Here’s a great little example of a game where aesthetic design and innovative game mechanics all come together to make something really special.

Daniel Benmergui’s Today I Die is a poetic experience, very much a genre on its own. The experience of playing it is all the more valuable because it’s intrinsically interactive – this isn’t something you could get from a movie or a short story. If you still need proof that all games aren’t all hyperstimulating adrenaline-laced smashfests, this is it.

Like jason Rohrer’s Passage, this game is an example of the emotional subtlety and sensitivity that games are capable of. Both of these games use very simple graphics and technology. That’s part of their charm – but what will we begin to see in the future, when designers like Benmergui and Rohrer get access to bigger budgets and more powerful tech?

[via Raph]