Dec 28 2008
You are a deer: The game that isn’t
How do you explain a game that isn’t really a game?
When I first played The Endless Forest, an online game by Tale of Tales [website here], I was struck by that question. You play a deer, exploring a 3D environment with other deer. There is magic you can obtain to change your appearance or that of other deer. You can interact with your environment via emotes and actions that would be available to a deer: rubbing against trees, sleeping, dancing, and so on. You can even give your deer an identity in the form of a pictograph when registering.
TEF’s world is small, yet beautiful. But unlike any other game, there is no progression. There’s no special items to collect, no changes to your character that are permanent, no experience, no stages of the game. You can’t call TEF a glorified chat room either: there is no way to type or speak in the game. So what do you call the game?
TEF is best defined as interactive art. It exists for enjoyment, understanding, and fun. Its design prohibits the things that gamers are used to, but once you get past that point, TEF actually becomes understandable. Delightful. Enjoyable. You may not spend 6 hours a day playing it, but the time you spend there in the forest can certainly bring a smile to your face.
