In 2015, Draw Me A Pixel had in their hands the winner of a Game Jam, called There Is No Game. In March of this year, they released that game. And now, in August 2020, Draw Me A Pixel have returned, as both developer and publisher, with There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension. Developed and published by Draw Me A Pixel, There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension is a puzzle game like no other, and a liar.
Now, you might be confused. Is there a game? Well, according to the program itself, no. There is not. There is nothing there, and we should all just go outside and play. But I was not going to let a computer program with a Russian-esque accent tell me what to do!
The running joke of there being no game is right there from the offset, and so begins your antagonistic relationship with the game itself. You destroy it’s signs, you crash it’s memory, you disregard everything it tells you. And it is amazing.
With fourth-wall breaking akin to Stanley Parable, it is you, the user, trying to play a game, that the game itself claims doesn’t exist. But where it differs is the gameplay itself. There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension comes across as a satirical love letter to retro gaming and gaming history. Throughout your attempts to play the game, you experience many different genres of game, from brick-breaking, to point and click, to classic RPG in the tune of old school Zelda titles, and more. To elaborate any further would take away from the joy of experiencing it yourself.
Throughout my journey in There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension, myself and the game grew from antagonist rivals to unlikely friends. The puzzle solving within this game is masterful, and requires serious outside the box thinking – sometimes quite literally. There are hints you can obtain, with the only penalty being a timed cool-down, which in away encourages you to think more on the hint you’d just received.
Draw Me A Pixel has done a fantastic job with this genre-bending fourth-wall breaking puzzle adventure, and I cannot recommend it more. The art style is wonderful, switching it up for every different game type you find yourself within, and the music playing can be as important as physical items you can hold.
The wit and self-awareness of the game’s humour is something I have yet to find before, and any fan of video games would be doing themselves a disservice to not at least try this title. The charm contained in the original There Is No Game: Jam Edition 2015 is just expanded within There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension. And at less than 15 quid, this non-game is far superior than many actual games you could get at that price. Do yourself a favour – go wreck some havoc and show There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension that it is indeed a game, and one to be reckoned with.
