Jason Rohrer

Name: Jason Rohrer
Notable creations and work: Transcend, Cultivation, Gravitation, Passage, Between, Primrose, Sleep is Death
Born: 1977
Died: Not yet

Biographical Summary

Jason Rohrer is an independent game developer who creates games for the PC and iPhone. His lifestyle includes minimizing electricity as much as possible, eating vegan, raising his children in an open environment, and letting his lawn turn into a garden. At one point, his neighbors took him to court because of how he treated his lawn. Rohrer won the case. In 2007, he started making games. His third game, Passage, has become synonymous with the art games movement and caused many people to take notice of his work. He has been a part of multiple discussion panels, lectures, and interviews, and most recently presented a commissioned game at the Art History of Games conference. Aside from one game made for the Escapist, all of Rohrer's games have their sources available on his home page, and are available for Mac, Windows, and Linux.

Work

Jason Rohrer has been responsible for the graphics, design, programming, and audio for every game he has developed. Many of his games use the game's systems, mechanics, and emergent properties as metaphors for universal themes. Starting with Passage, his games have had a lo-fi aesthetic in terms of sound and graphics.

In addition to the games listed below, Rohrer has also made several games for the Escapist magazine.

Transcend

Transcend is a vector-based arena shooter with ambient, generative music. The game makes the player bring elements to a central area to increase their fire power, enabling them to beat the boss on each level.

Cultivation

Cultivation is a real-time strategy game that focuses on gardening and social interactions instead of combat. The game is highly procedural and shows emergent behavior patterns in the AI of the other creatures.

Passage

Passage is a five minute top-down game that has game mechanics which act as a metaphor for life and death. The game was shown as part of Kokoromi's GAMMA256 event, and quickly became the centerpiece for many discussions about games as art. Many claim that the game has a strong emotional impact, which, considering how minimal the game is, is quite an accomplishment.

Gravitation

Gravitation is an eight minute lo-fi platformer that focuses on a father, his relationship with his daughter, and his personal successes. The game is similar to Passage in many ways, but has received less attention.

Between

Between is a multiplayer game that focuses on isolation instead of cooperation or competition. Players can share worlds, but they never directly interact with each other or even see each other.

Primrose

Primrose is a tile matching/clearing game made for the PC and iPhone. The emergent properties of the game make the game more challenging with every move without having to resort to external elements like time pressure.

Sleep is Death

Sleep is Death is a multiplayer game about telling stories. The player roles are asymmetrical. One player acts as the character playing the story, and the other player controls the environment and all secondary characters. The game is turn-based and supports user-generated content.

References

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