Entzweiung (meaning ‘discord’ in German) is an adventure game that combines elements of survival and resource management. It is an experimental simulator of chronic insomnia, suffering from which the main character gradually loses faith in the reality of his own self and reality as such.
Unlike other games, where the character has his or her own history, character and destiny, in Entzweiung the character does not have a personality as such, and his story is a random change of unstable states.
Concept art
The WASD control, the E action button, and selecting the interaction option with the cursor are all that the player can control. However, there are things in the game that are beyond the player’s control.
The player does not know where the character is, is he sleeping or awake, nor can the player be sure that he or she is controlling the same character as five minutes ago. Also, the player can drink coffee, but does not know whether it will cheer him up or put him to sleep, take sleeping pills without knowing how they will work, unable to predict whether the character would fall asleep or not.
The most important feature of the project is the complete absence of a narrative sequence, and, as a result, the absolute freedom of the game from its author. The events taking place in the game are generated randomly: coffee can put the character to sleep, wake him up or not work at all, a bright light can turn on in the room, or almost complete darkness can reign, and most importantly, the character’s states can both change and last, whether the player wishes it or not.
The system endlessly generates events and situations that lead to a change in the state of the character and the surrounding world. History, however incoherent, never repeats itself. Each playthrough is unique.
The cycle of prolonged insomnia is very traumatic for the character. Despite the actions of a player, unable to change anything, the story can either end extremely quickly, or continue indefinitely.
