404 Not Found
Every time you lose your way,
Directions: Use the arrow keys or WASD to move and advance text. Made with Bitsy, using default background music and sound effects. Credit: Vyshali Manivannan, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
Artist Statement: Chronic painervation is a monotonous, boring experience that can unpredictably shrink your life to a single room. If this webtext represents an expansive world, then the unexpected broken link is fibromyalgic contingency, the unexpected detour/flare that impedes your ability to explore and comprehend. This "404 Not Found" mini-game presents you with a seemingly manageable landscape — one room, a handful of objects, zero branching decisions — but the limited spatial and dialogic options eventually render the experience untenable. Every interaction is reduced to a repetition of the last statement. There are no obvious exits. Even if you locate the three hidden endings, you are cyclically returned to the beginning of the game. You are forced to sit with/in the frustrating insularity of FMS and ME. Walk your avatar in circles until you realize that the cunning solution isn't escape but acceptance. Imagine Sisyphus happy (Camus, 1955).