MO SADEK
Special to The Leader
As a child, you probably remember someone telling you stories. Whether they came from your parents, grandparents or respected community members, listening to stories was a great way to pass time. Although some of these stories were fables or overly fabricated memoirs, they all served similar goals — to pass down essential values and help us culturally identify ourselves.
As depressing as it sounds, stories are all we have in this world. Eventually, we’ll pass on and leave behind nothing but the legacies we have lived. So, imagine this — what if that end came tomorrow?
Imagine that tomorrow everyone suddenly vanished into thin air by the means of some anomaly. What would be left by which to remember the human race? Will the towers and monuments of great nations speak for our intelligence and evolution, or will they be seen as the embodiment of our hubris and gluttony?
This is the premise behind “Elegy for a Dead World,” a new indie title currently in the works at Dejobaan Games. As the sole survivor of a space expedition gone wrong, you must continue the mission your team set off to accomplish: survey the portals of three newly discovered worlds and document your findings.
That’s about all the story this game provides — the rest is up to you. While other popular creation games like “Minecraft” and “The Sims” allow for the player to manipulate the world and create a story through its development, “Elegy for a Dead World” relies on the player’s writing ability to construct a story based on the world around him.
Yes, it’s a game about writing.
Although you may not be the next J.K. Rowling, anyone is able to write a story in “Elegy for a Dead World.” For inexperienced writers, the game can be adjusted to provide you with a few writing prompts where you can fill in the blanks, similar to a mature Mad Libs. Despite this, you may find yourself using one or two of the prompts and creating the rest of the story yourself.
For the advanced writers out there, you can choose to write without any guidance. This will allow you to write anywhere in the world you choose and allows for another level of creativity.
In addition to this, the three in-game worlds were inspired by poems written in the British Romantic Era. On top of that the soundtrack and ambient noises are reduced to a minimum to give players enough silence for concentration, while still creating a unique atmosphere. The result is a world full of rich details that pulls a player in and inspires creativity rather than straining you for it.
Personally, I’ve never played a game like this — I’m not even sure it can be referred to as a game. While I’ve played tons of games, none of them have inspired creative thinking in the way “Elegy for a Dead World” has.
Over the weekend, I got a chance to experience “Elegy for a Dead World” with a friend, and the result was fascinating. Sharing and reading the stories other players create is one of the defining features of the game. Despite the fact that you’re all looking at the same world, everyone sees something different.
On a serious note, this game has potential. Imagine seeing teachers using this game in an English classroom as a lesson. Creation games as a genre have started a new trend in video games and education. Nowadays, “Minecraft” is being used to create scaled countries with accurate terrain markings to show students how maps work.
Albert Einstein once said that imagination is more important than knowledge. “Elegy for a Dead World” inspires imagination in a fun and engaging way. While most games hold your hand from beginning to end, the most “Elegy” does is give you a push in the right direction. Games like “Elegy” need more attention, as these are the games that have the potential to shape future generations.
You can check out “Elegy for a Dead World” at Dejobaan.com/Elegy. It will be available early 2015 on PC, Linux and Mac via Steam.