SWORD & SWORCERY SWALE PWICED
I know I usually talk about comics, but real quickly I wanted to point out that today, for one day, the uber-critically-acclaimed iPad and iPhone game Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery is on sale, AND the gorgeous soundtrack by Jim Guthrie is on a pay-what-you-want basis for the digital download. I've endlessly enjoyed both of these things, both together and separately, enough so that I feel compelled to write in this hucksterish mode. Listen I get excited sometimes.
The game itself is pretty amazing. The mechanics are designed for a touch screen; they're immersive and integrated to the point that when you get stuck you'll find yourself rustling bushes and poking at doors to figure out problems. It's a game that's teeny tiny (my phone version, anyway), but which counterintuitively forces you to be aware of a larger environment the whole time. Craig Adams, who I was lucky enough to get to meet while I was in Toronto recently, is a mondayfriday dynamo, super impressive dude. I get pumped when I run into people who treat what they do as art, regardless of what that thing is.
Here watch this video--there are spoilers in there, but like little quick images, it's not going to ruin anything I don't think. It will get you pretty pumped though.
If you have an iPad, I'd suggest getting that version, which also works on iPhone. I don't have an iPad, so the whole time I was playing the game I was mildly grumpy about that--it looks beautiful enough that you want it to be bigger. I'm sure if I'd played it on an iPad I would have wished it were an iMovieScreen or something. But believe me, it works plenty good on a regular ole iPhone, I played the heck out of it and was genuinely sad when I finished it. I hope they make some more stuff for it.
I'm not really a super hardcore gamer though, so what really floated my boat about Sworcery was the gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous design of the thing, from top to bottom. From the visual design to--and maybe even especially to--Jim Guthrie's soundtrack, every element is composed and considered and integrated. It was a beautiful joy to play that game before bed at night, and the album itself is already getting a bit overplayed in my household. But listen it's great!
Even if you're not into games, do yourself a favor and get the soundtrack. It's "pay what you want" today, but I'm sure Jim wouldn't mind if you threw a few bucks in there just because. And if you stumble across this post some time besides today, just buy it anyway! And while you're at his Bandcamp site, get his 2003 album Now More Than Ever. Oh man I love that thing.
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