EMPTY

Empty has become less a coffee break, more a lunchtime, game, given one of my composition students is using it to inspire the creation of a dynamic music system which is, frankly, excellent. I’ve been playing it regularly while he live mixes stems and we discuss process. It’s a game you solve by rotating rooms to match colours of items with walls and other items, thus making them disappear. There are a few additional mechanics, like some items painting walls, and later levels get surprisingly intricate, but never impossible to solve.

I’m not sure I’d call myself truly “minimalist”, like someone who deliberately lives with 12 items of clothing, including shoes. Frugal, though, definitely. Making clutter disappear appeals to me. I mean, please, who still has a lamp in 2017? Poof, it’s gone. Removing items in various orders, based on dependency, informs puzzle design, but I like thinking about what I’d choose to get rid of first, from these bright, modern rooms. That vase doesn’t even have any flowers in it. Goodbye, superfluous coffee table.

Empty is a simple game which gets incrementally more complex in a way that works. It knows what it is, what it is not and doesn’t feel like it’s merely adding padding for the sake of it, ironically. There’s certainly a message about simplicity to be had here, but it’s also just a thoughtfully designed experience that I’ve enjoyed playing, while it inspires my student to compose. Definitely play this over lunch, then go back to work and throw everything out of your office. You’ll feel better for it.