Momentum

Instructions:

Use WASD or Arrow Keys to move.

Press SPACE to restart.

Artist's Statement:

I created "Momentum" as an interactive, visual metaphor for my experience during the COVID lockdown. I chose to create a game as my COVID artifact as it allows me to evoke the feeling of burnout through simulation.

The player starts out in the middle of the scene, fenced in. Outside of the fence, others are frolicking around while the player is stuck behind an edge. This represents how I felt during lockdown when I was confined to my house while others seemed like they were being much more productive and active.

While the player can move around using arrow keys, they'll soon notice that they move much slower, as if they're running out of energy. Soon, the player's movement will completely halt, and the user's actions will have no impact. As this is happening, the environment grows darker until it's pitch black. Within the span of one minute, our experience has concluded.

This experience of losing control of the player and entering darkness represents the feeling of burnout. Going into the pandemic, I was running on momentum. Between school, extracurriculars, and social life, my day was a juggling act. When I was put into lockdown, all of those things went away, putting me on edge and leaving me exhausted. As the days went out, I found it increasingly difficult to get anything done, and I fell into a state of lethargy. It's a gradual descent that feels impossible to stop, just like how playing the game feels.