Mortality
– Role: Designer, Programmer
– Three team members
– Four Levels
Morality begins with a cold open, depicting Enkidu's corpse as the title fades into view. This sets the tone of the game, which is very dark and not necessarily fun to play in the traditional sense. However, it has a message that is communicated directly through the gameplay and is very much in-line with the themes of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

For this game, I came up with the overall design and vision in addition to all of the programming. I adapted a rail system I had previously developed to create a 2D platformer system that winds its way along a track in a 3D space.
The game begins in Gilgamesh's palace, with an obvious "mortality" bar hovering at the top of the screen. As Gilgamesh, the player is free to explore the palace. There are NPCs to chat with, the first of which points out that the player has the option of embarking on a quest for immortality just as Gilgamesh did in the text after coming face-to-face with his own mortality.

During this time, the mortality bar is constantly ticking down. Just as in most traditional games, most players will worry about their life. (After all, "dying" is "bad" in games, right?) These players will usually remember the quest for immortality and, like Gilgamesh in the epic, will leave the palace in an effort to overcome their own mortality.
Staring into the Eyes of Death
The first step in the player's search for immortality begins in a cave guarded by two scorpion men. Gilgamesh cannot see inside the cave, and the player must feel their way through to the other end. Along the way, passages from the text will narrate their progress. It is long, repetitive, and tedious, just as it was for Gilgamesh. All the while, Gilgamesh's mortality continues to fade...
Blind in the Cave of Darkness
The strong vignette effect makes it difficult to tell what is happening. Only the text at the bottom indicates any progress is being made.
A Long Walk on the Beach
After exiting the cave, the player must run across a lengthy beach. Again, the journey is empty and boring. At the end, a boatmen tells the player they must go back and retrieve two logs in order for him to take Gilgamesh to Utnapishtim, the survivor of the Great Flood and keeper of the secrets of immortality. The player complies, running back and forth across this vast span of sand and rock.

By this point, the player should (hopefully) be questioning the point of these tasks. They are not fun, just tedious.
Insomniacs Only
Finally, the player reaches Utnapishtim. He agrees to tell Gilgamesh the secrets of immortality, but only if he can stay awake for seven days straight. So, just like in the story, the game challenges the player to stay awake for seven days. Literally. There's even a timer in the corner. And yes, you need to play the whole time, there's a "Stay Awake" button that needs to be pressed every few seconds.

...Obviously, this task isn't realistically accomplishable. It is the culmination of boring, empty gameplay. And like Gilgamesh, most players will succumb and the game will end. Just as in the text, immortality is not attainable; death is inevitable. And in the process of seeking their goal, players will hopefully reflect on the experience and think, "Wow, that was a waste of my time. What's the point of 'winning' if the experience wasn't worthwhile? The palace was more interesting than this, I wonder what would have happened had I stayed there..."

That's a good question! Why don't we try to answer it?
Here's the twist: You actually can stay at the palace at the beginning of the game! In fact, the hope is that most players will replay the game and see what happens if they don't leave, knowing that the quest for immortality would be fruitless anyway.

This choice doesn't prevent Gilgamesh's death. Instead, the game will cycle through several points in Gilgamesh's life as his mortality ticks down. The difference is that there are NPCs to talk with, environments to explore, and generally just more interesting things to do. Gilgamesh will get married. He'll have kids. In general, the experience is just more enjoyable, despite his death at the end.
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And therein lies the message: Embrace mortality and live life to the fullest! Immortality is meaningless if the life isn't worth living in the first place. Coming to terms with one's own mortality is the central theme of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and our team hoped we communicated that through Mortality.
Meanwhile, Back at the Palace...