Review – You Have to Burn the Rope

Game Profile

You Have to Burn the Rope

Developer: Mazapan
Publisher: Mattel

ESRB: NR

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So what makes this game so special? According to the IGF (Independent Games Festival), it is that is about “interactivity and false choices. It is a completely predetermined experience; you might call it an anti-game. Most importantly it is a joke, a parody!” So let’s go through these thoughts together folks. Maybe you can help me make sense of this, along with the game.

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Interactivity is what all video games are about. You have to do something and get a reaction, such as running from point A to point B while stomping a creature’s shell and kicking it. In this game, it’s burning a single rope. The false choice lies in the illusion that you can complete the task a number of different ways. In fact, there’s only one. Perhaps that is one reason why I am uncomfortable with this game: Currently games are all about giving you options, giving you ideas on how to lead your party or how to get through a challenge. Think about Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal. There are tons of weapons to use against the robots. Sure, the results are always the same. But the option to whip your opponents into bolts or spread the common cold is available. In Ratchet & Clank’s case, it’s all about how you play and how you think you should handle the situation. It’s about what feels right to you along with adapting to the game.

That’s what leads me into my most challenging thought on the game. Its philosophy is that people play games to finish them and then go onto the next project. Period. No left turn on green, and do not pass go. Granted, this is how I have to work or else the editorial staff would be ticked off with me ;&mdash along with a multitude of other people that the editors represent on our (the writers’) behalf.

However, this runs counter to the reason why I play video games. I play games for plot; the chance to experience things that I’ll never get the chance to experience; for an alternate experience that is from a completely different perspective than my own. And if I truly had the time to do so, I would fully digest every game I bought this previous year. I cannot help but think of the image of a llama, a creature that eats its food, swallows, and then brings it back up again. (The proper term for this is “cud.”) I like to have the chance to ruminate over it, even if I have to think about it for a period of time, then release it and return to it. That’s the reason why I have enjoyed the Silent Hill series and Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. There is a rich history and the symbolism (even if it references modern or “classical” ideas) in the game that years of one‘s life could be devoted to each of them. Even then, how much closer would we be to the truth after all the studying has been completed? Perhaps I am more alike to Caedmon than I originally thought all those years ago when I first studied him.

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Perhaps You Have to Burn the Rope’s statement is compatible to my own thought process. It is an alternate perceptive. The innovative in this game, I do not really see. Perhaps this is something that I am blinded by due to my gaming nature. Or maybe, it is a finalist in this award because it is making people think about the nature of games. And possibly about this thing called “life.” Do we truly have as much control as we think we have, or is everything we have done and will do predetermined? Or could it be a combination of both thoughts? Play the game and decide for yourself.

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About the Author, Evan (A.K.A Psychphan)

Hi, my name is Evan. I’m an RPGaholic and hard core gamer. I graduated from college in 2007 with a BA in English (Gasp!) and psychology. I’ve been playing video games since the age of three. My first game, ever, was Super Mario Bros. So yeah, I’m pretty darn good at this video game stuff. And persistant. I like RPGs the best because I can look at it as literature. This is especially true for the Shin Megami Tensei games and The Digital Devil Saga. I enjoy horror games due to their psychological nature, like Silent Hill 3. I don’t like FPS or anything that relies too much on the first-person perspective; they make me dizzy and nauseous. Ironically, I love Metroid Prime and Half-Life 2. Hmm... Where’s Alanis Morissette when you need her? I really like it when games are creative and technically pull everything off. In this case, my favorite game is Ico. I loved it due to the presentation and the way the characters interacted with each other. Yorda and Ico didn’t speak the same language, so they had to rely on gestures and other forms of communication. I also occasionally enjoy bouts of Mario Kart: Double Dash and Smash Bros. Melee. Overall, I’m rather boring. I stay home, read my homework, occasionally write, fool around on the computer, eat, and sleep. Except for those days that I travel to school. I sometimes am inspired to write poetry (if you really want to read it, just ask). I play piano from time to time. And my favorite book genres are psychology books, occasionally poetry, and most of all, mysteries. And I’m “addicted” to herbal teas and Starbucks coffee.