Cybercon III

The Good
From the get-go there is a promising allure of depth when confronted with a gonzo dashboard full of buttons and spinning lights. This game gratifies my curiosity to freely explore dreamy liminal space through the big blue maze and purple carpeted hallways. To me it's about being lost and uneasy -- the feeling of being vulnerable. A robot will attack you at random. It's the great granddaddy of jumpscare design in videogames.

The Bad
Alienating UI design and overbearing copy protection doomed this game to obscurity. As an art project I made a companion film in an attempt to explain how to operate the game. Think of it like a video version of a manual. It's up on YouTube titled "How To Play: Cybercon III".

The Bottom Line
3D Metroidvania "non-linear and utility-gated exploration and progression".