i drew this because i was bored

Game: i drew this because i was bored

Developer: DragonZBW (Sparklight Games)

Platform: PC/Mac

Download Link: https://dragonzbw.itch.io/i-drew-this-because-i-was-bored

Art is subjective, the should be obvious. A piece of media can be worth nothing to someone, yet priceless to another, the whole one man's trash saying and all. I'm no artist, but I have seen the perspective artists have on their own work, much of it negative. We are our own worst critics, I know that first hand, having deleted my first blog and trying to keep this one afloat while battling depression. It's not easy, and the low viewership can be demoralizing at times, but I want to cover pieces of media I find worth talking about, be it movies or games. One microgame that has stuck with me for the longest time is i drew this because i was bored. 

Developed by DragonZBW, i drew this because i was bored is a microgame that was developed for the 35th Ludum Dare event, a game jam that involved the theme of transformation. In this game, you control a drawn creation that has the ability to transform. Your forms are a creature that walks, a creature that swims, and a creature that flies. You use these transformation powers at your disposal to traverse the levels drawn out to you, all the while amusing your creator until they "grow bored of you" and decide to erase you. The pencil drawn, lined paper aesthetic gives this game quite a bit of personality. It makes this microgame feel very intimate at times, with its creator seemingly making everything out of the blue, which while it may seem careless, considering it is a doodle on a piece of paper, it does give the game a ton of personality, graphically. 

The gameplay is pretty straightforward; as stated before, you traverse the levels and transform into whichever creature is best suited for such endeavor, granted flying is the best way to maneuver as far as speed is concerned when you aren't in the water. The game is relatively short, with gameplay sessions lasting around 10 minutes or so, though that isn't counting the last level which is ridiculously difficult in comparison to the rest of the levels in the game.

From an outside perspective, this game doesn't seem like much. It's simple to play, has a very simple art style and has some flaws to it. So, why has this game stuck with me? Well, in the first paragraph, I mentioned the statement of "art is subjective" and one's perspective on their own creation being slanted negatively from their own perspective. This game, to me anyway, speaks fundamentally about the subject of art from our own perspective of it. Like I said before, we as humans often have a negative perception of our own creations, often calling our creations terrible. Part of this is exemplified by the creator of this doodled creature looking to erase it from existence, as they believe that their creation has long served past its purpose of amusement, possibly hinting that the creator isn't proud of its creation. This idea, in my opinion, can apply to writers, filmmakers, artists and so on. Anyone involved in creating media I believe can relate to how the creator in this game feels about its own drawing.

Or maybe I'm just pretentious and full of shit? I don't know. I think there's more to this game than meets the eye. I believe it speaks on a fundamental level of our personal perspective of our own art. But I've rambled far enough on this little game already. Give it a shot if you haven't and see what it has in store for you. Also, have a great day while you're at it!