Papercraft Pain: A Song For Viggo
An adventure about grief
A Song For Viggo has the potential to be a uniquely attractive game. Under development in Stockholm, it's the creation of Simon Karlsson and he's constructing a world and its characters using paper. The closest comparison I can think of is The Dream Machine, a physically modelled adventure game based around a couple in the real world. Rather than incorporating magical science into its story, Karlsson's game is a sombre tale of depression and the aftermath of tragedy. It begins with the accidental death of a child and follows the parents as they cope with their loss and guilt. Gulp.
Karlsson reminds me of Mark Oliver Everett, which is slightly distracting but kind of fitting. If there was an Eels game, it might well be a papercrafted grief simulator.
They say there is nothing worse than outliving your own child but accidentally causing your own child's death probably pips it. I reckon 'trying to make a papercraft adventure game about accidentally causing your own child's death' is right up there as well. There'll need to be some top notch writing to delve into the subject without reducing it to a maudlin hook.
Karlsson shows commitment to doing this the right way though, mentioning research into depression, including interviews with people who have been through similar experiences to the one at the centre of his story. I think the papercrafting could work superbly as well, with its solid fragility.
The Kickstarter campaign has seventeen days left on the clock and just over $14,000 to raise before it reaches the $20,000 target. There's more music in the plentiful updates, as well as general thoughts about the game.
Why a point and click game. Why a game at all and not a movie?
Because it lacks you. I don't want you to observe. I want you to interact. Interactivity creates brighter memories in my opinion. :)
'It lacks you' is a lovely phrase.