Feeling utterly helpless and hopeless in the face of yet another gaming assignment, I pressed on and tried not to be thoroughly discouraged by my own obvious and painful ineptitude to play video games. I simply lack the hand-eye coordination to move very easily through these kinds of exercises. But enough whining…I did spend enough time inside the couple of worlds I managed to visit to make some observations (although likely poorer for not having a rich experience).
I was fascinated by the gorgeous backdrops and colors. I spent alot of time contemplating the suns and clouds and trees. They were certainly a consolation when I had failed my 15th attempt to bounce across the clouds and get the puzzle piece. I liked the format, and as another classmate already noted, it did remind me of Mario Bros. (My younger brothers played it when we were all a lot younger.) I liked being able to move along and alter the scenery. Even though I knew I was trapped, it was still nice to be able to change up the wallpaper in the prison cell.
I liked the interesting context of the storyline, and was only disappointed that I could not make it to more worlds so I could read more about it all. I was certainly grateful for the “forgiveness” of the shift button, and felt that the game reflected the complicatedness and not so black and white reality of real-world relationships and our own navigation through them. Lots of lessons to learn and the ability to undo mistakes was a nice alternative to the pass/fail doggy-dog reality of some real-life situations.
The little that I did gather about the couple beginning in the garden (before the fall) was a definite shout out to the Garden of Eden from Genesis. I find it interesting that the game, and perhaps our own experiences, is affected by our own desires to return to Eden. Return to some place that existed untouched and unsullied by the mistakes and messiness of life. I never got far enough in the game to know how it turned out and I will be interested to hear in class what unfolds from world to world.
Finally, as strong as the “Garden of Eden” story lives in the subconscious of our lives and experiences, definitely the Fairy-Tale Princess rescue is also embedded there. The quest to save the Princess and save the relationship is one that is not limited to the Prince. I know many many women who strive to rescue their relationships and make incredible sacrifices to do so. I wonder why we identify with the Prince saves Princess storyline?