If you’re really into super bizarre short games then chances are you might have played a supremely bizarre and supremely short game back in 2015 called Plug & Play ($2.99). The product of Michael Frei and Mario von Rickenbach, Plug & Play is an extremely well-animated game about… You know what? I’m not even going to try to explain Plug & Play. If you’ve got a spare 20 minutes it’s well worth checking out. Anyway, the duo and their studio Playables went on to collaborate with Double Fine to put out another weird experimental animated game called KIDS ($2.99) back in May of 2018, which we talked about at the time. Short, experimental, artsy types of projects are what Playables are all about, and so it’s no surprise that their newest project qualifies on all of those same levels. It’s called My Exercise and it’s a game about a pleasantly plump little boy doing sit-ups into his similarly plump doggo. That’s it, that’s the game. I love it. Here’s both a trailer and a gameplay-focused clip that will maybe give you a better idea of what My Exercise is all about, though I kind of doubt it.
If you don’t understand what’s going on, that’s fine! That’s kind of the point of weird experimental games. Essentially My Exercise is a game that is stuffed with all sorts of strange hidden content that you’re meant to find by simply playing around with it. The developer’s own description says: “Softly sink into the dog’s body or comfortably rub your head against his fur. More animals join this festival of private comforts as it builds up to a climactic end. Repeat the exercise to unlock more animals. There are also other secrets, hidden delicately. Let’s do sit-ups!" Playables has teamed up with award-winning artist and animator Atsushi Wada for My Exercise, which will be his first ever video game. New Deer, who are known for working with indie artists in Japan, is the production studio handling the project. Based on how you feel about super weird artsy games, My Exercise will either be totally up your alley or something whose existence you question. Whatever side of the fence you’re on, it’ll be launching on PC and mobile this Thursday August 27th for $2.99.
