Space Tarzan

October 7, 2008 10:03 PM

Aether: lonely boy befriends a mysterious monster, leaves Earth to explore the galaxy. A quick, relaxing, hypnotic, motion-aftereffect-inducing flash game. Programming/music/design by Tyler Glaiel with further art/design by Edmund McMillen.

Aether is also available as a download [direct link to zip containing both OS X and Windows versions]. It debuted in early September, being reviewed in Wired, 1up, IndieGames, Joystiq, JIG, and Kotaku.

posted by Korou (14 comments total)

aaaaugh
posted by mwhybark at 10:41 PM on October 7, 2008

i think i won, but i'm not sure...
posted by mexican at 12:25 AM on October 8, 2008

what
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 2:10 AM on October 8, 2008

Well, I'm baffled. Nice music though.
posted by DoctorFedora at 2:24 AM on October 8, 2008

beat it, very short (which i actually prefer) and super fun, thanks for posting this. as videogames become a more legit art form over the next couple of decades i think we'll see a lot more like this, where the mood evoked during play is the primary focus.
posted by radiosig at 2:33 AM on October 8, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

ASDW : good only for qwerty keyboards.
posted by zouhair at 5:06 AM on October 8, 2008

Zouhair, that's why I use the arrow keys for controls when I make Flash games. I have been using mouse aim a bit, but mouse aiming is really hard for most people forced to use a touchpad on their laptop.

As for this game, I am completely stuck at the start. Can't seem to fire my tongue, don't know if that comes later or what..
posted by autodidact at 7:05 AM on October 8, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

autodidact: didn't work for me first time either, but reloading it made it recognise my mouse clicks.
posted by edd at 7:54 AM on October 8, 2008

autodidact, shoot the clouds, then swing around and shoot a higher cloud. Move around the playing field, get bored, quit...oh wait, that's what happened to me.

It was beautiful, but a bit cryptic. There was no obvious goal...
posted by schyler523 at 7:55 AM on October 8, 2008

Cute, but man that not-quite-doggerel in the intro and ending ruined it for me.

Aether is an "Art Game" about personal childhood feelings and experiences. Please keep and open mind when playing, relax and enjoy the game.

I am guessing that Mr. Glaiel did not have a very happy childhood, except for when he went off by himself and fantasized...
posted by egypturnash at 8:41 AM on October 8, 2008

This is a beautiful game. I really like the swinging / momentum mechanic, I hope it will turn up in a mainstream game sometime soon. (Well, other than the Spiderman games, but the 3D makes it stressful). Something about the gravity / camera feels a bit off to me in this one, it takes awhile to get the hang of it, but it's fun.

zouhair: with a funky keyboard you must be disappointed by a lot of games.
posted by Nelson at 9:05 AM on October 8, 2008

Is interesting, and the theme is winning (though perhaps a tiny bit twee). Didn't have the time to try to get farther than the starting planet though.
posted by JHarris at 1:48 PM on October 8, 2008

Actually a lot of games have some kind of settings where you can change control keys.
posted by zouhair at 2:14 PM on October 8, 2008

I made it to a watery planet with some kind of recluse whale or something.

I liked it enough that I'll download it and try more later.
posted by vertigo25 at 2:23 AM on October 9, 2008