Loved

I have played this game before it was interesting and after disobeying him the first time and taking the higher path i found my self wnting to please the weird writing. I have no idea what it means though i just play as a game to be played.

i think this game was awesome thanks for posting this and telling us the website to play it on. keep finding cool flash games for us to play!

Besides the other interpretations, I almost feel like the thing telling you to do these things represents a parent figure or even like a godlike figure. The ending punches you right in the gut, I disobeyed everything that it told me to do just to spite the thing telling me what to do. And in the end it felt like it was just looking out for me, and I sorta felt like a jackass. But that's life, you can't obey everything someone important in your life tells you, at some point there will be disagreements and you'll break away naturally.

So what kind of items can effect the difficulty of the platformer is it like braid with new ways to manipulate the level makes it easier or harder to traverse each level

It sounds interesting when i see a trailer of the game play i will consider trying this out

wow this game was creepy i played through both endings and i think the world changes based on what you think is right. If you obey the voice thing the world kind of reveals its self to you and you see more of it for what it really is. While on the other hand if you disobey the voice you see the world behind a cloud ,only seeing things for what you think they are and not what they really are.

I liked this game it leaves allot to wonder when you beat it and i am still kinda confused about the endings (no spoilers) thx for sharing this game

good find, pretty interesting game. thanks

very interesting. just played through and it really had me thinking. It reminds me of braid a lot as well as shadow of the colossus in having a "secret" meaning or interpretation of life.

The first time I played I got to the part where the voice said, "Do NOT fail," and accidentally hit something and the response I got was "How disappointing." About 10 seconds later my power went out and I had to restart my comp... I know that this was purely coincidental but I made sure to follow the instructions the next playthrough.
It was a very interesting game and gives you something to think about. The voice reminds me of a parental figure so maybe it has something to do with Alexander Ocias' past because I'm sure that many parents would be disappointed with their child choosing to make games for their career aspirations but sometimes you have to choose your own path.

It looks like the more you be obedient with the voice, the more things will be revealed to you.

I disobeyed pretty much everything that asshole told me. Felt good man.

That was an interesting game. It was kind of creepy though. I chose to be obedient and made it all the way through but I don't really understand the ending..

The way I see it, based off of both obeying and disobeying, is the game is like a compatability or personality test for love and devotion. If you obey the voice, structure and order is revealed, indicating that you are a devoted hard working individual who would take great pains to bring definition and stability to the world of the voice, aka your lover. If you disobey, nothing is defined and there is a sense of chaos. The presence of color (or lack thereof) I feel is an indicator of individual vibrance. We tend to see people with a structured, daily routine as boring and bland, lacking in excitement yet reliable. A free-thinking or rebellious individual is more chaotic and exciting to be around, but too much of such behavior isn't going to end up being a good choice for a long-term relationship.

I Got stuck, but I'm a good Girl apparently so I F*CKING QUIT.

Well, that was an interesting game!
I took the higher path, and felt...guilty for it. I felt the need to back track and take the lower one, I'm not sure if that changed the game itself at all, but thinking back on it now, I find it interesting that this seemingly simple flash game evoked such strong feelings of guilt, and pride (at the end) in me.
The ending took me by surprise. It was so sudden! I actually still have the webpage up, waiting on the "The End" page, wondering if there's something else!
I feel I need to wait for more orders...

Here is how I portray the ending of this game. If you chose to obey the voice, then your life would be bland and dark but you would have reached the end, but if you chose to disobey your life would be colorful and happy, yet you really wouldn't get anywhere in life. That's just how I see it though, this is a good discussion.

I didn't get to meet her. I did everything she told me to do and she was just a dumb spinning circle at the end.

Mind=blown.

I just don't even can not evne undrstand I I I... I... I...

Fuck, I'd pay for this shit.

This game gave me the creeps. I feel guilty for even playing it, and I'm not sure why. I thought it was really well done. Almost like eating that last piece of pizza or something. There's an odd satisfaction of playing a game that can have an effect on you, and this game knows that. It knows it so well its almost scary.

I enjoyed what I played, but it left a heavy feeling in the pit of my gut.

I didnt like the game that much it was ok and very short.

It's about independence.

i have no idea but I'm really confused

This game made me lol, but still fun

The world needs more interesting games like these instead of your everyday run-of-the-mill games.

I've played it on Armorgames.com, it's an interesting game to say the least, but it's a good one too.

the representation of love has never been represented rightly or at least coherently in art. it is seen by many that its abstract, thus i point to picasso, who painted his world through abstract visions.
it seems that everyone here has shown reasonable meanings to what the game represents and the most typical reason is obedience, mainly to a god or parent. i see more to that, i believe this game metaphorically represents love in general, in the most abstract way possible, yet it gives the entertained to immerse. love is based on common likes, the comfort of being to one another...as it is also fuel to jealousy, fear of isolation or abandonment, and obsession. you take the role of a soul who is split apart by the decisions of moving on or staying at your own will...or not. it toys with how we handle those close to us, and how those very things affect our future. as jomie64 brilliantly explaines, " If you obey the voice, structure and order is revealed...If you disobey, nothing is defined and there is a sense of chaos." i find the addition of color when disobeying as the most ironic thing ive seen. the color can represent happiness after a long time of restraint, or a our "obsessed lover's" distractions to let you to obey him/her and stay.
the music incorporates fear and it is used to make the player fell indifferent ways depending on his/her courage to handle this "lover". to the rebellious, it can induce fear of backlash, of revenge; to the obedient, the fear of doing the wrong thing, of not following orders.
all in all, this little platformer is a masterpiece of EMOTIONAL proportions. even if artistic pundits like Roger Ebert think games of any type cant be and will never be.
oh, and to those endings: they represent, in my views, "the end". try to figure what i'm trying to say, for the those two words explain it all. :)

oh yeah, im thecineast now, not alexoaman. dont ask why...

Well, that certainly was interesting.

Given the complete lack of any information, I'm going to hold off on my thoughts about what the "story" here is supposed to be. I put "story" in quotes because it's really hard to call "text on screen telling you what to do" a story.

If the controls weren't terrible, and the jumping didn't feel as horrid as the jumping in "I Want to be the Guy," I might have more positive feelings for the game, but as it is, meh. It's another flash game made by someone trying to be really artsy about it and ending up far too vague to be of any interest or relevance to me.

The message I took away was: you can trade independence for ease and approval, or not, but your decisions change you either way.

Obeying the voice takes away the color of the world, which results in a bland monotone world. The color missing from the world made it much easier to distinguish the path and see where to go. You could interpret this as a means of order and stability. On the other-hand you could completely disobey, which would bring a sense of freedom, chaos, and confusion. There were times toward the end that my screen was so distraught with colors it was hard to make out where the next platform was located at. This caused a lot of frustration from the multiple deaths I encountered due to not being able to see where I needed to go. Have a bit of freedom in your life, but don't let it overwhelm you. A balance of chaos, and order is the goal.

At least that's what I derived from this game, but I'd take it with a grain of salt.

I would like to first say thank you all for the great responses even if I didn't reply directly. I am glad you all were so receptive of the discussion about it. I'm not the kind of guy who will say what something means in an absolute manner or say the meaning a person draws from something is wrong so I really enjoy these kinds of things.

I saw much of the same things you all saw but one thing I am surprised no one really hit on was the more direct commentary on video games themselves, something that stood out to me pretty strongly. It could be because a few games have tried this kind of message in some way (although right now I can only think of the mainstream examples of Bioshock and No More Heroes). You are as you are, the player and the game is as it is, made by a designer but the designer can respond to you. The subject of authorship, game auteurs and the like has been in a lot of debate recently and I think this game could be trying to address that.

Many game designers hold on to the idea of linear progressions, having the player do what they say and Loved gives you the option of doing this or bucking. When you do as they say the game gets more drab and actually transforms into a platformer with Mario motifs (pipes and coins) or what is almost the most boring and prolific thing in the independent game space: Mario rips offs. Yet if you buck this kind of control, it becomes more interesting. It becomes more abstracted, with crazy shifting colors, more harshly worded responses (instead of the more typical "yay you" positive reinforcement).

So yeah, there are many things you can take out of this game and that is really great in itself and something I think we need more of. I'm really glad we could get this kind of discussion going and I hope to do it again.

I see it as being all about independence, and love's effect on it. The voice claims to love you, yet it seems to equate "love" with "ownership", as the first thing it does is confidently tell you, "no, you aren't what you say you are. You're really what I say you are." It constantly tells you to do things you wouldn't normally do, for no very good reason. "Take the lower path". Why, when the upper path is so much easier? "Throw yourself into the barbs." Why do you want me to die? If you loved me, why do you want to make my life harder? Why do you want to toy with me?

When did "love" become synonymous with "control"? What does it matter to you if I take my own path? Why do you become angry when I don't want to kill myself because you want me to? If you really loved me, why would it matter?

So many people say they love you just the way you are, and then begin telling you what you need to do with your life. At least in my experience. It's strange how that happens. So, like I do in real life, I chose my own path in the game. Rejecting the voices constantly telling me the way to go. The game became a bit harder, but I still made it through just fine, even with the chaotic color changes happening all around me. Sure, I could have constantly bent to the will of the one who "loved" me and "was just trying to help", but there's something to be said for maintaining a sense of independence and carving your own path through this game and through life itself.

Maybe its saying how people are told do do this, be thin, be smart, don't make any mistakes! But when we fail we are treated like crap, then again some of us can change the world and make it what we want. Who cares what those people think or say, when it comes down to it I decide if I want to take the higher or lower path.

I played this game, and disobeyed the voice everytime

This game was amazing :D Great meaning

this game should be shown to roger ebert, who has the belief that videogames will never get to a level that it can be considered as "art". it saddens me that such a great film critic can be blindsided by interactivity.

p.s: u know, this is pretty good subject to write about: can videogames be considered as "art"?

So I played through the game real quick... I chose to obey the voice, despite the fact that it called me a girl at the beginning. :( I might need to play through and disobey it to see what kind of results that gets me, but here's my view:

This game appears to be about projecting the player's view on this world. I noticed a lot of people mentioned they disobeyed the voice to "spite" it, and how it felt satisfying. Someone else also mentioned "Why would it tell me to toss myself into a pit of barbs if it loves me so much? Why is it making my life harder?"

The way I saw it was, that if I took the high route, I would've missed out on the experience on how to jump over the barbs and moving blocks. And there was a LOT of jumping and dodging towards the end.

As for tossing yourself into the barbs... I can't fully remember, but I'm pretty sure the level physically changed to make things easier for me.

I get the feeling that the obedient path represents growing through the experiences of life and love, because at the end the voice gives you its original question: "Are you a boy or a girl?", and when I chose boy, it said:

No, you are a man.

As though I had finally matured after going through the trials in this short "story."

Definitely worth the 10 minutes to play through this little story.