Last year I wrote briefly about Jason Rohrer's excellent game Passage. Since then, in addition to a couple more small games, Rohrer has been writing a monthly column at The Escapist called Game Design Sketchbook.

Among them, two are of particular interest to readers here. The first is Police Brutality, a game about resisting police in the wake of a University of Florida student who was tased at a John Kerry rally in 2007. The game starts from the premise that inaction is cowardice, and then offers a suggestion of a process participants might have enacted. This process, the enacting of which comprises the gameplay itself, involves a twofold tactic: first, some people call others to action, both shaking others out of paralysis and creating a diversion for police. Then these supporters move to peacefully block the way for police to remove the tased subject, thereby taking their stand.

The second is Immortality, a superb piece that goes far beyond a mere "sketch." Like Passage, I feel obliged not to say too much about Immortality, other than to confirm that it is a poignant game about the pros and cons of eternal life. My favorite of his after Passage, perhaps because both have a kind of earnest melancholy that feels comforting even as it gets under your skin.

What I like so much about Rohrer's work is how their themes are so tightly coupled to their processes. And yet, they remain so simple in gameplay, visual style, commitment, and experience.

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