The Killer

Fantastic way of ending it

Beautiful game. When I got to the end, I didn’t want to kill the stick guy, didn’t know what he did to make me want to kill him. When it became clear that the only way to progress was to fire, I shot up into the air. Literally cried because I was so happy for this stickman that I had become so emotionally invested in over the course of the journey to get to the fields.

Amazing!

This is one of the best games I have played this year, and so are the other two.

Just so you know. I chose to miss!

Plese do more of these

Thank you for the experience

I absolutely love what you’ve done. I first played loneliness and then this. Loneliness was perfect. I could really empathise with it. And I love that all the dots are the same, but everyone rejects your dot. You are doing a great job and I think you should continue to be awesome!

When I played The killer I started noticing details and thinking about other stuff because the changes was so slight. I’m not sure if some of my friends would have the patience to play it all the way through. I think that the length is important in order to get the point across, but it shouldn’t be boring, that’s when people leave and then the game is “useless”. What if the prisoner tried to run? what would happen then? Would the soldier shoot him dead? or catch him, so he could bring him out to the fields? what if he did shoot him? would the soldier have to carry him to the fields? Is there any birds nearby? or animals?

Thanks for the experience. You made me think “this is awful”. I have known that there are bad conditions in other countries for my whole life, but it has been repeated to me so much I’ve started to ignore it. In order for people to care about the bad conditions, they need to come to the conclusion that this is bad, for themselves. That is difficult to do, and you’ve done it.

Don’t Forget To Be Awesome

just a note

Thank you for giving me the option.

If one of your objectives was

If one of your objectives was to scare me when the mine blew up in this “notgame,” then you succeeded. It was pretty powerful. The comments that appeared when I decided not to listen and quit pressing the spacebar were very effective, eerily calm yet demanding me to go forward. One thing I noticed was the difference in the colors of the men’s faces, as I was playing the role of the white man pushing the black man to his death. Ultimately, when they both died, death was blind to skin color. I guess that just goes to show that there never are any winners when it comes to oppressing people. Thanks for making me aware of the plight in Cambodia, and props to your notgame for being both powerful and effective.

Thank you

Your simplicity in your games is beautiful because of the feelings behind them. Having something so meaningful in such a short game is amazing. I hope you make it on to a triple a game companies team because if you could put that much thought into a 30 hour storyline as you do in your 4 minute notgames the gaming industry would be a much better place. Keep it up seriously!

May God rest their souls

May God rest their souls in peace!

I think that the experiment

I think that the experiment should stress the fact that they were being tortured prior to being killed. Maybe before walking or once they reached the river they should have to torture the person for a few seconds before killing them so that the experiment will be more effective to the person after they have read the facts at the end. They will have more visuals.

Your creations have presented

Your creations have presented to me an entire new perspective on video games, video games as art and history in general. The symbolism in your works shows a phenomenal amount of forethought and care and it has inspired me and for this, I thank you Mr. Magnuson. In addition, I really see how the killings due to the Khmer Rouge has affected you as a human being, to see such atrocities committed and it has made me consider just what we have done to our fellow humans. I once again thank you for teaching me and so many others.

Interesting

For the first part of the game I didn’t like where it was headed - me with a gun, marching someone out to be killed. The game told me to keep going, but I didn’t want to. I started marching forward again out of curiosity, but then found that if I clicked away from the flash window, I would keep walking even though I wasn’t holding the space bar. That allowed me to distance myself from what I feared was inevitable - reaching some point at which my character would automatically shoot this prisoner. I still watched as the characters walked, though, curious about what would happen. When we were getting near to the fields, where the game told me we could stop, I took control again. When I was given the option of where to shoot, I was delightfully rebellious. I was so happy to be able to choose not to kill. In the following explanation of the game, where it explained that I had been killed for showing mercy, it actually brought me some peace in knowing that I did not commit the crime, paying with my own life to make a stand against evil.

Powerful experience. Amazing what simple game mechanics can do.

Holy crap. That was amazing.

Holy crap. That was amazing. I’m emotionally drained right now.

about that game where you press space to walk

Pretentious

Just Wow!

This was such a powerful massage, from the start with the only option, to be push the man forward and every time I stopped the words would appear, I tried to stop countless time, in the forest, next to the river, all the lovely scenery slowly moving forward I was feeling ashamed for what I knew was going to happen, that there was a point that I just wanted it over and help down the spacebar and was shocked awake with the gun shot. as the music played i was over come with what those emotions of the people in whos shoes i had just walked in.

Thank you very much for this experience, keep up the good work.

- Lennon G.

Reply to comment | Game Trekking

WOW just what ӏ ωas lοoking fог.
Camе hегe by ѕeаrching for game

your game: killer

Let me put it this way; i set my cell phone on the space bar so i didn’t have to do anything. like i seriously i had no idea why that wasn’t just a movie… other than for the choice to kill the guy at the end or not.

I enjoyed… well, enjoyed

I enjoyed… well, enjoyed would be the wrong word. I appreciated The Killer as a piece of art. There is however, one criticism I would level at it. That would be adding such specific context to the scene. One thing that ambiguity provides is the opportunity for the audience to create its own narrative while they are walking the captive to the killing fields. What were little more than stick figures on a pixel-y back drop become characters. You become the figure with the gun and start to form a bond with the captive in some way. However, when historical context is provided to this scene, it takes away some of that. It is no longer you marching a captive to the killing fields and making the decision of wether or not to kill him, it’s a Cambodian soldier. It sort of reverses some of the identifying and role assumption that goes on. It’s easier to dissociate yourself from the character and all of a sudden, it’s just a role. Other than that, it was a fantastic piece.

Thank you.

Thank you.

this is better than journey

this is better than journey

The Killer

You have mastered the fine art of depressing people.

The Killer

To be honest, this one felt cheap. Especially when contrasted with Freedom Bridge, which has a similar mechanic at the end. Freedom Bridge’s ending felt like it had more meaning. Being shot in the middle of the bridge, rather than and suddenly a landmine. The whole notgame felt more nuanced.

This one, the music was overwrought, and the walk went on for too long. I was completely zoned out when and suddenly a landmine, whereas for Freedom Bridge I was paying attention. I felt the black square’s struggle.

I didn’t think I would be

I didn’t think I would be given a choice at the end. Thank you for giving me that choice.

what happened

what happened; or, why did we both die?

empathy in the spacebar

Thank you for this game. When I first began playing, it wasn’t immediately clear if I was controlling the figure leading or following. Ok, so the soldier stops when I release the spacebar, so I control him - but I still have so far to go. Moving through the jungle, the forest and the beach, we came to the plains when I suddenly controlled a gunsight. No thank you, I won’t shoot my companion.

I played a second time, and we both died suddenly from a landmine. What?? Pointlessness!

A fine little game.

wow

powerful stuff man its sad how most people forget or ignore the cruel injuctice in the world

Im glad i didnt shot them first in the not game killer what happens if i keep holding space after the feild ?

really good stuff man really makes u think

The Killing & Loneliness

Hi There,

I really enjoyed, no wait, appreciated both of these “games” Too often a good message is lost because of the lack of user input. The simplicity of both games is very beneficial for reaching the user. The direct implication of the game is evident almost immediately but I do have one suggestion. Placing a progress bar of some sort would help encourage the less patient individual to continue to receive the final piece of the message. I’m not sure what the most effective way to do this would be without ruining the experience but I can see it being immediately beneficial.