[Jonas Kyratzes]

Welcome to the Museum of Broken Memories. A place of fragments, thoughts, and living nightmares - a paradox resting within the human soul. You may ask many questions: Where is it? What is it? And why are you there? But the true question is this: is there a way out?

An adventure game by Jonas Kyratzes.

On my website:
http://www.jonas-kyratzes.net/viewpage.php?page_id=3

Direct download (24.1mb):
http://www.commentarium.net/MuseumSetup.exe

DESCRIPTION:
The Museum of Broken Memories is a free graphical adventure game. It is played exclusively with a mouse and has no action sequences. It is, however, unusually experimental in nature, so it is wise to keep an open mind. The game may be freely distributed, as long as the files remain unchanged and no-one makes any money off it. If you wish to put the game on your magazine's coverdisc or a collection of freeware games, please contact me for permission first.

Requirements:
- a mouse
- a computer
- Windows 9x/ME/XP
- a sound card
- a graphics card capable of 800x600 resolution with 16-bit color
- 28mb on your hard drive

----

For feedback/comments/problems, either email me, post a comment on my website, or post here. I'm not just spamming - I will be reading and replying.

[stepurhan]

Sounds intriguing and the screenshots have a nice look. I'll check it out when I've got a bit of time.

[stepurhan]

Hmmm. I see what you mean about experimental. It's a most odd experience to play. Intriguing though. The visuals in the various fragments are very striking. Reckon I'll try to finish it.

[fajerkaos]

i shall download it and try...

maybe tonight!

[Jonas Kyratzes]

Originally Posted by stepurhan

Hmmm. I see what you mean about experimental. It's a most odd experience to play. Intriguing though. The visuals in the various fragments are very striking. Reckon I'll try to finish it.

I'm glad you found it... well, interesting. Let me know what you think of the ending.

[fajerkaos]

yeah, its great... sad im such a loser at it thou, a quicksave-button should be really appreciated by me.

you dont have some sort of walkthrugh or anything do you, i cant figur out what to do next...
i been wondering alittle about if ti is possible to come to a dead end?

[Jonas Kyratzes]

Originally Posted by fajerkaos

yeah, its great... sad im such a loser at it thou, a quicksave-button should be really appreciated by me.

you dont have some sort of walkthrugh or anything do you, i cant figur out what to do next...
i been wondering alittle about if ti is possible to come to a dead end?

I don't have a walkthrough of my own, but Gameboomers has published one:
http://www.gameboomers.com/wtcheats/...enmemories.htm

Hope it helps.

Oh, and there is no way of getting permanently stuck.

[fajerkaos]

ok, i look it up...
i just cant play an adventure game without getting stuck, i belive its a curse of mine.

[stepurhan]

Well I've reached the end so here are some fuller comments.

The visual look is very striking. The museum itself has a very realistic feel about it (except for only being able to move from room to room using the map which I wasn't so keen on). The individual fragments had their own visual styles which showed a marvellous consistency. I think keeping a consistent look for each fragment but having the looks distinct (apart from the reuse of an image but with different colours) made a big difference. One, of course, could be considered to be completely consistent.

The puzzles showed an interesting approach. It could be argued that persistent clicking could have solved the entire game but that's true of a lot of games. I didn't have problems with any of them but I've proved adept at non-inventory games in the past.

The writing was interesting and often thought-provoking. I found the writing in the sepia village section especially good in this respect. The black-and-white hotel also proved especially good at conveying a mental mood, aided by the changes in the rooms as you progressed through this fragment.

I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. I think I need to do a playthrough at one sitting to give a proper, well thought out view on it.

Overall I found it an enjoyable, if somewhat unorthodox, experience.

[Jonas Kyratzes]

Originally Posted by stepurhan

Well I've reached the end so here are some fuller comments.

The visual look is very striking. The museum itself has a very realistic feel about it (except for only being able to move from room to room using the map which I wasn't so keen on). The individual fragments had their own visual styles which showed a marvellous consistency. I think keeping a consistent look for each fragment but having the looks distinct (apart from the reuse of an image but with different colours) made a big difference. One, of course, could be considered to be completely consistent.

The puzzles showed an interesting approach. It could be argued that persistent clicking could have solved the entire game but that's true of a lot of games. I didn't have problems with any of them but I've proved adept at non-inventory games in the past.

The writing was interesting and often thought-provoking. I found the writing in the sepia village section especially good in this respect. The black-and-white hotel also proved especially good at conveying a mental mood, aided by the changes in the rooms as you progressed through this fragment.

I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. I think I need to do a playthrough at one sitting to give a proper, well thought out view on it.

Overall I found it an enjoyable, if somewhat unorthodox, experience.

I am glad you enjoyed it. I would certainly love to hear any thoughts you have about the ending - it is, after all, central to the entire concept.

[paul1275]

To call this a game is misleading. It reminds me of the few long forgotten projects that ‘Realworld’ put out in the 90’s. I’m also drawn to comparisons with “the dark eye” for its use of strong (and sometimes disturbing) narrative and “blue ice” for its bizarre use of environment. But ‘The Museum of Broken Memories” is more an artistic endeavour than an adventure game, but that shouldn’t put anyone off.

In one part of the narrative, the player is immersed totally in black. You see nothing, but occasionally the mouse pointer shows points to interact with. At first this seems annoying, but you soon begin to loose yourself. For me, the descriptions of what you feel coupled with the sounds of whirring cogs and wheels made for one of the most immersive elements in the whole piece. The image that you create is far more sinister than what any graphic designer could put to screen.

Another part traps the player in a series of rooms as outside water slowly begins to rise. As it grows higher and higher, the rooms begin to move and shift creating a real sense of emergency and panic.

This is by no means mainstream. It is by no means a game. It’s a very interesting piece of art. And for that I recommend that you check it out!

Thanks for the inspiration More people should be doing this kind of thing!

[Jonas Kyratzes]

Originally Posted by paul1275

To call this a game is misleading. It reminds me of the few long forgotten projects that ‘Realworld’ put out in the 90’s. I’m also drawn to comparisons with “the dark eye” for its use of strong (and sometimes disturbing) narrative and “blue ice” for its bizarre use of environment. But ‘The Museum of Broken Memories” is more an artistic endeavour than an adventure game, but that shouldn’t put anyone off.

In one part of the narrative, the player is immersed totally in black. You see nothing, but occasionally the mouse pointer shows points to interact with. At first this seems annoying, but you soon begin to loose yourself. For me, the descriptions of what you feel coupled with the sounds of whirring cogs and wheels made for one of the most immersive elements in the whole piece. The image that you create is far more sinister than what any graphic designer could put to screen.

Another part traps the player in a series of rooms as outside water slowly begins to rise. As it grows higher and higher, the rooms begin to move and shift creating a real sense of emergency and panic.

This is by no means mainstream. It is by no means a game. It’s a very interesting piece of art. And for that I recommend that you check it out!

Thanks for the inspiration More people should be doing this kind of thing!

Thank you for your kind words.

I'd just like to slightly disagree with your use of the terms "game" and "art". The way I see it, they are not opposites at all. Games are interactive art. "Art" implies only a work's nature, not its quality or seriousness. Games are still a very new artform, but so were movies once. Within that great realm of possibility that is interactive art, there is space for all kinds of stories and experiences. This is a more sombre one, true - but I wouldn't say it's not a "game".

(I don't mean to sound ungrateful - I'm not! Your words are very kind. Just my two cents' worth of philosophy.)

I'm really glad you enjoyed the darkness part. I think it's the most controversial part so far - some people hate it to bits, others find it boring, others love it.

[paul1275]

After some lengthy thought (and a re-play) I agree with you totally. This game is different. It's been a long time since I've found a game worthy of long discussion. Maybe this is where art and gameplay crosses, and very succesfully I might add.

The reason I compare it to art is because a great artist never leads the audience to his or her own ridgid conclusion. And I think that is where this game works, it makes you think about the elements and how it affects both you the player and the main character in our adventure.

I hope that this is just one of many games you put out there!

[Jonas Kyratzes]

Originally Posted by paul1275

After some lengthy thought (and a re-play) I agree with you totally. This game is different. It's been a long time since I've found a game worthy of long discussion. Maybe this is where art and gameplay crosses, and very succesfully I might add.

The reason I compare it to art is because a great artist never leads the audience to his or her own ridgid conclusion. And I think that is where this game works, it makes you think about the elements and how it affects both you the player and the main character in our adventure.

I hope that this is just one of many games you put out there!

Thank you (again).

[seagul]

Thank you for this remarkable experience! It' s touching and gruelling at the same time. In this world of mostly shallow games (o.k, they can e very entertaining, too) it definitly hits the soul. I' m always impressed how art can make it possible to deal with terrible experiences and let find us some sort of peace for our souls. (Hope it don' t sound too drippy).

[Elwro]

A very nice project. As for the ending, it gave me the cathartic moment which is (I think) the point of many artistic creations of diverse types - films, books, music etc. In my opinion the game is a complete success in that regard!

[Jonas Kyratzes]

Thank you both (yes, I'm repeating myself). It means a great deal to me that people get something out of the game. "Touching and gruelling" is more or less what I was aiming for (also happens to be a pretty good description of life).

As for the ending - I'm glad you experienced it as a cathartic moment, because that's how I feel about it, too. I haven't gotten much feedback about this part of the game, but I feel that it is actually quite central to the game and to the nature of the Museum in general.

[Nexic]

I was really reluctent to play this as usually games labled as art tend to be self indulgent crap in my humble oppinion. However this is the complete opposite and I'm really glad I did play it. It touched me in so many ways and I really enjoyed experience from start to finish.

Despite the actual quality of the graphics not being amazing the way it all comes together makes it a very atmospheric and immersive game. Well done

[Mordalles]

wow! that was awesome! thanks for making such a great game! and i love the ending! i just downloaded it now, about an hour earlier, just to check it out, and i end up playing right through!
oh, and i loved the pencil sketch world.

[Jonas Kyratzes]

Thank you. Again.

(Gah. One hopes so badly for positive feedback and then it's embarrassing. How can I say "thank you" without either sounding like I'm ignoring people or, alternatively, fishing for more compliments?)

I am humbled.