As hard-core computer gamers well know, sometimes you just gotta take a break from killing things, or your brain will go weird on you. Consider Onesong Partners, a coalition of artists and musicians "dedicated to creating games and music that provide positive, life-affirming experiences." I know it sounds creepy, but the group's latest CD-ROM, Endorfun, holds potential for widespread addiction.
In this attractive, abstract puzzle game, players maneuver a 3-D cube (a k a Light Body) around a transparent grid (Unified Field) in an attempt to catch and absorb shifting target squares (Life Forces). All the nonviolent, huggermugger Light Bodies, Unified Fields, and Life Forces aside, Endorfun fast becomes an engrossing, out-of-monitor experience, reminiscent of Tetris.
But Endorfun adds another bit of major coolness: it puts things in your brain. In keeping with Onesong's goals, the game crawls with positive subliminal messages embedded in the exploding kaleidoscopic background and in the swelling, rhythmic world-beat soundtrack (courtesy of The O Band, led by the endlessly energetic and ebullient Nigerian drum master Onye). "Play More, Feel Better," reads the promo literature.
Endorfun's symphony of mesmerizing graphics; colorful, superfluid motion; and primal, jazzy tunes soon advance to a mystical gaming level, The Zone. There, your complex movement sequences and on-the-fly strategies become second nature - all but the pulsating rhythm is forgotten.
Paranoid mind-control theorists will find lots to worry about here, and dorm-dwelling computer users with a penchant for, ahem, augmenting their consciousness will think this is the best extracurricular activity since the Koosh ball. In fact, Endorfun's pretty (and trippy) enough to leave running on your monitor as ambient environment candy.
Rumor has it even magazine reviews of this game cram in subliminal messages, but that's just ridiculous. Play more, feel better.
Endorfun: US$29.95. Time Warner Interactive and Onesong Partners Inc.: +1 (818) 295 6600, fax +1 (818) 295 6799.
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