RunMan: Race Around the World, For PC — I saw Ikko Taniuchi perform last week. For those of you who aren’t familiar with him, Taniuchi covers himself in paint and rolls around on a large canvas [1]. It’s an exercise in the primal joy one gets from rich, solid colors. This is obviously a theme to his art as, accompanying this performance, was an exhibition of works done with crayon. Much like his performance, they focus on the beauty of solid colors and are drawn with a child-like fervor and simplicity [example 1 2]. Which brings me to RunMan…
Like watching Taniuchi perform, RunMan: Race Around the World (Tom Sennet & Matt Thorson) is also an exploration (and explication) of the joy of solid colors. This must sound like a somewhat underwhelming endorsement, but let me assure that it is not. This game is awesome.
I mean, I haven’t enjoyed a game this much for some time. Its vibrant pallet, addictive gameplay and the (consciously) kindergarten-quality graphics make for an experience that, simply put, oozes a joy that is sorely missing in a lot of independant games. And the music — oh the music! — adds another gleeful dimension. Like in his other projects, Sennet has used a bunch of public-domain music. In this case it’s bluegrass. And in a strange way, it accentuates the childlike whimsy inherent in the work as a whole.
The gameplay isn’t doing anything revolutionary, but it does hark back to a bygone era of PC platformers; nay, an era of childhood video game memories. And this really important. Not only is it in line with the simplicity of the work (overly complex mechanics would be jarring), but it allows you to enjoy the aesthetics which, I think, make it quite special. The gameplay delivers some basic joys, too — you can bounce of walls (which delivers an enjoyable ‘boing’ sound) and run really fast through (yes, through) enemies.
All I can tell you is that I loved RunMan’s simplicity and aesthetics, namely its simple, elegant and unorthodoxly-orthodox use of colors. Additionally, I applaud the employment of public domain music and also marvel at the brilliant choice of bluegrass. But, like with Taniuchi, I can’t really convey the pleasure of experiencing RunMan: Race Around the World in words. My recommendation: go download it (PC ony). You’ll thank me later.
Above: Ikko Taniuchi’s untitled 2009, crayon on canvas compared with still from RunMan.
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