What this game is

This is a highly experimental social experiment, and not a "game" in the traditional sense at all. It is not an MMO per se, nor a shooter, nor an RPG. It is not an Adventure game, point and click game, or walking simulator. But it shares threadbare elements of all of these.

What is really is, is an extremely simplistic "gameification" or incentivizing of empathy and misanthropy, depending on which you choose to inject into the world. Through extremely limited gameplay mechanics, you will interact with anonymous users purely through text. You will be prompted to share your thoughts and feelings - forms of suffering are encouraged for sharing - and other players will do the same. You will read these experiences left behind by other players, and they may likewise read yours. You may then choose to "free" or "condemn" them, leaving them messages in reply, and so on.

Do not go into this game expecting great gameplay depth of titillating mechanical experiences. This is at its heart, as stated, a social experiment with light, highly interpretive narrative elements. Gameplay-wise, it is remarkably shallow, but conceptually, philosophically, artistically, and emotionally, it is as deep or superficial as you choose to make it.

If you're someone you can appreciate extreme repetition, slow paced contemplative exploration of simple spaces, and wants to experiment with being exposed to the innermost thoughts and feelings of others, and respond in kind, then you may get something out of this. If you are someone who scoffs at such experiences as "not games" or "pretentious garbage," then this is not the experience you're looking for and you should probably move on to whatever it is that constitutes greener pastures for you. Your prerogative. You've been warned.

So, mechanically, practically: HOW do you start playing? That's all this guide seeks to answer.

Right. So, straightforwardly:

When the game begins, you should create a profile. Enter a name, and enter whatever you would like in the text box. This is the message other players will see in-game when they encounter your text in the bottles (more on that later.) You can listen to the news broadcasts and ponder their implications if you like, or move ahead.

Upon starting the game, read the text on screen for some slightly oblique hints about what you'll need to do next. (Essentially, what this guide tells you to do.)


When the game begins, you will find yourself in a room filled with flies and music. If you understood the previous text, what you need to do is hover your mouse over the flies long enough for the box to fill, which will result in a fly becoming tethered. Do this enough times, and you gain access to the television set on your right.


Use the mouse scroll wheel to flip through the channels on the TV. Eventually, you will hear feedback. Continue scrolling, and you will move on to the next part of the game.


Now you find yourself in "space." It's not actually space per se, but I will leave the metaphysical or symbolic significance of this for you to decide. (There are no invalid interpretations as far as I'm concerned, and I suspect the creator of this experience would agree, though I won't speak for them obviously.)

Aim your mouse cursor in the direction of the music you hear, and scroll your mouse wheel up or down to increase and decrease your momentum. Your goal is one of the large wireframe vessels or entities (take your pick) ahead. Inside, once you get close enough, you will find a red sphere.

To fire, hold your mouse cursor over the target (in this case the red sphere,) and release to shoot. Holding briefly does less damage. Holding longer discharges more energy, inflicting more damage to the target's HP.

Once one sphere is destroyed, continue following the music.

After destroying three spheres, follow the music to your next destination. Here you will find a series of Space Flies, and another red sphere... except you will find yourself unable to damage it.


Although quite a bit more difficult, you can eventually with practice and effort "kill" a Space Fly. When you do so, the sphere will be temporarily damage-able. Destroy it as quickly as you can. If time runs out, kill another Space Fly and try again.

The best method for killing the Space Flies for me has been to find an intermediate range, hold down the mouse button, and release when I'm certain it's in the crosshair. Then rapid fire before it resets or gets away. Finally, quickly turn towards and destroy the red sphere while there's still time. Rinse and repeat if you run out of time.


Repeat what you did the first time around once back in the TV and music room. (There may or may not be other ways to progress here that reveal secrets, but that is beyond the scope of this quick start guide.)


Eventually, whether the very next time you return to "space," or a subsequent trip, you may notice some distant, faint "stars" in addition to the vessels which are also back again.

Those aren't stars.

Approach, and you'll find bottles. You can shoot these bottles, to reveal a fellow traveller's Pain. You may at this point condemn them, or free them. Should you free them, you may randomly donate a certain amount of your own currency to them our of generosity. I have yet to condemn anyone, so I'm uncertain as to what that does.

You may also then leave them a message, which they will receive next time they log into the game. To see your own messages, quit to the main menu, and select Messages. At this stage, it's unlikely you'll receive any due to the age of the game. But you never know...


There is more to find here, but this should get you well underway.

Safe journeys...