're playing for free had come out on the SNES, and what kind of impact it might have had on Nintendo's other franchises. Despite the limited graphics and dialogue, Beethro may actually be the most likable barbarian in gaming history.
Grace's Diary
This is similar to Air Pressure, but a bit more realistic, and fortunately I can tell you exactly what it's about. Teenaged Grace has a good friend Natalie, who is in an abusive relationship. Grace is about to call her to express her concerns, but first she has to collect her thoughts; hence the visual novel's gameplay. You'll spend about five to ten minutes on this, but it's a poignant journey. The game is sponsored by Jennifer Ann's Group, a charity based out of Atlanta, Georgia for the prevention of teen dating violence. It concisely presents many of the warning signs of abuse, as well as touching on the importance of how one approaches the subject with a friend. This is a wonderful example of how a video game can have a real world positive effect.
Ode to Pixel Days
A bit lighter, but not quite pure clean fun, this semi-platformer challenges the subtext that so many platformers take for granted. Namely, if you jump through enough hoops, you're entitled to the girl-prize. Are Mario-type games harmful in this regard? Do they teach male gamers to think in terms of 'winning' that girl as a trophy? I don't know. I think that problem existed long before games hit the market, but the mentality is certainly an issue. It would be nice to see the videogame industry demonstrate an openness to at least discuss the topic. But for now, check out this entertaining diversion that could easily have been called "Dude, she's just not into you!"
Silent Conversation
Ok, this is the one. When I first started working on this blog, this game was the first thing that popped into my head. It's a platformer. About. Reading. A silent conversation is what we're having right now. By the time you read this, I will have long since finished the blog and posted it. You read the words, maybe hear a voice in your head; mine, yours, Katherine Kellgren's (Why not? She's an Audie Award winner), and have some sort of analytical reaction to it. The conversation may only flow in one direction (you could always start leaving me some damn comments) but it is a conversation nonetheless. In this game, your cursor is the capital I. Your 'I' wanders through narratives (poems, stories, the first chapter of Alice in Wonderland) and touches each word causing it to light up. At the end of the passage you get a score.
What sets this apart is the creative uses of the texts. For example, Alice in Wonderland's chapter opens up into the rabbit hole for your 'I' to fall down. The e.e. cummings poem is naturally all over the place. But "The Nameless City" by H. P. Lovecraft is where the potential for this method of storytelling becomes fully realized. And if nothing else, it's a game that gets people reading.
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