Frank

Here’s some posts for the Meditation Games project from Early November (looks like there were some problems with games in the launcher, though)!

If there’s one thing that living where I’ve lived has taught me, it’s that I’m probably better suited to being in a place where I experience all four seasons, in all their best and their worst of times. Even though there are times when it seems like a big mistake has been made when it comes to how much the weather batters me on my morning commute or when I’m running errands, there’s rarely, if ever, a sign of regret from me for doing so – and part of the reason why that is, is perhaps the joy that I experience trying to share the changing nuances of the seasons with people who don’t get to deal with it year-round.

Everyone knows about the normal major holidays of the year – Christmas, New Year’s, and the like – with some of the country-specific holidays following close behind. Interestingly enough, it’s the non-US specific holidays and customs that get a bit of the short shrift, and today’s entry reminded me of one of the ones mostly celebrated in the UK, Guy Fawkes Day. You’d think that a presentation of a customary holiday or day would be accompanied by more fanfare, but as this entry in the Meditation Games project shows, the celebration or day is not always the most memorable thing about experiencing it.

Here with another catch-up post for the rest of October!

Puzzle/Adventure hybrids, of the type that Myst offers, had rarely back in the day followed on negative themes. You basically solved the puzzle and finished the adventure, and you were very much clearly the hero fighting evil and you got a reward in the end of doing everything successful to do good in the game setting. That’s all well and good, but some of the contemporary games in this genre have taken a darker, more sinister turn, with no straightforward answers as to the morality or ethics of your actions, and that’s the kind of eerie vibe I got looking at this entry.

There’s an old saying about being able to help others, which is one that I’ve struggled personally with sticking to, and that’s “put on your own oxygen mask/fill your own gas tank before helping others do the same”. It’s an adage that originates a bit in part from flight safety procedure, and the point is that you’re not going to be able to help with other people unless you’re operating at 100%.

Seasonal entries in the Meditation Games series always remind me of the time of year that it is, and are interesting because the day sthemselves are at times connected to experiences that the developers happened to be having in the past, that serve as the inspiration for their projects. Such as it is with this entry, a depiction of an activity that serves multiple purposes in terms of being able to relieve stress and enjoy oneself, even for a short amount of time – leaf stomping and crunching.

Meeting someone who you become close to, or even best friends with, as the developers in this entry show you, can sometimes be a matter of random consequence, something as trivial as being put on a bus next to one another, in the same class, or a chance meeting at a place neither of you planned to be at. Like romance, but in an entirely different and platonic context, it can sometimes feel a little like destiny in retrospect, but it doesn’t make the memory of meeting any less significant.