The Company of Myself - December 2, 2009

The Company of Myself

This is a game I discovered last night as I was working on my Flash game. It's a very simple puzzle, simple as in controls and idea, but at times has some pretty challenging areas. The game is very simplistic in design, but also beautiful. Great animations, great filters, effects, and perfect music that sets the mood. The story is about a man who is basically all alone and has been a hermit ever since he lost his loved one, Kathryn. There are 20 levels in the game and the idea is to use your past actions, by hitting spacebar, to interact with your present self to solve puzzles. It's reminiscent of Braid, but not as complex. The levels are designed along with the story and hard times in the story mean hard puzzles. While it only took me 20 minutes or so to finish it was absolutely THE most moving flash game I've ever played. You really feel for the character, and want to know what happens next. Then the ending wall of text comes up and the words hit you like a truck when the story is explained from someone else's point of view. It's games like this that epitomize how a story should be used in a game. It should be integrated into it, and not just told in between levels. I'll leave out the ending just in case anyone decides to try it, it's well worth it.