clue free

The Graveyard is a postmodern video game that the creators liken to interactive poetry. It only lasts five minutes. It only requires one hand to play. It feels very much like the introspective musical interludes in late-1930s films.

The mechanic is based on what I call the “zen bullshit” aspect of games like Shenmue and GTA, where you have to slog through some utterly mindless segment in order to advance the story (read: pad out the game.) The task can be something like washing a floor, loading shipping pallets, or graffitti-tagging a wall. There is absolutely no thought or skill involved. It is always a complete waste of the gamer’s time, because it is not fun. Shenmue was full of this garbage. GTA 3 made the Shenmue shell actually fun (by adding cartoon mayhem sprinkles) but later iterations were tainted by everyone trying to be all Serious Gangsta. People might play through a GTA game to see the story, but I don’t know anyone who loves the story.

So: The Graveyard.Your task in the game (as an old woman) is to walk through a graveyard, sit down on the bench in the middle, and think about/listen to a song about death. After the song ends, you may continue to sit and reflect. When you are ready, you rise, walk out of the graveyard, and the game is over.

It isn’t quite the “swing scene” in IKIRU, but it worked for me. Watching a video won’t quite work — part of the point is the immersion and self-direction a game allows — but I’ll link it anyway.

That the only additional feature in the registered version is “the possibility of your character’s death” is both hilarious and sensible.