Jordan Phillips -- Mechanic #088, Proclamation of God

Alright, so the idea behind this mechanic is that while playing this "game", the game itself is God in the sense that it gives the player one new rule to follow per level, and that each rule "persists" as an unwritten law for the rest of the game. However, the catch is that sometimes some of the rules will not be true.

For example, let's say in level one that the player is told that touching red walls is dangerous. Thus, the player will want to follow the rule throughout the level, because death is permanent in this game (which means no continues or check marks, you go back the the start!) In the second level, that rule still applies, but it isn't explicitly stated to the player. A new rule will be stated for level 2, e.g. don't let yellow light touch you.

And then, just when you think that it's a strange game of Simon Says, sometimes the rules aren't true. But the only way you can find out is if you choose to defy the rules, which means LOTS of trial and error. This could lead to lots of frustration on the player's part, because they'll be starting from the beginning many, many times.

The social commentary that is quite clear here, is that some people will just choose to listen to "god" and follow the rules, safely reaching the end of the game. Some people will choose to defy the rules in hopes of reaping greater rewards such as treasure or a powerful item. Many times, though, falling into a forbidden pit will likely result in death. But you'll never know unless you try.

The creator's idea is that in the end, two groups of people would be arguing over how to play the game. Be a rebel, or be a follower? This is clearly based off of the quarreling between religious groups and atheists, or the idea that following a set of unwritten rules and ideas keeps a person from exploring new and greater possibilities. If a "moral of the story" could be applied through an interactive program, this would be it. Not so much a game, but a new-age Aesop's Fable. Without anthropomorphic characters.