By John Walker on November 3rd, 2009 at 7:15 pm.
Kieron spotted this in the 2010 IGF list. Called 78641, it purports to be an English translation of the classic Esperanto game, Pato Viro Simulilo. It’s, um, sort of an adventure game, but mostly an exercise in surrealism. And unlike most things that people label “surreal”, this isn’t just “silly” or saying “fish” a lot – it’s a genuinely surreal and often unsettling experience. In the game you play Doug Beachez, a frying pan. Who sells dildos.
It’s mostly about conversations with various other characters, be they thugs, old men who attack you with sentences, or murderous leaves. There’s a few minigames to play, and some sort-of action sequences, but mostly it’s about experiencing disconnect, and then staring in shock at some of the language. It’s clearly in NSFW territory with it’s “dick selling” activities, and may cross some other lines. I was slightly taken aback when a character declared, “I cannot part with this [picture of Swayze]. Patrick Swayze is dead of the AIDS. Better luck next time.” To which the frying pan replies, “I hope you kill yourself in the hopes you are reincarnated as something other than a gypsy next time.” I’m just saying.
You can get the full game from this link here. It’s… an experience. Here’s the trailer:
03/11/2009 at 19:22 allen says:
This game is hard, you will fail many times while playing it. It’s really short once you figure out what to do.
Here’s the original post from the the indie game source forums, back in August:
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=7956.0
03/11/2009 at 19:54 Sam says:
A much, much better game from these guys is .
03/11/2009 at 19:55 Sam says:
http://members.shaw.ca/gzsoft/barkleygaiden.html is the link. My kingdom for a preview feature.
03/11/2009 at 20:00 ScrapmetaL says:
Of course this game came out before Swayze kicked the bucket, so it’s more an unfortunate coincidence than cheap assholery about his death.
03/11/2009 at 20:44 John Walker says:
He’d been slowly dying of pancreatic cancer for a couple of years. It’s not a coincidence. Which is why the AIDS thing seemed a bit indecent.
03/11/2009 at 20:26 Cheesecake Jones says:
78641 is totally my Zip Code. I’m being completely serious.
03/11/2009 at 22:59 Sam says:
http://www.city-data.com/soz/soz-78641.html
05/11/2009 at 16:40 Cheesecake Jones says:
So funny! I totally LOL’d.
03/11/2009 at 21:45 Igor Hardy says:
Nice retro graphics, but not a fun game.
03/11/2009 at 21:53 Smurfy says:
It doesn’t look unsettling at all. It looks very silly.
03/11/2009 at 22:04 Mil says:
Seconded. Not unsettling at all, unless you find boredom unsettling.
03/11/2009 at 22:14 Lilliput King says:
“I cannot part with this [picture of Swayze]. Patrick Swayze is dead of the AIDS. Better luck next time.”
I laughed, I’m a bad person.
03/11/2009 at 22:27 invisiblejesus says:
You aren’t the only one. But this sort of humor probably wouldn’t be as funny if it didn’t piss some people off.
03/11/2009 at 22:27 ZIGS says:
I always lose the sentence-dodging game. Fuck this
03/11/2009 at 22:41 mastrblastr says:
how do you not say that its from the same incredible folks that did Barkley Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden??????
04/11/2009 at 05:16 Mad Doc MacRae says:
Seriously? That game was delightfully silly (though I stopped playing shortly through).
04/11/2009 at 01:08 Anthony says:
Haha, I remember this game from a little while ago. It’s awesome.
04/11/2009 at 04:03 wearing a diaper and posting. says:
this game came out before patrick swayze died, it is a coincidence, and the world does not revolve around patrick swayze.
04/11/2009 at 04:19 MD says:
worst comment ever, John already explained why it is not coincidental at all.
04/11/2009 at 05:48 Patrick Swayze says:
I am Patrick Swayze and am very upset about all this.
04/11/2009 at 06:24 futage says:
Do a dance for us, Patrick Swayze.
04/11/2009 at 10:19 Löjrom says:
AIDS and pancreatic cancer is unrelated, no?
04/11/2009 at 10:49 Eidolon says:
We don’t know how close the terms for pancreatic cancer and AIDs might be in Esperanto! Something may have been lost in translation!
09/11/2009 at 18:10 Mark Wallace says:
Keiron “spotted” it? It’s the second game in the list! ;-)
01/02/2010 at 21:53 Bret says:
Normally, spam posts ruin a discussion, but here, random necro spam feels right.
01/02/2010 at 22:00 Tei says:
On the other hand, the day spam bots become context sensitive (like Google adwords does) we will be doomed.