You Have to Burn the Rope

This week is GDC so its a great time to connect with people in the games industry and see what ideas are taking shape out in the larger diaspora.

I'm really excited about all the great work the IGF is doing in promoting independent game developers. These people are blazing a new path for games and what the purpose of games can be beyond just entertaining us. It's a sign of the maturity of our industry that we are starting to see people actively choosing the 'indie' path as an alternative to taking that big job at 'big games company (tm)'.

Thanks to my buddy Jens Andersson, I got to hang out with some cool indie cats at the show.
One was Kian Bashiri. Kian created 'You Have to Burn the Rope', he is a really cool super nice guy and you should check out his 'game' here.

You may not be sure if its a game or not but it certainly makes you think about its meaning.

For me, burning the rope challenges a common commercial videogame convention of interactive experiences devoid of real choice. This challenge is interesting in of itself, but what I find fascinating is that even without choice, the game is still a compelling 'fun' experience.

I think part of the reason for this is that 'burning the rope' has a deeper meaning. It has something to say. It got me thinking. So I emotionally connected to it.

Its exciting for me to see that interactive experiences are getting to a place where they don't just focus on being 'fun' but actually pose questions, challenge us to think about things. There's a place for this in all entertainment, literature, art, film....and increasingly videogames. Pretty cool!