Stephen Lavelle’s Whale of Noise
Another quirky game jam, another quirky load of games. Steven “Increpare†Lavelle has contributed the first entry to Melly’s “A Game By Its Cover†competition, an effort to design games to match fake box art found around the Internet. The result is a contemplative, somewhat lonely artsy game about a whale apparently made of sound.
As you swim around the blocky submerged caverns, your particle-based whale slips deftly around corners. The odd point of light will give you a new song, allowing your whale to pass barriers. Eventually sequences will demand several different notes in a row, creating a sort of mournful tune.
The game is a bit glitchy, in a good way. There’s a certain nervous dissonance constantly burbling under the surface. The soundtrack consists of a soothing yet ominous oceanic hum.