And Yet It Moves

I recently came across And Yet It Moves, a new puzzle-platforming game for PC, Mac, and soon to be released in Nintendo's Wii Ware store. The game was produced as a group project at Vienna University of Technology's Department for Design and Assessment of Technology. Despite lacking a dedicated artist, the game's uniqueness is mostly derived from its use of cut-paper visuals and an overt aesthetic of isolation. The game also sports a unique gameplay mechanism in which players manipulate gravity to move through levels.

See the trailer here

Despite lacking a dedicated game artist, the team at VUT was able to produce an incredibly immersive and unique game experience, based almost entirely on aesthetic factors. While there is a sense of exploration and bemusement that is found in many games, the visuals and music push this game beyond what has come before. All of this without the aid of a visual artist! A team at a university, lacking in major capital or experts dedicated to specific aspects of design, was able to produce one of the most visually immersive games of the year. Here, And Yet it Moves serves as a strong representetive of the independent games movement currently taking off on PCs, Xbox Live Arcade, PSNetwork, and so on. While larger releases have skyrocketing budgets (as always), technology has become accessible enough that with only a few people, a game with strong aesthetic appeal can be put together. And not only made, but released to mass audiences through new distribution channels.