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fatal or explosive when touched. The player may use either the organism's tail, stinger, or wings to bump or otherwise make contact with them. To maintain the challenge, the behavior of the flowers changes every time the game is played. To increase the challenge, the score is repeated all along the left and right sides of the scrolling screen. As the score increases, the animal avatar is forced to travel more and more closely to the sometimes deadly crystal flowers.
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animal as it grows, survives and reproduces through 20 generations. Difficulty is introduced through the lack of instructions in the game. As such, the player must employ trial and error techniques to determine which flowers are edible, which flowers shrink or grow when stung, and which flowers are
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to be an alternative to the perilous, alien environments found in other many games of its time. "I wanted to make an alien world, but not one that was necessarily hostile," he said. "A world that had some danger, but also some beauty." He later characterized
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allowed him to challenge his own preconceptions of what a game should be. He used it as an example of his newfound freedom of expression in design, calling it "kind of like a trip, like some kind of
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236:, one that was beautiful to look at but required exploration to understand how to interact with the 'flowers' in the garden." De Koven and Lanier worked together to define the
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on the play field's boundary was designed to take up more of the screen as the game progressed, increasing the challenge for the player.
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praised the game for its "graphically stunning" visuals as well as the experimentation and strategy required.
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Gameplay consists of a side-scrolling world covered in 24 different kinds of crystalline flowers resembling
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251:. Lanier was with Epyx for about one year before departing and developing his more well-known art game
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just to sit there with my eyes closed and imagine all these interactions taking place on the screen."
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brand of publisher
Automated Simulations. This was one of De Koven's first works alongside
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De Koven worked for Epyx for a little more than a year and a half prior to joining the
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408:(28). Stanford Center for the Study of Language and Information. Archived from
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The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 Games: Interviews with
Creators and Developers
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570:. Vol. 2, no. 2. Fun & Games Publishing. pp. 84–5.
533:. Vol. 1, no. 8. Fun & Games Publishing. pp. 78–9.
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Dawn of a New
Everything: Encounters with Reality and Virtual Reality
448:"Deep Fun and the Theater of Games: An Interview with Bernie DeKoven"
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373:"The Art History... Of Games? Games As Art May Be A Lost Cause"
146:. Designed with an emphasis on the need for experimentation,
204:. He described designing these games as "like writing
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for
Creative Software. Leyland left Epyx to program
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267:before a brief hiatus from the gaming industry.
525:"Phil Wiswell's Gamemakers: The learning game"
720:can be played for free in the browser at the
428:. AtariAge entry. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
8:
240:elements due to the memory limitations. The
693:. Vol. 3, no. 2. pp. 20, 22.
776:Video games developed in the United States
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18:
669:Electronic Fun with Computers & Games
567:Electronic Fun with Computers & Games
530:Electronic Fun with Computers & Games
277:Electronic Fun with Computers & Games
562:"Phil Wiswell's Gamemakers: Moon Duster"
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631:Hickey Jr., Patrick (October 6, 2022).
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672:. Vol. 1, no. 7. p. 66.
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385:from the original on 20 February 2019.
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371:Pratt, Charles J. (8 February 2010).
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346:Thomsen, Michael (8 February 2010).
150:was described by its creators as an
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212:memory restriction. He said that
683:Doum, Allen (March–April 1983).
756:Atari 8-bit computer-only games
560:Wiswell, Phil (December 1983).
495:"Interview with Bernie DeKoven"
402:CSLI Calendar of Public Events
1:
497:. Jesper Juul. Archived from
249:Children's Computer Workshop
523:Wiswell, Phil (June 1983).
456:. Vol. 7, no. 2.
396:Pease, Emma (14 May 1997).
196:and Robert Leyland for the
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751:Atari 8-bit computer games
662:Wiswell, Phil (May 1983).
781:Single-player video games
172:. The player controls an
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453:American Journal of Play
444:American Journal of Play
260:Murder on the Zinderneuf
639:McFarland & Company
398:"Post Symbolic Systems"
303:here’s Bernie — DeepFUN
608:Henry Holt and Company
218:psychedelic experience
690:Computer Gaming World
600:(November 21, 2017).
446:staff (Winter 2015).
283:Computer Gaming World
223:De Koven desired for
128:Atari 8-bit computers
360:on 5 September 2012.
265:Free Fall Associates
501:on December 9, 2020
493:(August 22, 2017).
348:"The Art Of Gaming"
327:on 27 December 2008
192:and programmed by
138:and programmed by
685:"The Atari Arena"
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746:1982 video games
731:Internet Archive
722:Internet Archive
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136:Bernie De Koven
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664:"Alien Garden"
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709:Alien Garden
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503:. Retrieved
499:the original
491:Juul, Jesper
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424:Alien Garden
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410:the original
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329:. Retrieved
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186:Alien Garden
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148:Alien Garden
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144:Jaron Lanier
119:Alien Garden
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66:Jaron Lanier
37:Publisher(s)
22:Alien Garden
331:10 November
181:Development
160:by a year.
134:in 1982 by
80:Atari 8-bit
75:Platform(s)
49:Designer(s)
766:Epyx games
740:Categories
458:The Strong
290:References
771:Non-games
761:Art games
576:0746-0546
539:0746-0546
505:March 10,
474:226081597
466:1938-0399
378:Gamasutra
271:Reception
238:graphical
174:embryonic
584:10488752
547:10488752
383:Archived
254:Moondust
234:art game
202:Ricochet
164:Gameplay
157:Moondust
152:art game
142:pioneer
124:non-game
100:Non-game
95:Genre(s)
729:at the
320:GameSpy
106:Mode(s)
86:Release
727:Manual
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315:"Epyx"
206:poetry
242:score
122:is a
643:ISBN
612:ISBN
580:OCLC
572:ISSN
543:OCLC
535:ISSN
507:2024
470:OCLC
462:ISSN
353:Edge
333:2008
263:for
198:Epyx
132:Epyx
126:for
89:1982
42:Epyx
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
