Negative Space Games

Game: Passage
Developer: Jason Roher
Released: November 1, 2007
Platform: Windows
Price: Freeware
Rating: 9/10

I
f there is a single game out there that proves the potential of independently developed games it may very well be this one.  Passage takes chances that no commercial game would ever even dream of taking, and as a result feels fresh to play.  This isn’t a game everyone will enjoy or understand, but it is a game that everyone should play.

Passage is a haunting game that in five minutes captures the idea of mortality, something that many philosophers have spent their entire lives trying to captureThe concept behind Passage could not be simpler.  In it you live the life of a young man from boyhood all the way up to your death.  Death is a common theme in video games, which often use it to inject challenge into the proceedings.  Don’t be fooled into thinking Passage is a common game though.

You see, in most games death is an obstacle to be avoided and mastered.  In Passage death is inevitable.  Exactly five minutes from the start of every game, you will die.  There is no bottomless pit to jump over, no spikes to avoid, and absolutely no enemys—no enemy save time itself.  And just as in real life eventually time will overcome you.

What then is the point of Passage?  After all if your little man is doomed to certain death, what is the appeal of the game?  And what exactly can you accomplish in a mere five minutes?  Like many games Passage features a score that changes depending on how you play.  Although you have only five minutes, there are actually a number of choices before you.

The main choice is between two activities.  In one you simply walk from left to right and enjoy the scenery.  The farther you travel the higher your score climbs.  Your other option is to search for treasure in the vertical space of the world.  The deeper you go the more maze like things become.  You may see a treasure chest in the distance that can't even be reached.  It is left to you to use your judgment to decide if the treasure chest is worth your ever dwindling time.

A second choice farther complicates both of the above options.  You are presented with this choice at the very beginning of the game when right on the horizon you see a young woman.  If you meet her the two of you will fall in love and get married.  From then on she will share your journey every step of the way.  This has no direct bearing on your score, but there are indirect effects that must be considered.

Treasure hunters will find that while married they can not reach much of the treasure in the game, because with your wife at your side you become far less maneuverable.  A passage way you could fit into alone becomes impossible to traverses with a second person.  Explorers fare better married, but in the end will find they can’t travel quite as far as they would have had they avoided marriage.  I won’t spoil why, because it’s one of the most effective moments in the game. 

Why get married at all if there is no benefit score wise?  Well, it probably varies from person to person, but playing the game married can be a more fulfilling and affecting experience then playing it alone.  In the end it is up to you to decide.

Indeed, while the game will only take five minutes for a single play through, there is a lot of incentive to play through it more then once in order to try out all your various options.

Odds are the graphics won't be one of those incentives for the average player. Graphically the game lies somewhere between an Atari 2600 and an NES game.  Lovers of pixel art should be pleased with the highly pixilated experience.  I highly recommend that you make sure the screen is at its native resolution, as it looks ugly when blown up.  There isn’t much detail to be found here, but what there is adds extra wrinkles to the game play.  For example all of the treasure chests feature a pattern of jewels on the outside.  By paying attention to the pattern you can learn which treasure chests will yield a bonus and which will leave you wishing you hadn’t spent one quarter of your meager life span traversing a difficult maze.

One of the best graphical touches is the ageing effect used to show the passage of time on your character.  You go from being a young boy to a huddled old man crawling along, just struggling to take another step.  When you consider the fact that you can barely even make out a face on your character it becomes clear that this is quite an accomplishment on the part of the developer.  Props should also be giving to the variety of the environments as you travel farther into the game.

The art design plays an important part in the functionality of the game.  The game area is a thin strip that runs horizontally across the screen.  This strip is just a little taller than your character, making it impossible to be sure what the maze underneath you looks like.  The right side of the screen starts out a blurred mess and becomes clearer as you travel to the end of your life.  All these design choices have subconscious effects that I'll leave you ponder on your own.

If any complaints could be raised against the graphics it might be that they are just a little TOO simple.  All the crucial details are there, but some of the beauty of ‘life’ is lost, which makes the choice to simply see the scenery perhaps less alluring then it should be.  At the same time I have to acknowledge that the graphical simplicity of the game also puts a greater focus on the ideas behind it.

Aurally I have no such complaints.  The music is old school, but also surprisingly layered and beautiful.  You won’t find yourself want to turn the volume down.  In fact the music is a beautiful accompaniment to the game experience.

Passage is a haunting game that in five minutes captures the idea of mortality, something that many philosophers have spent their entire lives trying to capture.  If you enjoy symbolism and philosophy you will probably enjoy this game.  Even if you don’t, you may very well find that this game pulls on your heart strings.  Beware that some critics have found complaint with the game’s ambition.  These people claim that the game is trying too hard to be deep, and fails to meet the mark.

I can’t speak for those people, but I can speak for myself when I say that I wholeheartedly recommend this game to everyone.  It’s only five minutes--so give it a try.  Of course once you are done you may realize just how valuable even five minutes can be.  If so, I hope that you will have found your time with the game as worthwhile as I have found my time with it.   

Posted by Matt on 2-12-08