Video games have had their fair share of what could be considered art despite what Roger Ebert has to say (a conversation for another day), with Shadow of the Colossus, ICO, Flower and Rez instantly coming to mind. But non can really be described as an explorable paining than a game, which Tale of Tales have exactly described their game, The Graveyard, as. As an entry into experimental gaming, The Graveyard is an interesting one. You "play" as an elderly woman with a cane who visits a cemetery. You walk her down the path into the cemetery, finding a bench to sit on.
And that's pretty much the gist of it, not much happening. Except if you feel like it, you can sit through a song, that fit's the game quite well i might add, before getting back up and walking back up the path and out of the graveyard. Calling this a game is like calling throwing a ball at a brick wall once a game. Sure it's the bare minimum of what you could call a game, but it's not.
The Graveyard is the equivalent of an artistic short film for a short film festival or Youtube, being in black and white. While it's interactive, it still get's it's message across with no loss in translation. Unfortunately the lady controls like a tank, moving slowly, not really being able to turn. Although, this probably won't deter the people who would want to play this from playing this.
Being an art piece, the game get it's point across. Graphically, it's beautiful, being in black and white. The music matches the style of it perfectly, making it both a pleasure to watch as well as listen to. The sounds are what you would expect to hear at a graveyard, with a dog barking in the background, birds chirping, the sound of a baby crying. This is definitely worth the download, considering it's small size delivering such a splendid package (your definitely never going to hear me say splendid ever again).
There is, however, a paid version of this game for about $5. What does it add you might ask? It add's in the ability for the old lady to die at any point in the game, mainly during the song, giving it an extra aspect to think about. In the end, this is not a game for gamer's, since it has no real goals, objectives or point. It's mainly an art piece designed to have the user have an interpretation of what is presented, and for that, i give it credit. There's also an iPhone version for the go if you want to try it during a break at work, school or if you can't play through it during it's entirety while sitting at home or wherever you are. The iPhone version has some slightly more frustrating controls, making the PC version to play.
