Owned By
LDJAM42: Owned By
Interested in experiencing a twisted view of the human mind? If so, you are in the right place.
Owned by is a visual game poem that depicts society's expectations of the individual. We sprinkled it with a few metaphors and a crapton of psychedelia.
CONTROLS: WASD or ARROW keys to move, SHIFT or SPACE to sprint / use ability, MOUSE to manage UI
Programming, Design: Sokka Toivola
Art, Design: Ekku Meronen
Note: Audio is a bit funky on web build
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
I'm definitely projecting but this to me seemed to have a lot of rhetoric that would be familiar to a disabled individual who has trouble receiving support. For you to fundamentally know you are one way, and to have others try and convince you that you would be happier if you just... stopped? This game was, to me, an effective metaphor for that feeling of helplessness. I especially liked the "but you look so happy" moment, because that is so commonly used as citation to prove repression works.
This is one of those games that I would like to see more often: It has a personal perspective and exposes me to an unpleasant situation, but it is not completely hopeless. In this way, the game evokes a certain empathy. The constant pressure of the outside world, all the looks, the discomfort... All this you have captured. At the same time, you have left the reason for the 'outsiderness' of the character completely open, creating a great potential for identification, which I think is just perfect. That's why I recommended your game in a more or less cryptic article on our blog and uploaded a playthrough video. <3 Thank you for this game, I wish you a high ranking at the Ludum Dare 42 with it!
Best wishes,
Sebastian
I think you did very well, especially in the (unfortunately narrowing) niche of making something dark, deep, and thought-provoking without the traditional cheap horror of jumpscares. I hope to review your game in more detail before long. I hope you do well in the jam, maybe even win a prize!
This was a dark wonder, from the very beginning there is a deep undertone of the twisted nature. The artwork is sublime, especially that creepy smile in the middle. It threw me off completely when the actual game started. I really enjoyed this, especially considering this was made in a 72 hour time crunch. What I took from this game was a fun experience in a dark place, it seemed the narrator was perhaps compulsiveness or an inner voice which our dear friend is trapped by. Although there is not to much to this game, I'd say it has a good chance in the jam. I wish you the best of luck on all of your future developments! May they be equally and dark.
It was a surreal (and amazing) experience seeing someone playing and reacting in real-time to something we made. Thank you enormously for taking the time to make the video and reviewing our game, it really means a lot! We will hopefully continue making these dark experiences :)