The Word Is Not The Thing

About the game

A closer look.

The Word Is Not The Thing is an experimental indie game. It's not so much about jumping and shooting as it is about you observing your own emotional connection to words and playing with those emotions, seeing if you use words to escape from a feeling. It’s a unique game of exploration and discovery through the human condition, using your emotional connection to words as a mechanic in itself. Inspired by the 20th century philosopher J. Krishnamurti, whose subject matter included psychological revolution, the nature of mind, meditation, inquiry and human relationships. Interact with the environment, paintings and other characters through a story that unfolds over 3 days and five locations: the home, the commute, the office, nature, and the self. The Word Is Not The Thing goes into separating the word from the feeling, allowing us to discover for ourselves what happens when we don't let the word interfere with the direct perception of the feeling. Not rejecting the word, or suppressing it, but seeing its effect. Not running away with explanations, or with another set of words. Seeing that escape. And doing nothing about it. Not just saying you get it, but actually doing it. Emotionality is the difficulty; the words get harder to deal with depending on your emotional connection to any given word. Choose to go inside yourself and go up against your core fear. FEATURES Experimental indie game, where emotions are the mechanic. Minimalistic black and white world to explore with emotions driven through words. Find, discover and remove words, seeing if you use words to escape from feelings. An emotional dark synthwave-inspired soundtrack. A story unfolding over 3 days through 5 areas, the home, the commute, the office, nature and yourself. Designed to be finished in a single session with the total time to play through the game being 45 to 60 minutes.

From the game