The Museum of Broken Memories
Platform: Windows
The Museum of Broken Memories is a beautifully woven interactive narrative that may even be considered a work of art.
It is a point-and-click game, yes; and yet it is so much more than that. It is available as a free download for Windows only.
The game consists of five (5) starkly different levels, or vignettes, that explore feelings of inadequacy, hopelessness, anguish, loss, and the like. The images and words expressed may seem familiar to anyone that has found themselves slowly sinking into a world of depression or self-doubt. But in the end it is a soulful journey that must be experienced to appreciate the unique form of narrative that the author, Jonas Kyratzes, has constructed.
When told his creation was more art than game, Jonas responded:
"I'd just like to slightly disagree with your use of the terms game and art. The way I see it, they are not opposites at all. Games are interactive art. Art implies only a work's nature, not its quality or seriousness. Games are still a very new art form, but so once were movies. Within that great realm of possibility that is interactive art, there is space for all kinds of stories and experiences. This is a more sombre one, true—but I wouldn't say it's not a game."
Like any work of art, personal interpretation plays an important role here, as there are many images and words to browse through and interact with, and an array of emotions that will be evoked. The storyline is sometimes clear and sometimes vague, and there is much symbolism present and references to other works to support a wide range of perspectives. It's both short and fairly easy; the joy in this one is the feeling of awe upon the game's denouement.
My only complaints are that it requires a download and anyone without a PC is out of luck. For what it's worth, though, the modest wait for the game to download is far shorter than actual gameplay time, and at 100% free the price is definitely right.
Mere words cannot describe the sheer complexity of this experience. Try it out.
Windows:
Download the free full version
Mac OS X:
Not available.
Try Boot Camp or Parallels or CrossOver Games.
Once I found the map
(is that those sheets of paper with hand writings on it?) I could not get out of the map. I kept circling around. No way of leaving the map..
Wow. Just...wow. That's all I can say after playing this. It's a lot of experience, to a point where it would not leave you untouched. It can be really frustrating but it's beautiful. I think it is a game, an art, an experience and maybe even beyond that.
i definitely have trouble playing this. it is disturbing.
This is disturbing . though beautiful so complex so intense but still calming. its the most enlightening game EVER. i felt depressed and playing this game calmed me ! love it and you all got to try it
wow. I just got out of the map with the water. This game is intense
This is crazy that dark room scared me the most.
Anyone else having trouble running this game? I get "Failed to allocate back-buffer. Your graphics card might not have enough memory. Try to reduce the screen resolution or color depth and run again" This does not work, and I've never had a problem before? Any ideas?
Ok, I finished now. It's the best game I've played that has been posted in this site. So distressing, specially because of the music, I guess. Very nice :)
Brett-
That's pretty bizzare, as the game should only take up a small amount of memory, and there isn't really any rendering going on to speak of. Try re-installing it maybe? I really have no idea, but try contacting Jonas;
http://www.jonas-kyratzes.net/contact.php
It's nice to hear everyone else is enjoying the game.
I just started this game & began in room 5, I think. Intense so far, good music, great minimal graphics, yet nothing remains static for too long.
Wow this game was freakin amazing. I experienced all 5 terrors. When you're done
then head into the room you've never been to
The door room: I really like the idea of this. The shadows that chase you...the shadows that haunt your nightmare...the shadows...
The ruin room: This one was amazing, the five memories. Forgetting yet remembering, and when you remember, you hate yourself for forgetting.
The fever room: I loved this room. The hanged man, the water, the paintings. When you go farther the water gets higher.
The note room: I loved this one. He wanted to make a differnt game, but really wanted to make the broken dreams. But the idea of this level was beautiful
The dark room: He loved Anna...as he went farther for her she could still see nothing. But when he saw the light, Anna wasn't there.
The empty room: The conclusion was great. There was no way out though.
I think the first room scared me most. I was a little odd out by the last room cause it was just...darkness. I love the ruin one. I find it beautiful. The fever room was just frustrating. :D
This is the first time I've ever replied to anything on this site, but after playing this I absolutely had to say thank you for bringing something so beautiful to my attention. I was absolutely floored by the way it was pieced together, utilizing all of those quotes by blake and huxley and even the things the author himself wrote. Absolutely wonderful. Thanks so much for posting.
im totally stuck inside the notes! i keep getting sent back to the note map can someone help me? thanks!
Damn, it's not available for Mac. D:
I'm stuck in the paper map too. HELP!!!
nm. to anyone else stuck in the map... just keep trying. it eventually lets you go where you couldn't before.
This was a hauntingly beautiful game. I have never been effected by game like that. Thank you for posting this
Wow. This was gorgeous. Just gorgeous!
Normally I don't download games - I'm really glad I did, in this instance. It was haunting, beautiful, scary, and chilling all to the very end.
I want to play this, but I dunno.
Does anything really jump out and give you heart attacks?
If you get a page talking about the site being hacked (and I qoute: 'by some moron with nothing better to do') then try this link:
Click Me!
Thanks, Grosie! I've updated the links above to point to the game's new location on Jonas' site.
on the paper map the comments in the corner remind me of when I hand in a writing paper to my teacher, great game anyways.
Once again, a beautiful piece.
This was truly a marvelous game and my personal favourite was the fourth room.
The music was calming and emotional at the same time.
Now that I've played this, I'll probably try the other ones also.
this game is so creepy! I hate the door room or whatever its called. The red place?? its so creepy, and I don't know how to get out. I don't get the room of notes. I had to press Esc so I could get out. The fever room is hard too. I can't make anything out, its all black and white. The dark room was confusing. And what are 'Them' and who and what are they? they sound pretty creepy to me.
While all you are talking about beating the game, some of us all struggling. Would someone mind telling me how to beat rooms 5, 6, and 7?
Never mind. Wow. I feel that I understood so little before I started the game. I finished and I feel a deep sense of humility. When I started, I thought that this was just a creepy point and click game. But what I learned from this game is that there is more to life than just worldly possesions, or what people think of you, or how cool you are. There is much more than that. I am a writer at heart and now that I have played this game, I feel inspiration leaking from my brain. This is probably the best game I have ever played, and I feel proud to have finished. I feel like I have a deep connection with the Museum of Broken Memories, and even though it is a prison, I feel as if it's set me free.
it wont let me download. apparently it's "Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /MuseumSetup.exe on this server." is there somewhere else i can download it from?
For those of you stuck in the notes room:
There are certain things that you need to click. The first one is a paper at your friend's house that you need to click. Once you do that, you can enter the town hall. also make sure you go to the shop and click all the text. If you don't, you can't finish the game. make sure you try to click everything. even the stuff that doesn't look very important. you never know what could help you in the note room. Once you click something that made your mouse turn into the hand, but nothing happens, go to the map and see if you can go somewhere you couldn't before. Also do this even if something does happen, just in case. but always do everything in the part of the map you are in before you go and check.
Also, did anyone else notice how some of the rooms connect? In the fever room, you can see part of the door room. The creepy thing is that there is apparently blood in the room now. *shiver* And in the notes room there is that shop with the sign, yes, we're open. The same one from the ruins room. Looks like the whole town is like that. The only one that doesn't have a match is the dark room, but I'm trying to find connections with it and the hotel from the fever room. Haven't found any proof yet, though.
DAMN, that was good!
I liked it, I think, because it feels like what you experience in dreams-- or even more, nightmares. You have these odd 'fragments', as Mr. Kyratzes put it, that you can't piece together but every now and then something happens that brings you a flash of a horrible nightmare you once had...but as soon as you get it, you forget it. You just have this feeling of fear or shame.
Another good part of Mr. Kyratzes' work (I feel like I'm writing an essay here :P) was the pictures in the rooms. His photoshop (or whatever he used) skills are amazing. I truly respect someone who has that talent who can connect such paintings together and give enough plot detail so that the player is forced to piece it together in their heads. I'm sure no two peoples' plot summary of MOBM would be exactly the same.
And the notes room was a nice touch. Took a while to get my mind around though-- I've never played a PNC game like that before.
I'd give it a 10/10.
hi i dont know why i cant seem to GET OUT OF THE picture frames!!!
even the Welcome picture frame left me stuck already!
is there a bug in the game or something???
Amazing game.
My favourite was the fever room. I was physically shaking by the time I finished it, on my second try. The first time it got to me - I was so I scared ended up clicking blindly everywhere in a panic and then gave up. It drove me crazy.
The dark room is too sublime for words. The rooms mapped themselves out in my mind.
The Museum felt like confronting all my childhood fears: the dark, being chased, being trapped, people without faces. A great experience.
Oh my gosh! When I first played this game, it was at night and I had the volume up really loud. Man, that was freaky! The first room I went in was the
#5 room where you are drowning
But I finished the game today. Awesome game! And I love the interactions! It's like you're actually there! Really impressive! I wish there were more games like this. The art is amazing too! The story line was pretty creative and I just love this game! LOVE IT! 100/10
So I downloaded it, installed it, tried to play it. Nuttin.
It's like whenever I click on it, nothing happens. Anyone got any help for me?
This game was, in a word, beautiful. Jonas' other works are also excellent.
Where can I find games that are similar in nature to these and are on par with them in terms of artistic quality and gameplay?
i need help with dark room.
i just do not get it.
I'm having the same problem as Linkmaster94. I have Vista. I've run it in compatibility mode for both Windows XP and 98/ME. I've tried both running as an administrator on the setup and the actual game. It acts like it might do something for about a minute and then just stops. Help would be truly appreciated.
played it a couple of years ago, and just replayed it yesterday. it is painfully beautiful, and hits so close to home sometimes - i had a lot of trouble in the fever room. i was actually tearing up because a lot of the content made me think of things that i'd rather not have thought about. despite that (or perhaps because of that) brilliant work.
I really am excited to play this stuff. Mr Kyratzes really inspires me to do something like this.
Oh my god, this game has given me so much to think of and look over... It's so beautiful and distressing... No words...
From what I've heard, this game seems a bit like a cross between exmortis and the infinite ocean.
Now let me think, is it worth downloading? Hmm... Creepy terrors, touching narrative... YEP! Sounds like the kind of game I really like! I'll download as soon as I can get past bluereef.
%$#& YOU BLUEREEF!!!!!
KEEP WRITING JONAS!!!
I'm trying to get it to work... on the game's website it says:
NOTE: This game is now several years old, and was created under adverse technical circumstances. As such, it will not work properly on a lot of modern systems. An update is being prepared and will be released in 2011.
I was able to go through the installation process, but can't get it to open.
I'm experiencing the same problem as Xheia. I seriously wanted to play this for a while and I finally downloaded it today, only to have this happen. :(
I played this after playing The Infinite Ocean and The Great Machine: A Fragment. It...hit me pretty hard.
Update