I was watching Indie Game: The Movie again and at the point when Edmund is talking about Aether I was thinking about the way he described the game. I’ve attempted to transcribe his description here.
This kid gets on the back of a monster, and the monster goes around in space and he gets to explore all these other planets because he can’t connect to anybody on earth so he goes to find other friends. But all these other planets are inhabited with all these kind of weird, or sad, or nervous creatures. And he goes and he tries to solve their problems, and he solves the problems but they don’t become happy. And he keeps going around to all of these other planets, but each time he solves one of these problems the earth gets smaller. And then when he comes back to earth it’s so small that when he touches it it breaks and then he’s kind of lost in space.
This description is a linear story. Why didn’t Edmund choose to tell this story in a comic, or a short story? Why did he make a game? Or rather, what does the video game medium offer that makes it suited to be the vehicle for this story?
I think that even though games like this offer little in consequential player agency, the fact that they are video games still contributes something to the piece. I believe what they contribute is a feeling of discovery. A story can be told, or shown, or pantomimed to an audience. But it can also be placed, laid out ever so carefully where it then awaits discovery. Games are the discovery medium more so, I think, than any other media.