Aether (video game)

Infobox VG
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title = Aether
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developer = Tyler Glaiel, Edmund McMillen
publisher = Armor Games
distributor =
license = Freeware
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engine = Adobe Flash
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released = September 3, 2008
genre = Action, puzzle
modes = Single-player
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platforms = Mac OS, Windows
media = Browser, download
requirements =
input = Keyboard, mouse

"Aether" is a browser game designed by Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel and released by Armor Games on September 3, 2008. It can be played for free online or downloaded for offline play. Players control a lonely boy and an octopus-like monster which the boy encounters, solving puzzles on different planets to restore them from monochrome to color. The pair travel through space by swinging on clouds and asteroids with the monster's elongated tongue, looking for life on other planets for the boy to relate to.

The game was created in 14 days, both developers expressed interest in seeing a version being released on the Wii game console through the WiiWare online service. "Aether" received a positive response from video game blogs for its unusual visual style and atmosphere, but some reviewers found the game did not offer enough explanation to solve some puzzles. This was exacerbated when feedback from planet inhabitants did not reflect that the planet's puzzle had been solved.

Gameplay

"Aether" is a space adventure game with washed-out pastel colors and a soundtrack consisting of a single violin and piano piece.cite web| url = http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/08/the-joystiq-free-game-club-aether/| title = The Joystiq Free Game Club: Aether| author = McElroy, Justin| publisher = Joystiq| date = 2008-09-08| accessdate = 2008-09-08] cite web| url = http://playthisthing.com/aether| title = Aether - It Was All A Dream| author = Dugan, Patrick| publisher = Play This Thing| date = 2008-09-08| accessdate = 2008-10-11] The game's plot is a journey through childhood anxieties and emotions.cite web | url = http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/09/04/aether/| title = Aether| author = Meer, Alec| publisher = Rock, Paper Shotgun| date = 2008-09-04| accessdate = 2008-09-08] Players control a lonely boy from Earth and a octopus-like monster he befriends, the boy leaves Earth on the monster's back to look for life elsewhere in the galaxy, and someone to relate to.cite web| url = http://www.macworld.com/article/135394/2008/09/aether.html?t=| title = Aether game debuts, from Gish creator| author = Cohen, Peter| publisher = Macworld| date = 2008-09-05| accessdate = 2008-09-18] When exploring the four other planets, where the only colors are black and white,cite web| url = http://jayisgames.com/archives/2008/09/aether.php|title = Aether| author = StaceyG| publisher = Jay Is Games| date = 2008-09-03| accessdate = 2008-09-08] the player encounters characters who can be helped if a puzzle is solved.cite web| url = http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/09/browser-game-a.html| title = Browser Game: A Boy And His Squid-Thing's Emo Adventure| author = Ralph, Nate| publisher = Wired| date = 2008-09-03| accessdate = 2008-10-11] Solving the planet's puzzle produces a flash of light, after which the colors change to pastel shades.cite web| url = http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2008/09/browser_game_pick_aether_edmun.html| title = Browser Game Pick: Aether (Edmund McMillen, Tyler Glaiel)| author = W., Tim| publisher = IndieGames| date = 2008-09-03| accessdate = 2008-09-10] cite web| url = http://www.kotaku.com.au/games/2008/09/gish_creator_enters_the_aether-2.html| title = Gish Creator Enters The Aether| author = Fahey, Mike| publisher = Kotaku Australia| date = 2008-09-04| accessdate = 2008-09-08] cite web| url = http://kotaku.com/5046318/saturday-timewaster-aether| title = Saturday Timewaster: Aether| author = Greene, Maggie| publisher = Kotaku | date = 2008-09-06| accessdate = 2008-09-08]

The monster's tongue is used to propel them both through space and onto other planets, it must first be latched onto a cloud floating above the planet's surface, swinging around and latching onto the next cloud, until reaching space and repeating the process with stars and asteroids, before locating a different planet to explore.cite web| url = http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/41005| title = Aether| author = LaMosca, Adam| publisher = Gamers With Jobs| date = 2008-09-08| accessdate = 2008-09-22] Each moon or planet exerts gravity over the player character, requiring momentum to escape from the planet's orbit. When travelling through space, the player is drawn to a planet's orbit once they get close. After restoring color to all the surrounding planets, the game is completed by returning to Earth.

Development

"Aether" was created by Edmund McMillen of independent development studio Cryptic Sea, who is the co-creator of the award winning "Gish", and Tyler Glaiel of Glaiel Games, a developer of Flash games for game and animation website Newgrounds.cite web| url = http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2008/08/interview_edmund_mcmillen_part.html| title = Interview: Edmund McMillen, Part 2| author = W., Tim| publisher = IndieGames| date =2008-08-28| accessdate = 2008-09-23] [cite web| url = http://www.newgrounds.com/ngmag/devspot/spotlight/21| title = Gabbing with Glaiel_Gamer| author = | publisher = Newgrounds| date = 2006-01-02| accessdate = 2008-09-23] The game was developed in 14 days,cite web| url = http://crypticsea.blogspot.com/2008/09/aether.html| title = Aether| author = McMillen, Edmund| publisher = Cryptic Sea| date = 2008-09-03| accessdate = 2008-09-23] McMillen found he could "ride off" Glaiel's inspiration and allowed the project to be completed quickly, stating "People being creative and taking risks with their work always is inspiring to me, honesty in art is also very inspiring."cite web| url = http://armorblog.com/?p=416| title = Aether - Developer/Artist Interview| author = | publisher = Armor Games| date = 2008-09-11| accessdate = 2008-09-23]

McMillen's childhood experiences and fears were used for the game's themes; loneliness, nervousness, and fear of abandonment or rejection. He was initially unsure as to whether or not he wished to release "Aether" since it was based on personal experiences and made him feel vulnerable. Glaiel created the game's planets and gameplay, designing the layout of the planets to convey the emotions involved in the game, but did not know which planets would ultimately be used to relate to each emotion. He felt that the game's sense of emotion and mood was improved because development was not thoroughly planned from the outset. Both developers expressed a wish to port the game to the WiiWare service on the Wii video game console.

Reception

The game was positively received by gaming blogs, the story was compared to "The Little Prince", Antoine de Saint Exupéry's 1943 novella.citeweb| url = http://tigsource.com/articles/2008/09/08/aether| title = Aether| author = Yu, Derek| publisher = TIGSource| date = 2008-09-08| accessdate = 2008-09-10] "Aether"'s graphics were praised by reviewers, Alec Meer of 'Rock, Paper, Shotgun' described them as "beautiful to look at", Justin McElroy of Joystiq said the game has a "unique visual style" and described the pastel shades as attractive, and Peter Cohen of Macworld described them as a unique look composed of "cute characters with sometimes grotesque imagery". "StaceyG" of Jay Is Games called the game "a truly compelling experience with excellent atmosphere", and found the music relaxing, Meer also enjoyed the game but found the looped piano music irritating.

Reviewers noted that the solution to some of the puzzles were unclear, further hindered by the planets' inhabitants whose dialogue does not change when the planet's puzzle is completed. The tongue propulsion physics were said to be clumsy by StaceyG, stating that in conjunction with the gravity exerted by planets, it is more difficult to leave planets' surfaces than to navigate through space. Both Meer and StaceyG enjoyed the spacefaring aspect of the game, Derek Yu of TIGSource stated he could have become "way lost" in the game if it had been longer.

References

External links

* [http://armorgames.com/play/2153/aether Browser version at Armor Games]
* [http://www.crypticsea.com/index.html Cryptic Sea]
* [http://www.glaielgames.com/ Glaiel Games]