“There is a hole in the world,” writes Ursula K Le Guin in The Farthest Shore, “and the light is running out of it.” Alas, The Farthest Shore contains no terrible mechanical instruments of hole-digging. For that, we must turn to MOLE, “a psychological horror experience with tactile simulation elements about madness, faith, and the depths we choose to dig”.
Out now on Steam, it makes me think of Mike Klubnika’s clicky torture instruments, of Iron Lung’s unseen exteriors, and of Mouthwashing’s workaday cabin fever. In brief, it seems like an effective delivery system for some extraordinarily bad vibes.
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In MOLE you are the Navigator, who finds themself alone aboard a fortress-sized drill, deep beneath the earth. You explore in first-person, yanking at things with your cursor. Much is wrong. The vessel is off course, drifting through magma. The rest of your crew are missing and/or murdered, and the rumbling, rusty corridors abound with peculiarities – carpets of flowers, four-winged angels, a mysterious “Signal”.
Go forth! Twiddle nobs! Tap dials! Pull levers! Do not follow the white rabbit! (Argh, why didn’t I reference Lewis Carroll in the opening paragraph, instead of Le Guin?) I’m sure it’s just a big machine that needs fixing, like the laser-faced snakeboi from The Core. I’m sure it’s not partly or wholly a metaphor for something awful you did.
“Spiral into your own history as fragments of your memory surface with choices that refuse to stay buried,” the Steam page continues. “Interact with the vessel’s complex systems, solve diegetic puzzles, and unravel the mystery behind your missing crew.” The story apparently lasts about 4-5 hours, which is more time than I would generally wish to spend in a self-propelled sarcophagus.
Developers Off Black Creations consist of Swedish designer Sean Falk and Ukrainian artist Daryna Tolmachova, both former members of GTFO developers 10 Chambers. Yes, the GTFO connection makes a lot of sense – that game has some absolutely frightful underground contraptions. If you’ve decided you’re sick of this stinking “videogames” lark, Off Black are also working on a board game about gambling with your memories.
