Leaf: A Game about Life
December 24th, 2009
In leaf you control the titular character using only the Left & Right keys. I shan’t spoil the rest of the game, but the aesthetics are quite soothing.
From the Artist
The idea came to me in the cheesiest way possible, i was walking home from somewhere with this very song playing on my ipod and saw a leaf tumbling down from a tree, and decided i needed to make a game about that. jonas just happened to be on msn once i got to my computer and quite liked the idea. his first sketch is what is used for the splash screen. this was something like two or three months ago, and we never got very much further than a minimal prototype and that picture. but once the theme was announced i knew this game would be a perfect fit if we actually made the effort to finish it.
Play
The game can be played: HERE
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15 Comments, Comment or Ping
Maybe its about deaf? (((
December 24th, 2009
It’s good looking but I can’t quite see the gameplay. Sure you can use the left and right but in the end you get pretty much the same result by not doing anything at all.
December 24th, 2009
Agree with Lars – its more art, and less game – the complete lack of purpose, goals, objectives, or different outcomes makes it so. Lovely art though. :)
December 25th, 2009
Lars: I think that’s pretty much the point, linked to the title “a game about life”.
You can go left, right, but in the end, you will only fall down, until you reach the last point, the ground. However, not a perfect metaphor to life, or a rather pessimistic one, because a falling leaf has no point, no purpose. I guess a life would have more sense if it was a seed, then. Because then there is the choice to leave something behind you.
Other possibility is that the leaf falling is only a part of life, the end of it. That at one point the leaf had a purpose, but not anymore, so it’s only slowly dying, falling, until it reaches the ground and everything is over.
That would make an even more pessimistic view, of course ;-)
So let’s just say it’s a game which looks nice to watch and listen to, without searching for deeper meaning ;)
December 25th, 2009
I like that no matter how hard you try, ultimately you land in the same still puddle below the tree.
There’s a very profound life metaphor in that.
December 26th, 2009
I like it!
December 27th, 2009
Wups, I quit out of the game pretty much after hitting the invisible side barrier a few times and being bounced back. Bit jarring and feel robbed of the feeling of freedom to be carried away . Hard gating “just say no.!” ..
– Chuan
December 29th, 2009
Indeed.
We flutter left and right, beautiful music plays, pretty branches and other leaves glide by us. And no matter how we twist and turn we do continue to fall…down into a still pool of water.
I think it’s a rather sublime game of life.
Wonderfully done, I’ve sent it to many friends already. )
December 30th, 2009
Wow.
Don’t polish this turd too hard, it may catch on fire.
The ‘artistic statment’ is vauge and bullshit.
There is no game here.
There is no form here.
Work on your design before you go through all the trouble of making ‘atmosphere’.
January 18th, 2010
“We flutter left and right, beautiful music plays, pretty branches and other leaves glide by us. And no matter how we twist and turn we do continue to fall…down into a still pool of water.”
Ladders & Snakes, anyone? :D
April 9th, 2010
Well done. Good atmosphere. Artfully limiting gameplay shows a worldview some might consider simplistic and pessimistic. Thankfully I can do a lot more than just spin while I’m falling through life. :)
April 24th, 2010
Best game or metaphor ever.
May 5th, 2010
Nice design! They should have wind effects visualised with other leaves drifting along air currents. Should have other locations/scenes you can guide the leaf through until you reach the end point.
The game is incomplete metaphorically and… err, game-ally. Less is not more in this case, but it’s a great start!
August 19th, 2011
It’s a fun experience, more than a game. Semantics are too picky for this effort, however. A leaf falling… life is full of such moments, and in that spirit- sure, why not, it’s a game. Good stuff (even when more of a shadow than an object of matter) is hard to come by. Good job.
October 28th, 2012
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