Back in college, I remember spending an hour thinking about whether we should classify certain television shows as comedies or drama. I suppose it was a fun exercise as it didn’t feel like work, but it felt strange that our teacher was insistent on choosing an answer. It wasn’t just about breaking down the shows, it was about choosing the sides. I remember when I was asked to say something like, “I … don’t care,” which she must have loved.
It makes sense to categorize ideas, but I often worry that creative projects will fall into templates too well. And the current game industry loves templates. So it’s nice to see things like Kid A Mnesia Exhibition, a virtual, semi-interactive art gallery based on Radiohead’s music and which makes it clear in advance that it is not sure how to define itself.
Radiohead’s Thom Yorke wrote in a recent PlayStation blog post, “We have … built something. We’re not sure what it is. “
As Kid A Mnesia Exhibition begins, it sets expectations:
“This is not a game
take your time
You are at the beginning
So there has to be an end
Some places make sense
Some will never make sense
See you later”
You can discuss the semantics if you want. I’m sure someone will mention that it’s weird for the project to be published by Epic Games or for it to be listed as a game on the PlayStation Store. Or you can study design and how it lacks the verbs and challenges that people expect from games.
That it exists on these fringes makes it interesting. It feels like a game, with dual analog movement and buttons to run and zoom. It feels like an art gallery too, with a calm atmosphere and an array of exhibits to walk through. And in the moments when these two ideas come together – when a picture breaks into thousands of particles as you approach it, for example – it feels different from what we’ve all played before, and can do you in most Play surprise tilt.
I don’t want to outbid anything. Kid A Mnesia Exhibition is short, easy and free. Like a happy meal toy for adults. They’re walking around looking at art. You are listening to music. Sometimes it feels like an early 90s computer graphics experiment. It’s kind of weird that given the concept, it’s not in VR. However, by fusing the incredibly easy gameplay mechanics with the ability to explore a fascinating museum, it becomes a memorable place to hang out for an hour even if you have no interest in Radiohead.
