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People who are looking into experiencing this game should know that FISHING (the fishing minigame) is the only time I have found a game mechanic to be sublime, in the sense that it breaks through its context and expands more than it has any right to, in the sense that it's a tree that's been trying to touch the sky getting ejected into the far universe by an unexpected and, frankly, unjustified volcanic eruption.

I don't know who you are, but I think you especially need to see this as it is presented more than anyone else.

Here is some cut material. I planned to make it the last section but what I had down was too good.

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HEREISSOMEPROPAGANDA

So, like, I’ll be real quick. Otherwise I’ll rant about this forever.

I failed my art history class in college. TWICE. Couldn’t be bothered to learn about dates and schools and movements and shit. The first time I flunked it, I figured “oh, well, maybe I should just study harder!” The second time I flunked it, I realized the course was killing my love for weird art. Like, holy shit. I don’t need to know what other people thought and felt about art to know what I think and feel about art. They were getting in my way!

My school had a small museum. There was a painting by Robert Motherwell. I don’t remember which one anymore. I recognized the name and decided to pay attention to it because I’ve been reading the textbook talking about Robert Motherwell, about how he was influential in this way and that way. The book had picked him specifically as a case study for… something. I don’t remember.

The reason I don’t remember anything I read about Robert Motherwell is because I saw his shit. Nothing outside the painting mattered at that moment. For that moment, the world was only the motions of black paint upon blank canvas, the dynamism apparent in huge splashes, the stillness embodied by empty spaces, the sheer size of the painting. For that burning minute, it was just me and the painting on the wall.

Nobody else was there to teach me the history of the painting.

Nobody else was there to teach me about the place Robert Motherwell had in art history.

Nobody else was there to teach me about what it meant.

I was looking at that painting and I had my own ideas, and I knew from the depths of my heart that my own ideas were not wrong. They were truer than anything and nobody could invalidate them, because I experienced them.

I fucking love that black square on the blank canvas thing. I hope to see it with my own eyes one day after reading and hearing about it for decades. I want to have my own ideas and emotions about it, like some spiritual fuck-you.

That’s why I love this modern art bullshit. Nobody knows what the fuck is going on, so I get to have my own ideas. There is no sense to it. That’s why it makes sense. I get to decide the whole thing.

Maybe it’s some ego trip or something. I don’t know. I fucking love modern art.

Thank you for your thoughts and comment. :)

The physical appearance of the game is under-developed - I'm hoping to update this game when I can afford to improve its layout and art. People who've downloaded it should get the updated version as well.

I appreciate the comment on the design aspect of the end condition, by the way, and in the updated/expanded version, I might have to add more text to talk about that. I like how it is right now honestly (which is why I released it in the first place) but that appears to be something fruitful to pursue.

It's hard to express my gratitude for this thoughtful comment. It showed me a perspective that I haven't even thought of before - the notion that it reflects upon our instant-messaging age and lifestyle is a powerful thought. I feel like Speed of Light has been expanded by your ideas.

Thank you.

I am totally stealing this game. All about it.

This is my first exposure to the Element Dice System. The core resolution is simple - every action leads to some potential good and some potential bad. But (at least in this version) it's comprehending these outcomes that tells the story. In a way, each player action is a double prompt - "what made you roll?" + "what happens because you rolled these associations?" Because of this, Sunken Island does not need to be long.

The story and its presentation make great use of what I said above. The fact that the final, actually-played story develops so much from the prompts is delightful for me. Even though it appears the experience is already set down, it actually develops and ferments in your brain. I'm totally stealing this.

Get Sunken Island!

I'll be honest - I thought I thought about some things. I read this without bracing myself for the words. These words made me think about my roleplaying self, my writing self, and my big self in a fruitful way.

Thank you.

Hello! Would it be all right if 6e was translated to Korean? (I'm the person who tweeted about 6e in Korean Twitterland.) Since it's getting a lot of attention locally, it was brought up to me that a Korean translation alongside the French version would be a good idea. Let me know either as a reply or on Twitter. :D I'm @heavenspider in English.