Recent reviews by othrr

Still favorite game

Abstract

Mountain should not be considered a game, it is an interactive piece of art. One that promotes meta-physical philosophical thought, and one that doubles as a relaxing view of an amazing Mountain. The meaning of this isn’t hard to unearth, it only takes a willingness to dig.

A truly beautiful game.

The Purchase

When I first purchased Mountain it was out of curiosity. There seemed to be something that drew me to purchasing it, it was less than a dollar after all.

David O’Reilly created an aesthetic for this work that challenged the premise of contemporary art and modern video games. As an artist and film-maker, he ventures far and walks the line of virtual reality and our reality. Mountain is not a game, and nor is it a background program (as many reviewers say it is). It is an expression of the mind, it is a work of art. A critique of Mountain cannot be done from the perspective of entertainment or aesthetics, it must be done from the view of the raw human mind.

Opening

Opening Mountain leads directly a blank space framed with a black border. To the top of the blank space, in the frame is written a random word. Mountain then urges a player to “Draw Something”. At face value this seems almost silly, but the randomly generated word isn’t so random. It is something that is a large part of our lives as humans. It begs the question: What does this word mean to us? In my first experience of this, my first word was “Art”. My task then was to create a visual representation of art that fits my definition of what art means to me. After painting in only black and white, the user is prompted to click done. This then repeats for a second and third time. The next drawings I made were of “Fear” and “Confusion”.

With progression into Mountain, it is learned that whatever I drew in the beginning had no effect on the mountain itself. As if to hint that whatever those words meant to us, mean nothing to the rest of life. That our lives mean less in the big picture than what we define our lives with.
After the three drawings a mountain is generated. With a holy choir note in the background, the user is spoken to. “You are mountain.” says the game “You are God.”

“Please Enjoy Your Time Here.”

Then I was left with a mountain.


Mountain

In what seems like an endless endeavor, Mountain rotates in an empty space.

With time, day and night will pass, Fall will turn to Winter, and Spring will dry into Summer. Rain will wash down the slopes of Mountain and winds will ruffle the trees growing on the sides.

Every once in a while Mountain will think. With a pleasant note, a thought appears on the top of the screen. But this thought is seems empty. It is almost, meaningless in the grand scheme of things. The thoughts of Mountain are small compared to what the situation is.

These thoughts are a connection to the daily life of Man. How our small opinions have no real impact on the world around us. When Mountain speaks the thoughts are comments on its current position in the universe.

However I would be wrong if I said that all of Mountain’s thoughts are transparent.

Some comments paint the grim reality of many people.

“Why am I alone?”

“I don’t really know what I am”

“What Am I? Are you part of me too?”

These thoughts appear in between the comments on the warm Spring sun and on the bright blue sky.

After observing these more meta-physical questions, the normal thoughts are shown in a new light. It leads to one thinking that these thoughts are all that there is in life, that in an empty and endless world our voice is the only existential connection to our being.

But this is idea is quickly brushed away. Maybe there is something else to remind us of our being.
Maybe materialistic entities can be our connection to ourselves.

So every once in a while, about as often as Mountain thinks, an item falls onto Mountain.

The item has no meaning. It just lands onto Mountain, and sits alongside it for the rest of eternity. Some of these items are references to previous works by O’Reilly.

Early in my experience I was pleased to learn that pressing different keys caused a different musical note to play. If played in specific orders, those resembling main melodies to famous pieces of music, an effect will happen. The connection of the action done and the song is up for interpretation, and can be seen differently by different people. The combinations so far act as entertainment, but to each person his own analysis of the music.

Besides musical tones played at the users command, there are ambient sounds to accompany the experience. Crickets at night and the sound of wind create a mood of relaxation and peace. This harmony is the true experience of peace for most of our lives, or to many, the external façade of peace, a mask of stress and pain. The calmness is almost surreal in this context.
After a random amount of time, Mountain will end.

The player can force it with the musical tone aforementioned, and a randomly generated object will collide with Mountain, ending it (It is said however, that with spamming musical notes, this can be avoided, almost as if we can postpone death with meaningless, or to some, meaningful, noise).

Or Mountain will reach a more natural ending. And a message will appear describing the death of Mountain.
The message can be natural, that Mountain was ruined by a passing sun.

Other deaths are less natural, that I, Mountain, died to Rupert, The Bringer of Ice.

In essence, Mountain is an experience, not a game.

An Experience that is unique, special, and a reflection of who we are.