Dear Esther: is it even a game?

Dear Esther is a first person exploration based video game in which the player controls a man on an island. As the player we are given no previous inkling of why we are there or what we may achieve but slowly and surely we piece it together from the ramblings of our protagonist. You see Dear Esther is really more of an experience than a game, we walk

around the island and we piece together the story from poems spoken by the main

character as we simply enjoy the view. The narration however strangely written, is beautifully delivered by Nigel Carrington, his dulcet tones weaving images in the mind of the player, as they stare out over the expansive views of the island. It does instil a sense of calm in the player as they wait patiently for the next nugget of story information from Carrington.

Strangely Dear Esther was originally a free mod for the Source engine in 2008 and won Best World/Story at IndieCade that year. Later being re-released in 2012 for steam.

Whether or not Dear Esther is in fact a Video Game is a tricky subject, the oxford dictionary refers to games as activities people take part in for amusement, and in that way I think Dear Esther is a game. But on the other hand during my game design degree I was taught that games always had to have a challenge, and in Dear Esther there is no risk of failure, and therefore no challenge.

Weighing up the two sides of this argument I think I will have to lean on the side of it being

a game, if only so that more like it will be made and games can become more of an art form and less catered to 12 year olds, and what their moms think they want.

#blogpost #dearesther