“Vanitas” is the iPhone game developed by controversial games developer Tale of Tales. By “controversial” I mean that you will either love their games, or hate them. And since I buy each of their games when it comes out…I must be in the former category. That said, I’m not one to praise without qualification, and I believe that their games often provide intriguing perspectives and rarely seen gameplay, which is outside of convention. So the question is does “Vanitas” live up to their previous works?
The premise of “Vanitas” is this: “the best way to spend time is to waste it.” And this sums up the game pretty well. While you plan “Vanitas” your iPod is temporarily changed from a normal music player into a box with sliding lid (not literally, of course). When you slide it open with the touch screen three random objects will be inside. You can play around with them, see how their physics interact with each other, but there’s nothing you can really do with the items. Then you can close the lid and open it up again for three new items. The game works in stages, every five times you open the box a new stage begins and a few items change appearance. Every three stages new items are added to the ones you find within, and there are a total of twelve stages. Every time you open the box there’s a chance the items will be three of the same, and then you get a star on the box.
“Vanitas” is actually pretty appealing in it’s own way. As I play it, I’m always just curious enough to see just what will be in the box next to put it down. Yes, I’m well aware that the items don’t really do anything (unless I toy with them rolling them around and such), but there’s something addicting and often (dare I say) fun about playing with the toys and seeing their interaction. I also have yet to receive a star, and for some odd video game-related reason, want one.
This is probably where “Vanitas” gets a little bit meta. What the game sets up is a random chance that I will be rewarded (literally) with a gold star. It is a well noted fact that gamers do nothing but work for stars as the famous statement goes: “It is always stars.” This seems like a fairly effective commentary of goal based games and achievement hunting. The other thing I discovered was that “Vanitas” is easy to compare to games like “Flight Control.” Both are about repetition and pointless joy, rewarding you slightly (but not really) for coming back again and again. It seems to be commentary on aspects of the medium which waste a lot of time, but provide no real rewards for the player’s mind.
The art style in “Vanitas” is lovely as one would expect. It’s dark, but strangely beautiful. The more the game is played the more objects change, often becoming ruined or darker. Cherries will rot, you’ll find torn papers, and glass cracks. There are a couple things I won’t mention though, as they can be a bit surprising or interesting when you find them on your own. Like most their games before, everything seems to have a kind of symbolism – most likely it is of wasted time.
All this aside, there is a complaint to make with the game. The actual mechanics are somewhat unresponsive. When moving the objects around they seem to be sluggish, and thin items are virtually impossible to pick up sometimes. Some will mesh together and flop around, going through each other on occasion. This never ruins the game, but it can sometimes make it unintentionally frustrating. I assume this problem will be addressed with updates, but it’s very important to note.
“Vanitas” is a game definitely worth playing, and for 99 cents, there’s no reason not to get it.
You can find a link to the Tale of Tales site HERE.
And here’s a link to the Art History of Games website, for which “Vanitas” was commissioned.
