Rock, Paper, Shotgun

They’re all at it! All of them! It’s a conspiracy! They’re going to subvert global finance! They’re going to make a fortune without paying a gigantic tithe to price-fixing publishers! It’s wrong! It suggests traditional models of capitalism are outdated and near-sighted! We’re doomed! I’m worried not even a single sentence of this post won’t end with an exclamation mark!

Oh, there you go. Yes, the latest indie game to jump aboard the high-speed pay-what-you-what bandwagon is Jason Rohrer’s splendid 2-play storytelling game Sleep Is Death. He’s set a minimum spend of $1.75, but apart from that, lob him whatever you think the game’s worth in return for two copies of the splendid thing. The RPS Hivemind will have to decide how frequently we cover these sort of deals if we’re to avoid every other post documenting bargains, but as this one is so soon after the game’s release, it’s definitely An Awesome Thing. Get to it.

I’m still trying to find a chance to inflict my flailing imagination on some poor sap by acting as storyteller in the two-player freeform adventure game Sleep Is Death, but I know that when I do I’ll be spoiled for choice for art assets. (Do games have art in them? “Yes.”) The recently released version 1.4 is complemented by an incredible amount of player-made content for you to steal, you light-fingered wee blighter. Some of it goes way above and beyond what we ever thought the game was capable of. Pretties!
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If you’ve been playing with Sleep Is Death (and so far, I haven’t, but it’s because I’m so busy! And have no friends…) you might well have found yourself telling a fantastic story. If it’s super-fantastic, you could be within a chance of winning $200 from developer Jason Rohrer. He’s looking for the finest narratives told with the game to be submitted to him before midnight tomorrow New York Time, and his five favourites get cash. Which seems a good incentive. Although he’s only one man, so has stated that only the first 100 entries stand a chance of being read. There’s a bunch of rules and conditions to read on the compo’s page, so be sure to check them carefully before sending off your finest adventure.

Last week, I played the upcoming two player indie adventure game Sleep is Death with its creator, Jason Rohrer. He’d created a custom story for me to follow, shape and/or resist. I did all three. Read this to understand what Sleep is Death is, then read below to find out what happened, and why you’re going to love it.
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Jason Rohrer, the indie auteur behind the moving Passage, is back. If you’re one of those delightful people who reach immediately for the P word whenever a game requires you to have a bit of a think, you’ll be glad to hear that Sleep Is Death is, despite the arch name, something very different from his usual mediations on existence. Hell, any and everyone should be over the ruddy moon about the concept behind it. After seeing how it works, I’m about as excited as I’ve ever been about an upcoming videogame.
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