Kafkamesto

January 20, 2006 12:24 PM

"You awaken from an uneasy dream.You are in a small, bare apartment. You are alone. You have no idea how you got there. You don’t even know who you are." Fans of Franz Kafka may appreciate Kafkamesto, a bleak and bizarre point-and-click Flash game.
posted by Gator (27 comments total)

As a starting-off point, a briefcase is a good place in which to put things.
posted by Gator at 12:25 PM on January 20, 2006

*may* is a key word above. I posted this to a gaming blog a while back and got crickets in response.

I think the venn circle overlap of "Kafka fans" and "Flash gamers" must be tiny. Plus, the game *is* rather exasperating.
posted by mrgrimm at 12:37 PM on January 20, 2006

How am I supposed to save the princess if I can never reach the castle?
posted by gigawhat? at 12:37 PM on January 20, 2006

Waiting for someone to say this isn't Kafkaesque.
posted by Rothko at 12:48 PM on January 20, 2006

Es war kein Traum
posted by jouke at 12:48 PM on January 20, 2006

paging Kafkaesque...
posted by shoepal at 12:55 PM on January 20, 2006

Now, a flash game based on In the Penal Colony would make for good uplifting times.
posted by Ohdemah at 12:58 PM on January 20, 2006

I'm working on a similar game, designed around Before the Law.

In it, nothing happens until you click. Then it's over.

EA Sports is totally going to buy it...
posted by ImJustRick at 1:04 PM on January 20, 2006

IJR-It's a different game for every person, right?

I like it, I wouldn't say that I "played" it really, but clicking around was fun.
posted by OmieWise at 1:19 PM on January 20, 2006

*may* is a key word above.

Yeah, heh. I was very careful not to cheerlead, "Fans of Kafka will love...," just in case.

There are lots of hints in the comments of jayisgames's writeup of the game, for those who wonder if there's actually any point to this at all.
posted by Gator at 1:28 PM on January 20, 2006

It's just clicking around, but cool nonetheless.
posted by geoff. at 1:45 PM on January 20, 2006

Reminds me of some old C64 classics, but with better graphics of course.

I can't get out of the room!
posted by juiceCake at 1:50 PM on January 20, 2006

Wait, where's the briefcase?
posted by geoff. at 1:52 PM on January 20, 2006

He told me that the meaning of life is that it ends.

Ha! This is awesome.
posted by billysumday at 2:05 PM on January 20, 2006

The briefcase is a little hard to spot; it's behind the chair that's at the writing desk.
posted by Gator at 2:09 PM on January 20, 2006

Everything is hard to spot.
posted by Sprocket at 3:19 PM on January 20, 2006

I just gave everything I had with me to the guard at the castle, who kept thanking me and telling me it was just what he needed. And stating that if I needed access to the castle, I could have it... but I still can't seem to get in.
posted by Meredith at 3:33 PM on January 20, 2006

Meredith: better just wait, see if you can outlast him.
posted by jenovus at 3:46 PM on January 20, 2006

I'm not sure the Kafka concept transfers well to video games. I mean, I saw this at work and said, "cool, I'll check this out when I get home." And when I did, it was frustrating and pointless, and in that way very true to the spirit of Kafka, but not really a good video game.

That being said. If you want a fun game somewhat in the spirit of Kafka, play the classic Infocom game Bureaucracy.
posted by Otis at 6:01 PM on January 20, 2006

Well I'm about the most receptive audience you can get for this: a fan of Kafka, Flash games and point and click adventures. The concept and artwork and sound are great, but playing it is just boring and frustrating; I gave up far quicker than I was expecting (having been nicely enticed by the loading screen and poking around a little in the city).

Maybe it's Kafkaesque in a clever way I don't get (besides references), its been a while since I read any Kafka, but I'm sure his stories weren't that annoying or frustrating.

Also: I still want to wear the hat. Why a hat you can't pick up? Why?
posted by MetaMonkey at 8:18 PM on January 20, 2006

The insect itself cannot be depicted.
posted by ori at 2:40 AM on January 21, 2006

Also: I still want to wear the hat. Why a hat you can't pick up? Why?

Ditto. Even Josef K. wore a hat when he went out, I'm quite sure of it.
posted by languagehat at 6:07 AM on January 21, 2006

I don't have a hat. I have two caps. I will exit Metafilter now ond put one of my two caps and go outside. Then I will get in my truck and drive somewhere. I live in America, not Prague: it is not a tiny truck.
posted by kozad at 6:48 AM on January 21, 2006

Thank you for playing. Would you like to come back as amole next time.
posted by adamvasco at 11:15 AM on January 22, 2006

I beat it. It's quite strange since there's apparently a story that you can simply avoid if you want to finish up the game within the span of 5 or so minutes.
posted by enamon at 8:58 PM on January 22, 2006

The game was interesting, but what made me laugh out loud was the constructed response from a serious and elderly scholar when asked to comment about the game:

http://abc.net.au/gameon/kafkamesto/bts_asr.htm

"Let me make it utterly clear from the outset that I have no time for games. I abhor crosswords, detest puzzles and absolutely loathe rebuses and the like. Even as a small child, I purposely shunned all forms of schoolyard hi-jinks, instead preferring my own company and the adventures of Huck Finn or David Copperfield to indulge in. And now, as a cultural scholar somewhat reluctantly approaching his ‘twilight years’, I maintain nothing more than passing academic interest in the decadent cultural declinations of the so-called ‘PlayStation generation’ and their persistent idle pursuit of instantaneous reward."

~Matt
posted by mdoar at 11:28 AM on January 23, 2006

Trust me, you *can* finish it in minutes, if you know how (or you were part of the production crew!)

Tons of fun to work on, we had hours of meetings just trying to make it as exasparating as possible.
posted by oliyoung at 11:05 PM on February 3, 2006