indie developer Robert Yang, Creators of games like Hard boys and Rinse and repeathas a new release called out today traffic jam. It’s about a lumberjack just trying to get through a very hot, sweaty day.
You can download and play here
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Please note that while this trailer manages to keep things SFW, the full game doesn’t, so keep that in mind if you plan to play it. Yang’s official description sums it up pretty well:
traffic jam is the latest in my series about gay sexuality – a short little game about a middle-aged lumberjack daddy who works wood and other hard things. It’s about forestry, masculinity, and history, but on the surface it’s a simple work simulator with a burly stripper and the occasional twist.
However, the game is about more than wood. And more than sex. As Yang elaborates on his blogWood – how and where we cut it, what we then do with it – is something we focus on ”apply a thick coat of ideas and politics”. In addition to being a building material and a source of fuel, wood is also an important player in the history of American settlers Colonialism, from George Washington’s cherry tree to Abraham Lincoln’s log cabin.
I have to reflect the ideological dimension of wood. Because of this, I occasionally challenge the player to share something that isn’t just a log.
Sometimes it’s a sandwich or a cake, American foods that are commonly shared and sliced. Sometimes it’s an adorable puppy or an innocent deer, hacking things that feel transgressive and fun. Sometimes it’s an ax chopping the mean of chopping for a cute meta twist.
While it’s odd hacking these objects in a forest, I think it’s important that these food, animal, and tool choices are all vaguely related to the American frontier theme and aren’t entirely random. This is what anticipates overtly political objects like a bald eagle.
But yes, the game is also about a lumberjack and sex. If you want to try it you can play traffic jam here.