I
’ve never played a
videogame quite like
Broken Reality. Set in
a virtual world that
reminds me of the
primitive 3D chat rooms I used to
frequent in the early 2000s, with a
slathering of vaporwave, it’s hard to
pin down exactly what it is. It has
puzzles, quests, dialogue,
exploration... but, really, it’s its own
thing. One of those games that’s
impossible to pigeonhole—and I’m
immediately smitten by its surreal,
subversive spirit.
If you’re a fan of the vaporwave
aesthetic, you’ll feel right at home
here. This is a world of jagged
polygons, chequerboard floors,
Roman columns, Win95 error
messages, and lots of hot pink and
teal. But while vaporwave is often
clumsily appropriated by people who
don’t really understand it, it’s clear
the people behind Broken Reality do.
And the result is one of the most
dazzling, bizarre, colorful videogame
worlds I’ve ever explored.
As I amble around this confusing,
overwhelming place, I see
mannequin-like avatars everywhere,
chatting to each other. There are
pop-up ads too, and I can use my
Liker—a thumb that floats in front of
me like a Doom shotgun—to like
them, earning likes in return. This is
the game’s primary currency, and
almost everything you do sends your
likes meter ticking up. Broken Reality
is pretty tongue in cheek.
On a beach I stumble into a hut
and meet a green, sick-looking
hedgehog called Chronic. “Gotta take
it slow,” he says when I poke him
with my thumb. Later I meet a wise
old man who tells me that if I locate
and rebuild his lost katana, he’ll teach
me the art of protecting this world
from spam. This is one of the game’smany side quests, which gives it a
lightweight RPG feel.
There’s some cool spatial puzzling
in here too. I hit a switch and activate
a staircase that’ll let me bypass a dead
end, but it resets far too quickly. Then
I discover a new tool called a
Bookmarker that lets me set teleport
points wherever I like, and the
solution to the puzzle becomes clear.A CASE OF THE VAPORS
I also find a camera on my travels,
which lets me snap photos of points
of interest to earn yet more likes. A
bodybuilder flexing on a beach asks
me to take a photo of him, and he
returns the favor with a can of digital
tea (no, I don’t know either) and a
shower of likes. It’s a fun system, and
the more likes I get, the higher my
status, which lets me access new
parts of the world, which I can see
stretching into a pink sky.
I can’t wait to explore more of
Broken Reality’s weird, wonderful
world. I love the focus on discovery
over violence, which the dev has
actually highlighted as a selling point.
It’s cool to interact with a game in
more interesting ways than firing a
gun—especially one as visually
striking as this.ANDY KELLY
THIS MONTH
Explored a bizarre world,
met a stoned hedgehog.ALSO PLAYED
Resident Evil 2BROKEN REALITY transports you to a wild vaporwave world.
“In a hut I meet a green, sick-looking
hedgehog called Chronic”
“GOTTA TAKE IT SLOW,”
HE SAYS WHEN I POKE
HIM WITH MY THUMBLike ads like this and you’ll
get likes back.Error messages are obstacles
to be overcome.EXTRA LIFE
NOW PLAYING (^) I MOD SPOTLIGHT I HOW TO (^) I DIARY I REINSTALL I WHY I LOVE I MUS T P L A Y