More Matter Vol. 1 is a collection of two different experimental games. They're both about the same subject matter, relationships, but each are wildly different in tone and setting. The games swing from one extreme to the other–the first game deals with a first date, stargazing in the Seqouia, and the second game deals with a couple going through marriage counseling. While the games both occupy the two extremes of relationships, the entire package is a subtle statement.

The first game is called "Polaris," and you play a girl who seems unimpressed by her first date stargazing in the Sequoia. You start the game staring up at the stars while he talks about constellations and their meaning. He points out a constellation, and then the sky spins around randomly. You then have to find the constellation again. This gentle, quiet game sets the tone of a date in the woods stargazing much better than any game I've played (though I'm certain very few have tried). The fact that they even explore a game based around a date is refreshing, and they pull off the tone beautifully.

The second game is called "Handle With Care" and deals with a couple going through marriage counseling. Except after the first couple of sentences the scene fades out and you enter the mind of your character's “Internal Repression Service” in charge of repressing bad memories. It's a very industrial Black-Mesa-like room where you are sent repressed memories and told where to put them on the shelves. You can then choose to repress them or not, and watch the reaction of your marriage-counseling session on the “Main Optical Feed”. This game represents the internal conflict and soul-searching that a couple in marriage counseling goes through in a semi-abstract, gamey way, but the memories and emotions they invoke are very raw and dreamlike.

Unlike other experimental mods we've featured before, such as Dear Esther and Korsokovia, these two are significantly more solid as games. They're not just “narrative experiences” but games with rules, and it's very possible to lose. The fact that they explore such a subtle subject matter as relationships and do it so remarkably well shows we have a lot more room to explore in the narrative game space.

There is also a third game that should be out soon called "Much Madness", involving a person on a sinking submarine and the ghost of Emily Dickinson, however it has not been released.

Why You Should Check This Out: More Matter Vol. 1 takes narrative and storytelling in games and manages to tell subtle, emotionally charged stories about relationships. They range from the quiet, soothing first date of "Polaris" to the frayed, painful marriage counseling of "Handle With Care." It shows us where stories in games can go and that we have a lot more narrative territory to explore than Aliens and Star Wars.