OVERSEAS is a collection of short art games, or digital poems, which are joined together by a common interface – a mysterious place resembling a spaceship.
It is not quite a game: there is no challenge and no story in the usual sense. The goal is to take a journey across worlds to perceive the associative relations between them and figure out the obscure meaning of what is going on. Quotes by Heraclitus, throat singing, a plastic bag dancing in the wind – here, like in poetry, all sorts of things are tied together.
The collection is potentially unlimited, and in the course of time new games will be added. Now there are four episodes – each is designed for 5–15 minutes of gameplay and has an ending.
Tlön
In this episode, the fleetingness of a moment is simulated. The player wanders in a psychedelic digital jungle, among elusive objects changing their shape when nobody is looking at them. Tlön is a world of nature, wild but quite fragile.
La forĂŞt
It is a game with a touch of horror, inspired by Max Ernst’s paintings of mysterious forests. By looking around, the player continually transforms the landscape. Also, you can plant a tree to trigger an uncanny chain reaction.
Sacred Grove
Here you can learn secret shamanic techniques and experience what it means to be truly connected to nature. You will feel powerful… or powerless? Maybe sometimes it is better just to let it go.
Chernodyrsk / Black Hole City
This episode is a simulator of a Russian gopnik (urban white trash) struggling through an identity crisis. Its unique mechanics allows you to think about the vanity of all worldly things while wandering around a bad neighbourhood.
