Quite a few years ago I stumbled upon this concept of egg-likes. It’s a pretty niche thing, but I’ve been fascinated with it ever since.
They’re basically walking sims (sometimes with very light puzzle of platforming elements) whose main goal is to explore a series of interconnected environments, sometimes based on dreams or other surreal elements. One of my absolute faves and a great example of the genre is #21: The World by lsddev. I find absolutely fascinating the sheer creativity of these projects. What attracts me to it is the fact they are just thought of as experiences - no real goal, no desire for you to get to a proper end, just exploration and awe. It’s like an art gallery without the constraints of phisicality or capitalism. And I find that beautiful :)
Stuff like Kairo and NaissanceE also very much scratch that itch, although in different ways. Both have clearer goals, not so much the freedom #21 has, but the idea of free exploration of these deeply surreal environments is amazing. Soup is another fascinating experiment.
There’s obviously a series of influences at play here. Most obviously LSD: Dream Emulator, but I guess Myst and things like Yume Nikki (and specially Yume 2kki / Collective Unconscious, which I highly recommend) also play a role here?
There is, apparently, a whole wiki for these, but it seems rather incomplete and abandoned.
I imagine there’s a ton of Gmod maps like these, from what I’ve seen in exploration videos, if someone has any suggestion that’d be welcome :)
I’ve always been curious who coined the term “egg-like" and why. what is “egg” about them?…
I’m a big fan of this type of game. especially happy to see naissancee and 21 the world mentioned, since I love those games and don’t see them discussed frequently.
a game I really like that borders on this category is space hole 2018. it’s a sequel to a monkey ball clone so it can occasionally be platforming heavy, but the main focus of the game is on exploring a densely interconnected web of areas. it makes use of some really stunning visual effects that range from serene to suffocating. it’s not a game very many people have played but it’s one of my favorites in the lineage of games like LSD.
Well, about the name, that’s easy to explain! According to the aforementioned wiki,
It was first used during one of Vinny (Vinesauce)'s livestreams in which he was playing Fantasticaneer’s The Fantastic Game, shortly after its release in June of 2012. During the video, he ironically qualifies the game as an “egglike” taking as reference the big, white Smash Mouth eggs located in the first area of the game, and he used said term with the intention to refer to every single weirdness contained within the game in just one, special word.
So, yeah, chuck it in the “it’s because of Vinesauce” box!
About the game you mentioned, didn’t know that one, looks interesting, thank you! LSD-likes are always a fascinating thing.
And yeah, NaissanceE is one of my absolute favourite things ever. I come back to it regularly. I also tend to go back again and again to Tsutomu Nihei’s BLAME!, which is a massive direct inspiration for the thing! Definitely scratches the same itch!