January 31st, 2012 | By Chris Priestman
Tagged in: free game | interactive story | mac | PC Game | quick fingers
A robot/man named Tom Jackson has made a game based on his life experiences that would have normally influenced a heart-felt song but as he now makes games he has decided to make an “interactive true story” called Come Home. It’s interesting, unique and free so you may as well take an interest in the musings and past events of this man/robot.
A lot of people like to bring the “auteur theory” into the study of games in which they infeasibly mumble lines like “well as you can see this symbolic gesture in the gameplay can be found in every one of this developer’s games so it can be recognised as a trait, tied only to their particular creative input.” Yeah it’s all a bit mumbly and ranty, however, if there was ever such a case for the auteur theory to be taken into consideration in games then Come Home might just be the prime candidate.
The reason I say this is because Tom Jackson has quite literally made a game about himself. Monsieur Jackson (no he’s not French) has written a rather wonderful synopsis of the game detailing some of his personal history and how the game came to be. The following is our favorite bit:
“‘Come home’ is the first game-like experience I’ve made that is based on events in my life. Two years ago I would have written a song, but today I thought I’d try something different.
Although this is my first attempt to make a game with this kind of inspiration, the feelings throughout the process were identical to writing a song. The elation as the melancholy is drawn out of you while creating – the closure from physically marking the event as ‘happened’ and allowing you to move on, and of course, the joy of having created something from nothing.”
Game, song; what’s the difference? Eh? Well anyway, to save you any more confusion we’re just going to jauntily wave the words “FREE GAME” in your face and entice you to download Come Home for free for Windows or Mac. Sound good? There’s no test after this, I swear! Although if you could hand in a 300 word summary of the auteur theory by tonight you will be rewarded with two golden stars.
More information on Come Home can be found on the game’s official website.
Please note: The Indie Game Magazine cannot guarantee the transaction of any amount of golden stars for written words – that would require further donation in the form of roast potatoes, a.k.a the food of kings.
Chris Priestman (1271 posts)
Valuing gameplay and innovation over everything, Chris has a keen eye for the most obscure titles unknown to man and gets a buzz from finding fantastic games that are not getting enough love. Chris Priestman, Editor-in-Chief of IGM Email: chrispriestman@indiegamemag.com Twitter: @CPriestmanThere is currently no description for this author...