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PAX South 2016: ‘Den vänstra handens stig’ is a Game of Black Metal and Blood Sacrifice

Newmark Software, maker of the absurd Hyperemesis Pizza ($1.99) Den vänstra handens stig sounds a lot like a black metal album title, and, well, that’s a conscious decision: the game is heavily inspired by black metal art and music. I don’t even know if you could call it a ‘game’, necessarily: there’s an AI who is going on a journey and trying to reach a goal. It is learning and failing on the way, but it will eventually reach its goal in a few hours. You can stop it by drawing a sigil on the screen, forcing it to lay down and quit, forgetting all it has learned and starting all over again. So, the ‘game’ is in seeing how long you want this journey to last, and if you want the AI to complete its journey.

While the mobile version – which wasn’t demoed but the developer uses the iOS version to test parts of the game while doing other things since it’s such a passive experience. The game’s PC version will also have a really interesting controller available in limited quantities. Want to stop the AI? Well, you just have to press a button. Oh, the button has a needle on it that will prick your finger and serve as a blood sacrifice to stop the AI. This was not available at PAX, because of obvious public safety reasons.

Der Vanstra Handens Stig

You can vote for the game on Steam Greenlight right now if it intrigues you – and the Steam trading cards are planned to have actual black metal cover artists do the art for each card, which sounds awesome.

If you’re more into games with gameplay that doesn’t involve literal blood sacrifice, then Newmark’s Chrome Death might be more your speed. This fast-reaction game will have you tapping left or right to make corner turns as fast as you can, while trying not to crash into barriers. You will die, but it will come with an awesome soundtrack and lots of wreckage. It’s pretty fun, and it should hit this spring.