“There is a hole in the world,” writes Ursula K Le Guin in The Farthest Shore, “and there is a lack of light.” Alas, The Farthest Shore doesn’t feature any terrible mechanical hole-digging implements. For that, we must turn to MOLE, “a psychological horror experience with tactile simulation elements about madness, faith and the depths we choose to delve.”
Available now on Steam, it makes me think of Mike Klubnika’s clickable instruments of torture, the invisible exteriors of Iron Lung, and the daily cabin fever of Mouthwashing. In short, this appears to be an effective delivery system for extraordinarily bad vibrations.
In MOLE, you play the navigator who finds himself alone aboard a fortress-sized drill, deep within the earth. You explore in first person, shooting at objects with your cursor. A lot of things are wrong. The ship veers off course and drifts through the magma. The rest of your crew is missing and/or murdered, and the rusty, rumbling corridors are full of special features: flower carpets, four-winged angels, a mysterious “Signal.”
Go for it ! Nobs! Tap the dials! Pull the levers! Don’t follow the white rabbit! (Argh, why didn’t I reference Lewis Carroll in the first paragraph, instead of Le Guin?) I’m sure it’s just a big machine that needs fixing, like the laser-faced snake from The Core. I’m sure this isn’t partly or entirely a metaphor for something horrible you’ve done.
“Immerse yourself in your own history as fragments of your memory surface with choices that refuse to stay buried. » the Steam page continues. “Interact with the ship’s complex systems, solve diegetic puzzles, and unravel the mystery of your missing crew.” The story apparently lasts about 4-5 hours, which is more time than I’d typically like to spend in a self-propelled sarcophagus.
Developers Off Black Creations consist of Swedish designer Sean Falk and Ukrainian artist Daryna Tolmachova, both former members of developers GTFO 10 Chambers. Yes, the GTFO connection makes a lot of sense – this game has some absolutely creepy underground gear in it. If you’ve decided you’ve had enough of this stinking “video game” lark, Off Black is also working on one board game about playing with your memories.
