Once in a morning I found indie games blog presenting a new Lithuanian game “Pragaras” (the word means “hell” in Lithuanian). That was a collaborative work of three 17-year-old guys called 3j. I suggest you to try it as well as other games of the same creators this Sunday.
“Pragaras” is a unique painted game. Ink, water-color, cutouts, and the narrator’s voice joined together with user interaction implements a strong concept: “We are living in a world with lots of mud and unfairness, but each of us can change something”. The game touches such topics as social inequality, war, and freedom. The interest in the game is kept by well managed contrasts between the beauty and the ugliness, or the good and the selfishness. Sometimes the avatar mutates to a freak of Picasso style. That supports the idea that those who go against the flaw, are not accepted. And I liked that. But the playability could be still improved. You can control the avatar with the arrow keys, [Z], and [X]. The character collects things, combines them and uses them in different ways. While playing, I was stuck a few times without finding what to do next. Fortunately, there was a workthrough of the game. It’s not always clear which elements are active, and which of them are just the details of the background. The descriptions of controls in white letters on a motley background was not readable at all. Some screens were lack of interactivity. Sometimes I missed logic (for example, why do you have to blow a balloon in order to get inside of a building in the beginning?).
But as Rasa has told me in the past, everything in art is possible and forgiven. The creators of the game present it not as an adventure game, but as an interactive journey:
This is an interactive journey through twisted and unusual world. During this journey you will see various social and global problems. Your objective isn’t to solve them all, just simply pay some attention.
I talked to 3j about the development.
Archatas: Did you use the same engine or core code for all your games? What sources did you use for help?
Jurgis: Miestas ([lt] city) and Mėnulis ([lt] moon) were made using the principle “make it work”. But Pragaras ([lt] hell) was made with a cleaner engine which was programmed by Justinas. Probably we’ll be using it for the next projects too. We didn’t use any external sources.
Archatas: One could not only walk but also run in “Miestas”. Why was the possibility of running not included into “Pragaras”?
Jurgis: We had not enough time for that. We just wanted to finish the game on time.
Archatas: How long did it take to create those games? What was the most difficult? What was the most interesting?
Jurgis: It was much smoother to develop earlier games. “Pragaras” was the first common game of the three of us, and often we had problems of organization. It took longer to create it, but also it gave us much useful experience. It was both difficult and interesting to develop a common project.
Archatas: Don’t you think that the texts written in the images should also be translated into English if you publish a game worldwide? “Pragaras” has subtitles, but I guess the word “Taika” ([lt] Peace) wasn’t translated.
Jurgis: The game was dedicated to Lithuanian audience. We didn’t translate everything for a reason. We wanted the players from abroad to experience something exotic.
Archatas: Who was the narrator in “Pragaras”? (the credits went so fast that I was not able to notice that). Was she a friend, a relative, or an acquainted professional announcer?
Jurgis: That was the actor of “Keistuoliai” theater Aldona Vilutytė. We really appreciate her for help.
Archatas: What next game are you planning to create? Is there anything started?
Jurgis: We have plenty of new thoughts and ideas. Time will show what we do next.
Archatas: Are you going to participate in ludumdare (create a game in 48 hours), pravda one minute, or some other competition or festival happening soon?
Jurgis: We are participating with “Pragaras” at IGF (independent games festival). We don’t look to other festivals at this moment.
Archatas: What studies do you plan after the school?
Jurgis: Probably, we will go towards future with those arts. We a going to study animation and programming.
Archatas: Do you have your personal websites, blogs, or myspace profiles, where you expose your works of art? (To tell the truth, I’ve found some myself, while searching for the contacts, but you can tell them anyway)
Jurgis: jurgis.newgrounds.com, jurgis.deviantart.com, kaukolike.newgrounds.com, youtube.com/ska25ld7k, jtpedcsakas.deviantart.com, teshla.newgrounds.com.
Archatas: So good luck in the festival and have much enthusiasm in creativity! I am looking forward to play more of 3j games in the future.
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