Tetrageddon Games is a multifaceted and delightful project from Nathalie Lawhead, one of the participants in my feature about digital mysticism yesterday.
The Tetrageddon portal is a little bit net art, a little bit invitation to open-source collaboration, and a lot strictly delightful, nostalgic play experiences. It encompasses everything from a game called Froggy — this glitchy, gruesome, post-apocalyptic amphibian road war, like Frogger gone bad — to an endearingly-oldschool hovering virtual assistant called MiniByte.
"Tetrageddon Games is a satire of our digital life," Lawhead says in her statement on the game, which won the experimental "Nuovo" category at this year's Independent Games Festival. "I aim to do with games what Monty Python did with humor in terms of ridiculousness, and constant change of themes. It is the internet in the form of a game, as if your browser landed in the web's version of Ripley's Believe It or Not!. It is full of rabbit holes, and waves of bizarre creations that you play with."
Players are also encouraged to download sourcefiles, modify them or create their own games inspired by the Tetrageddon suite. "I like to think that cooperation is key to evolution. A big part of me wishes that art, or entertainment, would be the same," says Lawhead.
"I think if artists would be more open, and less protective of their work, art would be much more socially relevant," she says. "Realizing that people are no longer happy with being just the consumer, Tetrageddon aims to satisfy the need to play, create, adapt, copy & paste, and build on."
Beyond the novelty of an experiment, Tetrageddon Games is continually surprising, whether experienced in Flash or HTML5. See it for yourself, and share your journey with us!
