Who would have imagined that the iconic Windows 95 maze and rat screensaver would become a game today? As part of ProcJam 2017, the event for games with procedural elements, meet Screensaver Subterfuge, an adventure where you are trapped inside the Windows 95 screensaver.
Twenty-two years ago, Microsoft Windows took a big step forward with Windows 95. Most would say this operating system was important for its addition of the Start button, or the fusion of MS-DOS and Windows. Perhaps they were wrong; maybe it was the screensavers that mattered most. That is what Screensaver Subterfuge, an indie game where you are trapped inside the Windows 95 screensaver. Cahoots Malone, the title’s creator, took the assets (extracted directly from ssmaze.scr) of the iconic Windows 95 3D Maze screensaver, which endlessly wanders a brick-walled maze in first-person perspective, and turned it into a cyberpunk hacking game.
The premise of Screensaver Subterfuge is that mazes are actually tunnels through which truly valuable corporate data travels. Here you take control of the iconic rat on a mission to prevent your dystopian world from becoming a slightly different dystopian world, according to the hilariously bad narration that includes 90s over-the-top lines like: "Cyberspace has never looked so three dimensional! The geniuses at Microsoft have done it again!"
The goal is to find a giant smiley face icon to advance to the next level before finding a briefcase icon to conclude the journey. Along the way you must shoot walls to transform them into a different texture, though it’s unclear what that does, other than helping you avoid retracing your steps in the maze. This title was created for ProcJam 2017, the procedural game event. Developed by Cahoots Malone, Screensaver Subterfuge is available for free download on Windows, Linux and Mac.
