Spectre: A Biographical Platformer Par Excellence

It’s a lovely thing to have talented friends. Case in point, Popten’s own Jamie Antonisse, who just won an Independent Games Festival’s Student Showcase (which, my less nerdy bretheren, is a big deal) for his game Spectre. (Art by fellow Poptenizen Chris Baily!)

Good news! The game, which keeps getting praise heaped on it, can be played right this second- go here.

Homework: Jamie and the Vaguely Spectacular crew need feedback to improve the game in time for next month’s festival. Please play it and either comment on it right here, or else email spectacle@vaguelyspectacular.com

And now onto addressing your WTFs.

Spectre’s sound designer Bill Graner explains it best:

Spectre is a recombinant narrative platformer, a game that tells the story of an individual’s life. The landscape before you is not a physical world, but 73 years’ worth of Joseph’s memory: moments of joy and fear, light and darkness. As you navigate through his specific recollections, similarly themed events will glow bright. If you succeed in these moments of play and follow a glowing path, you will find a theme uniting his experience, and uncover a little more of his fading memory. If not, your nightly story will end in confusion.

With over a hundred memories linked to fifty-two different ending themes, there are many possible narratives to discover in Spectre. Each session of play represents one fifteen-minute summary of Joseph Wheeler’s past, one piece of a life-long puzzle. Different stories will highlight different facets of his experience and personality, leaving the player with a compelling, if never entirely complete, impression of the man, his place in the world, and what he sees when he stares upwards into the endlessly falling snow.

I’ve had the pleasure of playing Spectre in its many forms. It’s like nothing else you’ve played. Rather than ruin it for you, simply play it- it’s an enchanting experience. And available right here, right now.