TIGSource: Today I Die

Today I Die

Derek Yu — Sat, 09 May 2009 01:43:00 +0000

Today I Die is the last in a trilogy of art-games designed by Daniel Benmergui that deals with causality and human relationships. In each of the three games – Storyteller, I Wish I Were the Moon, and Today I Die – he gives the player a unique mechanic with which to play with these themes. In Storyteller, the mechanic is dragging and dropping, in I Wish I Were the Moon it’s photography, and in Today I Die, it’s poetry. I enjoyed all the games very much, but I appreciate them even more as a kind of gaming triptych.

Today I Die is definitely the most “gamey” of the three, and involves some action and puzzle-solving. But like all art-games the value doesn’t come from the challenge so much as the way players can explore a concept through simple interaction and possibly find tender or revelatory moments inside. Causality, in particular, is a rich concept that’s been important in philosophy as far back as Aristotle, who defined four types of causes that can all be seen in these games. It’s also the central theme of Gregory Weir’s I Fell in Love with the Majesty of Colors, which was inspired by Daniel’s work.

Daniel is trying out an interesting business model to support his games (i.e. keep them ad-free) – sponsors who donate a certain amount can receive prizes like custom characters or custom endings.

TIGdb: Entry for Today I Die

"Today I Die" by Pretzelking

Thu, 14 May 2009 00:36:59 +0000

Video games are not art. Stop pretending they are.

"Today I Die" by Anthony Flack

Wed, 13 May 2009 00:21:50 +0000

“I like the idea that changing the description of a world changes the world.”

Yeah, that was the big take-away idea for me as well. I really liked the idea of haing a bunch of interchangable adjectives that completely change an aspect of your environment. You could build a system in which several aspects could all be flipped independently - creating a much larger possibility space within a seemingly-small environment. The number of permutations would grow exponentially with each new element.

It has the potential to be expanded into a very interesting larger puzzle game I think. I always liked the kind of adventure games that folded a large number of possibilities within a small environment.

"Today I Die" by alspal

Tue, 12 May 2009 11:01:15 +0000

I don’t get what to do, I can move things around at least.

"Today I Die" by Flamebait

Tue, 12 May 2009 09:38:26 +0000

^Are you a crude AI construct? Are connotations a real phenomenon?

"Today I Die" by Corpus

Sun, 10 May 2009 11:15:04 +0000

I thought that this was a good game while it lasted, unlike other games which continue to be good even when they are not lasting.

"Today I Die" by Hima

Sun, 10 May 2009 08:10:12 +0000

It was a really great experience for me. I wish there were more endings though. :)

I hope the creator won’t be discouraged by such spam comments on his blog though. We already have ton of mainstream games. What’s so bad about a unique one showing up once in a while? ;)

"Today I Die" by Fuzz

Sat, 09 May 2009 22:38:04 +0000

@ Moose: Hint- do you really need to go to the swimming guy?

"Today I Die" by Moose

Sat, 09 May 2009 22:14:47 +0000

I’ve only gotten one ending - “until you come..” - is there another?

"Today I Die" by Alex Schearer

Sat, 09 May 2009 16:29:46 +0000

Paul, I completely agree with you that those comments are out of line. I’m just laughing that we’re going to go through the conversation a third time considering how the last one ended!

"Today I Die" by mirosurabu

Sat, 09 May 2009 14:42:44 +0000

It’s great to see this kind of games are getting attention and are well received.

"Today I Die" by Paul Eres

Sat, 09 May 2009 14:02:47 +0000

Alex, if you can get used to comments like that, I envy your fortitude, but I can’t.

"Today I Die" by Quetz

Sat, 09 May 2009 13:53:07 +0000

Please don’t tell me this is the last game of this caliber he’s going to work on. Pleeease D:

"Today I Die" by Alex Schearer

Sat, 09 May 2009 13:49:40 +0000

I think 100 comments and one locked thread isn’t enough, let’s rehash the whole issue of etiquette a third time!

"Today I Die" by Well...

Sat, 09 May 2009 13:41:54 +0000

Most of those comments were by the same guy.

"Today I Die" by Paul Eres

Sat, 09 May 2009 12:50:47 +0000

Also, I read the comments on his blog and can take comfort that the comments on tigsource aren’t yet as bad as the comments on the rest of the internet. Some choice selections:

“Um, this sucked.”

“The fuck is this shit?”

“what was the point of the gayish poem “today i day”? u suck. Next!”

“Hey dude ? u think that a game studio will hire you when u will show shit like that …. u will never be hired by any game studio and i hope that u will die by starvation !!!!! U totally useless”

“Even my 3 years old sister may make better games than you ,pretentious asshole !!!”

“I’m not going to tell you you suck, but I don’t get any profound emotional response from Today I Die. Are all these other people for real? Or, is this a big patting ourselves on the back convention for being so appreciative of quirky, emotive indie games?”

“YOUR GAMES SUX !!!! KILL YOURSELF BEFORE I COME KILL YOU !!! U R THE WORST GAME DESIGNER I EVER SEEN !!!!”

“I don’t think I will sgive you money, sure you will be drinking beers with it instead of having a decent job. Come back to the real world, art is has been! Art is so last century what was I meant if you did not get it.”

"Today I Die" by PHeMoX

Sat, 09 May 2009 11:48:23 +0000

Prizes i.e. new endings?

That actually sounds a tiny somewhat like my own idea of perhaps giving people a chance to donate money into a poll with say 3 different game endings.. the one with the most money donated will be implemented.

Obviously, the game will have to be free and the 3 endings will need to be interesting enough for people to be willing to donate money (on all 3 :P).

Of course, this idea isn’t really so much meant for me to make money of the game, but more so for gamers to influence the development of a game by voting.

Now.. I could do a free voting and charge for the game instead, but it would be a nice experiment to try it the other way around someday.

"Today I Die" by Quetz

Sat, 09 May 2009 10:58:42 +0000

I love this so much!

"Today I Die" by Kaworu

Sat, 09 May 2009 09:55:01 +0000

Thank you Derek for such a long and solid news about it.

Game is really nice :)

"Today I Die" by xerus

Sat, 09 May 2009 09:23:19 +0000

“I think getting sponsored by a flash games portal is better because…”

Well, getting sponsored by a flash portal isn’t always just an automatic, guaranteed thing.

"Today I Die" by Vincent

Sat, 09 May 2009 09:12:24 +0000

This should definitely be highly recommended! Great.

"Today I Die" by raiten

Sat, 09 May 2009 08:46:20 +0000

The revenue model is interesting but seems like more work than it’s worth. I don’t know if this is a viable way to go for flash developers, it seems you would have to spend a lot more time doing small drawings and fishing donors. I think getting sponsored by a flash games portal is better because 1) you will PROBABLY end up with more money 2) you won’t have to make as much of an effort to get it. Displaying their logo in the game is pretty much the same thing as having donors’ names and URL:s appear on the credit roll, I think. OK, it’s less personal but you’re getting paid for the exact same service.

Oh, and I loved the game, got goosebumps once the world turned beautiful.

"Today I Die" by Hypersapien

Sat, 09 May 2009 08:11:22 +0000

Great game. I love his stuff. I had never seen Storyteller before, though.

Check me on this. There’s only the two endings, right?

"Today I Die" by Paul Eres

Sat, 09 May 2009 05:53:06 +0000

I only found two of the endings. I think it’s a good idea for a game but it’d be even more interesting it were more fleshed out, with a larger variety of words, etc. Of course it probably has a lot more that I haven’t figured out. I like the idea that changing the description of a world changes the world.

"Today I Die" by Fuzz

Sat, 09 May 2009 05:45:44 +0000

Why is this tagged as casual? It’s anything but.

"Today I Die" by Fuzz

Sat, 09 May 2009 05:23:09 +0000

Amazing game, and replayability is almost infinite. Multiple endings, too!