Interactive Noise 002
Heptic by Lyubomirlko - https://lyubomiriko.itch.io/heptic
A science-fiction epic of transdimensional eschatology serves as the vertebrae of this barrage of impossible architectures and feedbacking through visual decay saturation and insectoid grating soundscape. It is possible to submit to the preprogrammed sensorial treatment, but the absolute joy is pausing the chaos and exploring one of the thousands of stabilized palettes proposed by Lyubormirlko. The planned duration, about 20 minutes, can be extended infinitely, enabling a perfect loss of space/time coordinates. I hope one day, this experience can be injected.
Aether Diving by Raph's - https://raphss.itch.io/aetherdiving
Windows 95 sharewares' bin pushed to its esoteric limits. The use of glitches as a simulation of software sentience will be constant in this newsletter. Still, its integration here is perfectly integrated into the brilliant retro interface, unique point-and-click gameplay (action/surgery puzzle?), and escalation of weirdness.
Mario Teaches Typing 3 by Big Trash Games - https://bigtrashgames.itch.io/mario-teaches-typing-3
Any shots taken against educational games are a plus for me, and this is one of epic jankiness. When puerile humor about girth manages to give me uncontrollable giggles, something was done right. Big Trash Games offer precisely what it promises, disrupting much-loved license (Seinfeld The Telltale Series is another great example) with dark humor and a dose of existential angst.
Detuned by Paul Lawitzki, Christoph Rasulis and Benjamin Rudolf - https://plaw.itch.io/detuned
Detuned presents itself as a short experience and feels like a blueprint of something larger. It mixes architectural horror with a tuning mechanic that solidifies/vaporizes surfaces necessary to progress. It ends right at the moment of something menacing lurking through the tentacular walls of its structure. The game was released in 2015, so the developers probably do not consider an expansion, but there are interesting ideas here to push further.
Not Gallery 2 by vl_ad_no - https://vl-ad-no.itch.io/not-gallery-2
It starts with glitchy platforming before throwing the player into various experimental uses of visual saturation/amalgamation and virtual camera highjacking. Rich with creative potential.
Spheres by glkt - https://glkitty.itch.io/spheres
While playing Jeppe Carlsen's Cocoon, I found exploring this non-Euclidean Matryoshka world design complementary. Various spherical levels are imbricated with connecting portals dissimulated in their spatial design, and the pleasure of visual deformation brings a singular sense of exploration. While Cocoon had great puzzles and audiovisual treatment, it was precisely that spatial wonderment I felt was missing.
Candlestuck by grub.not.bug - https://grubnotbug.itch.io/candlestuck
Candlestuck isn't noisy per se, but any game that includes handcrafted design techniques will deserve a spot in this Substack —if only to celebrate new game design possibilities. All entities were created using clay sculptures and photographed for their integration into the game engine. This approach offers an uncanny visual experience that blurs and blends uniquely with the environment. It's a short game but filled with great care and love.
Armored Shell Nightjar by Modus Interactive and Warkus - https://modus-interactive.itch.io/armored-shell-nightjar
Created for MechJam V, this experience blends both Warkus and Modus Interactive obsessions with weird control schemes, weirder spatial design, and even weirder lore (reminder to write soon about Warkus's take on Plastiboo's Vermis, Chalicebound). You are dropped in a tin can mech with obtuse mechanics and very low visibility of the monstrous structure you need to climb. Half the pleasure is understanding how to drive that steel lunk. Proof of the game's brilliance: It only took a few days for speedrunners to take on the challenge (for now, Modus Interactive is holding the record at 1:20).
CONDEscension by wumbb - https://wumbb.itch.io/condescension
Part bullet hell but mostly an interactive fiction, CONDEscenion offers opaque esoteric dialogues about the ontological horror of sentient entities' obligation to interface with each other. The visual design is all over the place. It dissolves the interface through weird critters to psychologically massacre as they display stream-of-consciousness rambling, losing their footholds in the software's reality. It's a challenging game to describe, as you can infer by reading this, and it is profoundly recommended because of that.
PLAY THIS GAME TO CRASH YOUR COMPUTER by Error.Erratum() - https://errorerratum.itch.io/play-this-game-to-crash-your-computer
This is a particle simulator puzzle where your hardware is intimately connected to the gameplay. You must reach optimal lag between two thresholds. Latency, lags, and framerate are probably the most grating videoludic noise a player can experience, and this game takes pure joy in exploiting this.