Surreal psychedelics come to video games. In 1982, Mel Croucher, an anti-establishment music producer and father of the British video game industry, released Pimania a puzzler that blended a virtual mystery with a real one. Pimaniacs, as he referred to the players sucked in by the game were tasked with finding a golden sundial hidden somewhere in the world that would only appear once a year at a specific time and date. With the b-side of the game’s tape he included a bizarre synth single with lyrics like “Meet me at noon” giving even more hints for the quest. In 1984, he released his most ambitious work, Deus Ex Machina, meant to be the first ever interactive film. A dystopian allegorical plot proceeds from an experimental synth album with spoken word performances by John Pertwee and other notable British actors. Though a commercial failure, Mel Croucher’s games set the stage for subsequent indie and underground game scenes, including the 2000s flash scene and the current Itch.io indie counter-culture scene.
Subscribe!
