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I’d spend hours playing this game as a kid and the influence of its strange atmosphere has stuck with me all my life. Immersed in an empty black void, this world of clay The Neverhood at times felt unnerving and downright creepy as much as it evoked a sense of absolute wonderment. As you traverse a barren and sparsely inhabited landscape full of winding platforms and unorthodox structures the whimsy of this world quickly grows on you. The game is a point and click puzzle adventure that forces you to think outside the box a little. It doesn’t layout a clear path or purpose for you but invites you to uncover hidden truths as you search for meaning along the way. The whole game is a work of art. An epic of creation moulded from 3 tonnes of clay and countless hours of man power crafting a 3D world by hand and bringing it to life through stop motion animation. A kind of dedication you frankly just don’t see much these days. The game was conceptualized and created by Doug TenNapel who was a designer for the 1994 classic Earthworm Jim with Shiny Entertainment. Dissatisfied with Shiny Entertainment’s operations at the time, TenNepel branched off to create his own company The Neverhood, Inc. and alongside Mark Lorenzen and many other artists who also worked on the creation of the Eathworm Jim began to realize his vision for The Neverhood.  The game itself wouldn’t be complete without the incredible and bizarre and comedic soundtrack that accompanies it.  Scored by Terry Scott Taylor Imaginarium: Songs from the Neverhood is a mind and genre melting collection of absurdity that will serve you up some “Potatoes, Tomatoes, Gravy, and Peas”, have you “Playing Pool in Outer Space” and “Sound Effects Record #32” in case you weren’t familiar with the sound of a freeway from twenty miles away or the sounds of a man watching television with the volume at zero. This is another gem of an album I’d highly recommend painting too if you feel like getting weird with it.  I cannot stress the level of impact this game has had on me creatively and would not only recommend it highly to anyone with an interest in video games but to those with an appreciation for the art of claymation and animation in general.
May 13, 2025

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2 beautiful claymation point-and-click adventure games!!!! hits surreal right on the noggin. love love love the puzzles, animation & soundtracks in both of them, they're really wonderful. it's been like, well over a decade since i've played the neverhood so i dunno where you could find that but armikrog is on steam (and apparently 75% off right now according 2 google)!!!!
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I have been on a kick of falling asleep to old video game playthroughs (Silent Hill, GTA, etc) and stumbled across myhouse.wad. I have never played Doom, much less a Doom mod, but somehow was drawn in enough to watch this entire hour long play through. I’m currently reading House of Leaves and was blown away by the parallels (turns out it was heavily inspired by HoL) and the ability of the video game format to make that horror of shifting space into such a palpable reality. There is a ton of supplementary written material to this that isn’t spoiled by this particular play through and I have yet to experience. This particular video is fun because it’s someone who knows the Doom franchise so intimately they recognize when anything is slightly off: snares added to the Doom II intro song, reflections appearing, a corner of the carpet being lifted up, the appearance of the most difficult enemy in the entire franchise, etc. If you like: House of Leaves, the backrooms, liminal horror (done well, not just “oh big weird space=spooky”), subversive horror, Doom, 90s video game aesthetics, non-euclidean geometry, subversive horror, or the video of Connor O’Malley with a gun on a lawnmower screaming “I have the power of God!”, I absolutely encourage you to play or watch someone else play this mod. Genuinely one of the most refreshing and exciting player-created video game experiences I’ve ever witnessed and I do consider this a piece of new media digital art worth experiencing.
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if you like video games, chances are you already know about this one. if you aren't that into any games, but you like a good story and even better characters - drop everything i don't care, you have to play this. honestly it feels more like a visual novel because it's the writing and dialogue more than the gameplay that makes this thing great. it's set in a small, deteriorating american town, and you play as mae, who has just dropped out of college and returned home to live with her parents and see her old friends. shit has truly heartbreaking moments and lines that will stick with me forever. themes-wise, we're talking growing up, family and friendship, the impact of urbanisation, community, derealisation, capitalism, nostalgia, all that good stuff. plus theres a halloween bit i know you fuckers love halloween. i keep coming back to it and every time it has something new for me. MASSIVE recommendation especially if you're in your 20s. also the soundtrack is gorgeous and there are rhythm minigames (PLAY THAT BASS!!)
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