Put a computer running MS-DOS full of classic titles in front of today's generation of players, and it's likely that no one will know how to run them. Now add to that challenge distorted levels, strange sounds, chaotic design, and an absolute lack of help. The result is Memory of a Broken Dimension, a game by Ezra Hanson-White that has been in development for several years, and if all goes well, we'll see it on Steam soon.
The Mystery of a Game Without Rules
It's likely that mystery is one of the hardest things to reproduce in a video game. Some titles have achieved it almost perfectly, but in general, the lack of information tends to be the key element. Right now, games like Amnesia or Gone Home come to mind, though both apply "mystery" in relatively different ways. The problem is that many mystery games fall into the trap of linearity, thus harming the player's final experience. Now, what happens if that linear element disappears? How do you face a game in which we don't know the rules, it gives no instructions, nor hints about its objective?
Inside Memory of a Broken Dimension
Let's look at the case of Memory of a Broken Dimension. When you run it, there's no introduction at all, and all you see is an interface called RELICS, which looks like old MS-DOS. If you decide to search for more info, you'll see that many people haven't even managed to get past this part. Fortunately, I'm an old DOS veteran, but the explanation for what follows is... complicated. In very relaxed terms, Memory of a Broken Dimension is an exploration game. Each of the levels, chaotic, erratic, and almost meaningless, require the interpretation of very small clues, and the observation of "objects" (cracks? errors?) from different angles. Solutions are not "found", but rather "manifested", so to speak.
In other words, the beginning is like Another World, with Lester Knight Chaykin sitting in front of the computer, but instead of ending up in another dimension, the player arrives at a completely damaged and twisted digital space, where they will see things that might not actually be there. The words of its creator, Ezra Hanson-White, add more flavor to the game, as he described the RELICS interface as "the tape from The Ring", a dark rumor in a fictional network that distorts itself more and more. Today we can only download a prototype, which according to Hanson-White no longer represents what the final game will be, but it was approved on Steam Greenlight, and its pre-order costs twenty dollars. Something tells me we should keep a close eye on it...
