For those of you who don't know, I've spent the last several months trekking around Taiwan and Southeast Asia, with the
goal of making tiny little computer games about my experiences, and the things I learn.
This is just a little announcement to say that I have (finally) finished a new game for the project, inspired by a month spent traveling through and learning about Cambodia. My time in Cambodia was fascinating and intense; the recent history of the place (and how that history continues to affect the country) had a big impact on me, which I wrote about in
one of my recent travel logs.
This game, which takes three to four minutes to play through (and no gaming skills), represents my attempt to process what I learned by creating something interactive. Also, it's not technically a game, so please don't be mad
.
You can play The Killer in your browser at:http://www.gametrekking.com/the-games/cambodia/the-killer/play-now(Sound is important, and headphones are highly recommended)
Source can be obtained from:
https://github.com/JordanMagnuson/The-Killerscreenshot:
As usual, I value any feedback or criticism you may have. Like all of my game trekking creations, The Killer is nothing more than a doodle, a sketch, a little experiment.
Thanks for taking the time, and all the best,
-Jordan
PS: Some of you may have played my "Game by It's Cover" compo entry, Walk or Die, and will notice that I reused a lot of the code and assets... which doesn't bother me, as I'm something of a pragmatist about these things, and the reuse served my purpose in this case.
**SPOILERS**I don't intend for people to play this game more than once, or to read about it before playing it... but for those who are interested in its inner workings, and how the experience changes from one play to the next, there are three possible endings to the game: one in which the player shoots the victim, one in which they let the victim live, and one in which both the player and victim are blown up by a landmine before they ever reach the killing fields. Regarding the last ending, millions of landmines were laid during the Khmer Rouge era (and after), and Cambodians are still being killed by them today, which is why I felt the need to include them in the game, in a way that is entirely outside of the player's control.
If you want to see what the landmine ending looks like without having to rely on chance, you can press 'F12' when the game starts (after you click past the loading screen)... then walk forward as usual, and at some point along the way you'll step on a mine. (On the flip side, if you want to be sure NOT to be blown up by a mine, press 'F11' after the game has started).