This is your life now

Game: This is your life now

Developer: More Mountains

Platform: PC/Mac

Download Link: https://more-mountains.itch.io/this-is-your-life-now

What doth life? Are we just fleshy blips in a meaningless stew of cosmic oblivion? Or is it vice reversa? Seriously though, what is the meaning of life? How does one figure out their true purpose in life? Some view life as meaningless and we are all just here in the middle of the cosmic universe living on a rock that floats through, as inconspicuous as the dust in the wind. Others find meaning through religion, whether believing in a being larger than life itself or shaping your life in a way that transcends natural humanity. A lot of people don't always have the answers, and I'm not gonna sit here and pretend that I have them either. Instead, I'll talk about a little game that may try to help us understand a way to live life. That being This is your life now.

Created for Ludum Dare 44, where the theme is your life as currency, just like a previous game I covered, that being Elevator Pitch, This is your life now takes the player on a journey through life, making friends, getting good grades, choosing between having a social life and introversion, and dealing with the crippling disparity of accepting the fact that you are going to die someday. All accompanied by a cutesy art style of what looks like rejected organs that God or evolution (take your pick or both) considered but ultimately decided against it. The theme of your life as a currency is utilized in making the hard choices in life that you would like, but also living with the consequences of said choices. And these choices are not always easy, depending on who you are. You may have a hard time picking between choosing between introversion or social life, as the former grants you safety at the cost of social life, while choosing to be more extroverted may cause the exact opposite. 

The cutesy, innocent art style is all well and charming, but the use of color is also fairly well used too, like with grey representing adulthood, as it feels bleak and despondent, not to mention the loss of your hope at the realization you're going to die or a light orange used for old age as if the sun is coming up, hitting a new chapter on life, even though it is the end, but I must say, this game is fairly bleak as far as outlook on life goes. No matter your choices, some sort of consequence is sure to follow, like not getting good grades leads to addiction that follows you for the rest of your life, or having kids costs you your partner. Honestly, this game doesn't like to pull its punches.

No matter what combination I have tried, I've never been able to live a fulfilling life. It seems as if This is your life now seeks to imply that living a perfect, fulfilling life is nigh impossible, no matter what your choices are. This game is actually rather depressing the more I think about it. Its cute art style is merely just a masquerade hiding its true purpose. Maybe life is bleak after all.

This game, in retrospect, feels like a punch in the gut with its message, with its cute aesthetic being nothing more than a trojan horse looking to let itself in and wreak havoc upon my mind. This game made me feel kind of sad. It's as if I have already reached the stage of adulthood in the game itself, and lost my hope as my outlook on life looks bleak. I could also be overexaggerating too. Give this game a whirl if you want to make yourself feel sad or have a poor outlook on life.