2020 was a paper bag filled with shit, in flames, on your doorstep. Time to relive it all in a fun-filled browser game format.
2020 Game is something else entirely – time to add it to the long list of incredible achievements that were done by other people during lockdown. It’s a cutesy, in-browser, 10-minute experience that sums up last year better than words can.
There’s just enough of a challenge to feel like you need to put some thought into the game. The pixel art visual style is gorgeous, plus the music fits like a glove. It’s a surprisingly fun gem to have come across, utilising game mechanics in hugely creative ways to hammer its points home.
A one-man-band effort by Max Gratavvy, 2020 Game sees you battling the forces of nature, human idiocy, saving Koalas, and dodging COVID throughout. There’s a link to a donations page that’s seen over 1,000 donations and upwards of $34,000 in cold, hard, digital cash. It’s not hard to see why, the game is a surprisingly thorough nostalgia trip through the weirdest year of our lives, and it feels incredibly satisfying to crush the year.
Max professes his love to us as players more than once in a statement on his donation page, as well as saying:
“I currently work at a boring office job in a big corporation and every day I wonder if I should take the plunge and quit my job to pursue making games. Do you think I should? 2020 Game is the attempt to prove to myself that I can pay the bills with my games, so the fact that you want to support me means a world to me!”
For what it’s worth, Max, we love you too, and believe in you! I’m super intrigued by the potential that 2020 Game shows, and presumptively look forward to the 2021 sequel, at which point I sincerely hope to see Max’s name attached to a major title.
Have a gander and give 2020 a virtual send off here.
