Super Platypus RPG?

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As I look back through this series of posts, I notice that a constant theme comes up: enchantment. A good video game should have loads of it. By enchantment, I mean that delightful sense of the "other" that commands our whole attention and alters our perceptions of reality. Think of the last time you watched a really good play. Was there a moment during the performance when you forgot that you were watching a series of staged actions and felt "caught up" into another world? That is the sensation that a well-made game strives to create. The only difference is that the audience can now interact with the drama.

The designer of the popular "Super Mario Brothers" series said that he strove to create a "magic garden" that players were invited to explore. I think that is what has always drawn me to these games. It's the same impulse that led me into the world of the theater: a desire not just to view, but to be a part of something "other."

Turn off the lights. Place the key in the lock. Open the door. Step in to fairy land.

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