Play Tale of Tales in Buenos Aires and Amsterdam

Game on! Art in a game is an exhibition in Objeto A in Buenes Aires that features works by Daniel Benmergui, Rod Humble, Jason Rohrer, thatgamecompany and yours truly. The Endless Forest, The Graveyard and The Path can be played in the gallery until Saturday April 4th.

And tomorrow, there’s an “afternoon about artistic gaming” at the Victorian Circus festival in De Brakke Grond in Amsterdam, featuring Submarine, Angelo Vermeulen, Crew and Tale of Tales. They’re showing The Graveyard and The Path under the expert guidance of The Path tester Yhancik.

First reviews of The Path

To tell the truth, we are little bit -but happily- surprised by the amount and depth of attention that The Path is receiving. Once again, we may have underestimated the videogame audience. Or underestimated how ready the games industry really is for something new, for a different approach to gaming and game design.

There’s of course the expected violent eruptions of hatred here and there. Each of our projects has received them. The Path is no exception. But there’s very few of these.

It’s heart warming to hear how deeply people are moved by our story and how encouraging they are of our unconventional design style (and forgiving of its technical shortcomings 😉 ). Here’s a first batch of reviews. But many more will surely follow as dozens of journalists are currently playing the game and writing reviews.

The Path has a unique and stunning visual style that comes across as more of an artistic rather than a technical accomplishment; a style that flaunts the creative talents of the designers more than the advanced computational abilities of the graphics engine.

Rubes at The Monk’s Brew

A game where you’re never quite sure what’s going on, but always conjuring up another fascinating theory. A game without a story, but with an abundance of meaning. A work of art. An interactive poem.

Lewis Denby in Resolution

I kind of don’t like the game.
This is not a criticism. If anything, it’s the highest compliment I could pay it.

John Walker at Rock, Paper, Shotgun

The Path isn’t much of a game. But whatever it is, it’s one hell of one of those.

Tom Chick on Fidgit, the Sci-Fi Channel games blog

In the end, The Path is a little bit like getting punched in the nose by a centaur. It’s momentarily painful, but you get to spend the next few days trying to figure out precisely what the hell just happened to you.

Justin McElroy on Joystiq

It is almost easier to think of The Path as an experience, rather than a game. An unsettling, otherworldly adventure, which players scour for hidden meanings and analyze outcomes.

Jenni Lada for Gamertell

The game isn’t focused on violence. Rather, it’s an introverted, slow-paced game with a story that hooks you. The player has a lot of freedom to explore the game world, without a directed path, despite the name.

Dean Takahashi in The New York Times

Perhaps the single most stunning thing about The Path is how well it melds each component of itself together, creating a single entity and providing equal importance for each part of its self.

Sean Ridgeley in Neoseekers

There’s also a rather in-depth interview on Core Gamers where we talk about all sorts of things, not just The Path.