Underplayed Gems

Hyperbound (2007)

Platforms
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Genres
Role-playing (RPG), Simulator
Main story
about 25 hours
Where to get it
Website

How it feels

An experimental EarthBound hack using glitches as narrative metaphor to explore memory loss and identity.

surrealmysteryatmosphericnarrative-drivenrpgexperimentaldark

About

HyperBound is a game hack project that follows the trials and tribulations of an unnamed amnesiac, who is thrust into a world that is completely unknown to him. Playing with the affordances of the Super Nintendo game EarthBound, HyperBound explores ideas associated with videogames such as non-linear narratives and spacial storytelling. The hack’s core game-play mechanic is the use of glitches as a metaphor for the deterioration of memory, with one of the central trials of the game’s story takes place inside the protagonist’s mind. Its first public exhibition took place at the 2007 Axis New Media Festival (from September 7th to September 16th)

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