Pac-Mondrian

July 13, 2004

Another reason to visit my blog periodically -- from the creator of Basho's Frogger, Neil Hennessy, comes this masterpiece of punnage and plain coolness, Pac-Mondrian:

http://pbfbca.prizebudgetforboys.com/rhizome_commission/

Basho's Frogger still has one up on Pac-Mondrian as a "poem" in that it at least contains some text -- Neil's version of the Basho poem, which appears in the high score screen:

1 pnd 00000 pts
2 frg 00000 pts
3 plp 00000 pts

A fitting solution to the existential conundrum that not have the first line of logs presents.

But I think Pac-Mondrian wins, not just because it has a great soundtrack, "Broadway Boogie-Woogie" itself, with cymbals and other percussion provided by the Pac-man, but also because transfering the maze to the grand scale of the painting makes you feel like you're playing kickball on a baseball diamond, or roller-blading on a great expanse of concrete in Neimeyer's Brasilia. I.e. the transfer in scale becomes a transfer in logic, from that of the game designer to the historically conscious European master -- to run around freely and stupidly in it is like, well, playing hide and seek in the Hermitage. It makes my nose bleed just thinking about it.