Messages from the Universe Graveyard

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

The following text is a review I've written for my blog, the arcane cache. Figured that you people here might like the game.

Messages from the Universe Graveyard is a unique combination of interactive fiction and multi-user-dungeon.

You connect to a abandoned server of an shut-down and mostly defunct MMORPG. The game is largely dysfunctional, but certain locations of the games world can still be visited: Defunct, industrial spaces, overgrown greenhouses, and astral-surreal places - all of them forlorn, disturbed by glitches, and sometimes seemingly bleeding into each other. The best comparison to describe Messages from the Universe Graveyard's general atmosphere might be Andrej Tarkovskys "Stalker", although the spirits that haunt this zone clearly derive from an digital age.

Sometimes your way is blocked, doors require codes, and to enter certain areas, additional information is needed - you might find what you need on the terminals, signs, and information-nodes that are omnipresent within the game. Besides the essential information, you will also get background information about the places and the whole game - and sometimes also about the people who visited them before you, for the whole game is interactive in the very sense of the word: Every player is able to post lasting comments on these "terminals" on their own and thus extend the games world while they play.

This is not an entirely new concept, but it is extraordinarily well executed here. Comments that were probably made by the developer blend seamlessly into ones that might have been created by players and vice versa. And since the third wall is already scratched by the games "abandoned MMORPG" setting, even meta-, or malicious comments will usually not break the immersion, but become a part of the game itself. The locations are dense and unique, and the short descriptions are well written. Likewise, the graphical design is splendid: Alienated pictures, superimposed by glitch effects, are used to illustrate the areas, and the rather minimal UI design works out well. Every location has a unique soundtrack that helps to tighten the overall atmosphere even more.

What is there left to say? Messages from the Universe Graveyard is a well crafted, highly unique, baffling atmospheric, and just overall sparkling game - once you set foot into its surreal world, you are likely to be enraptured by it.

The game was released under a MIT-License, making it FLOSS. Worked without problems using OpenSuse Leap 15.3 and Firefox. The developer, Kanderwund, released a few other games surely worth to check out.

[TheFrugalGamer]

I loved this one, and even left some comments about it on the Itch.io page. Good to see you've reviewed it and are bringing more attention to it!

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

I saw you there  .
The world (or at least those non-commercial game sphere) is small, isn't it?

I'm honestly not sure how much of a quantitative effect my reviews have, but I always hope to bring these games to people who have a certain enthusiasm about such things. In this case, it seems to work out rather well :).

What was your favorite location?

[TheFrugalGamer]

Lol, yeah definitely small world :) It's kind of nice, actually.

As for a favorite, I liked the ball pit area because it reminded me of the back rooms, and also was the most extensive area that I explored. More than anything I liked the mechanic of inputting numbers, sometimes guessing, and seeing where they brought you to.

And yeah, I feel like most of the indie game stuff gets fewer eyes on it than we'd like overall, but any sort of discourse about it is bound to bring it to a few folks who've never seen it before. I always enjoy seeing the games you review and the things you have to say about them.

[alyshkalia]

Oh hey, I know the person who made this game--small world indeed! I've enjoyed dipping my toes into the non-commercial indie game sphere over the past two years, both as an author and as a player. I loved the feeling of wandering and exploration in this one, and the way that players have a hand in shaping the game, like ThunderPerfectWitchcraft mentioned--great review!