A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux

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Ars Poetica is a poetry-themed narrative-focused escape-room puzzle game.


Think "Zorg meets Dear Esther" - story-focused, vanguardist in its puzzle design, but rooted in the genre of the text adventure, merging the best of old-school and contemporary game design.


A World War II soldier gets injured in battle. In his journey back home he's killed by a bombshell - and in this split second, between life and death, he must now find peace, remember who he is, and decide what he wants to be.


The game follows a journey into the soul, taking place in the protagonist's mindscape - an afterlife of sorts, or maybe a personal hell - and in this journey, as he tries to remember and judge his own person, he will have to choose between his former self and a newer self: if he deserves to come home, to come back to life as himself, or if he'll be reborn into a new person, reincarnate as his soon-to-born son.

This is a story about two wars - an external, historic world war - and a personal, internal war, about self-doubt and atonement.

This soul-searching conflict will be fought by reading poetry - poetry in Ars Poetica is both subtext and literal text - it's through poetry that the protagonist will find peace, as poetry in this game is both a metaphor for the human spirit and the core gameplay element.




Credits:
David Filipe - Art  & Code
Isaque Sanches - Code
Joao Costa - Audio
Joao Eiras Antunes - Code
Tiago Marques - Game Design & Art

Original concept made for GGJ19

Download

Download NowName your own price

Click download now to get access to the following files:

ARS POETICA - V1 - WIN 47 MB
ARS POETICA - V1 - MAC 47 MB
ARS POETICA - V1 - LINUX 47 MB
ARS POETICA - V1.1 - VITA 61 MB

Development log

Comments

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(+1)

I thought I had reached puberty after completing the game. Turns out it was just a temporary raging boner from how good it made me feel.

love,

your secret santa

(+1)

<3 thanks for the kind review! 

A new update will be coming soon with some extra puzzles and a save/load feature.