It’s kind of tough to nail comedy in a video game, but the confines of a Point and Click adventure are a great vehicle for humor. There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension is, perhaps ironically, the name of an upcoming game, which is framed as an interactive piece of software that in fact won’t let you play any games but will express it’s increasing irritation at you through dialogue.
The developers say this of There Is No Game:
“There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension” is a Point & Click comedy adventure (and Point & Click only!) that will take you on a journey you never asked to go on, through silly and unexpected video game universes.
Will you be able to play along with the “Game” to find your way home?
We sincerely think NOT.”
Hmm. I don’t think they are taking this very seriously at all.
As you can see from the trailer, this game is going to be taking a playful glance at various different games, and gaming conventions. Sometimes to subvert your expectations, but also just for a bit of a laugh. Clearly there is a lot of love in here, and several of the visual gags from the trailer got a chuckle out of me. Reference humor in games can sometimes be a little grating, but it feels like the writing and presentation here is fast enough and goofy enough, that it hopefully won’t wear thin.
How many nods to different games did you spot in the trailer? I caught Superhot, Papers Please, Day of the Tentacle, A Link to the Past, Myst, Minesweeper, and Canabalt. Are there any I missed?
They’ve also released the Game Jam prototype version of There Is No Game on Steam for free, showing a rough version of the initial concept, initially developed as part of the Construct Deception Jam 2015, which it then went on to win.
Or head over to the Steam page for There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension, where it will be made available on August 6th.