- March 6, 2018
- Studio Oleomingus
a Museum of Dubious Splendors
Platforms
About
"A Museum of Dubious Splendors" is a storybook game set in the world of Somewhere, adapting essays by the poet Mir UmarHassan. The game focuses on the chronicle of Ruhan Nissa Parkes, originally written in Gujarati in 1962 for the Malwa Chronicle. The essays, entitled "In Dubious Splendor," were mangled and edited without the author's permission before publication, leading to a court case over authorial ownership. The game offers a unique opportunity to explore these fascinating and controversial stories.











- The game offers a beautiful and surreal aesthetic, with well-crafted visuals and a calming soundtrack that enhances the experience.
- The short stories presented are clever, thought-provoking, and often humorous, providing a unique perspective on cultural themes and human emotions.
- As a free game, it provides a worthwhile experience for those who enjoy reading and exploring artistic interpretations of narratives.
- The gameplay is minimal, consisting mainly of walking through rooms and reading text, which may not appeal to players looking for more interactive experiences.
- There are technical issues such as camera controls that can feel unwieldy, and some players noted spelling and grammatical errors in the text.
- The connection between the stories and the exhibits can be unclear, leading to confusion about the overall narrative and purpose of the game.
story
27 mentions Positive Neutral NegativeThe game's story is presented through a series of short, metaphor-laden tales that explore human emotions and experiences, often accompanied by visually striking objects in a surreal museum setting. While some players appreciate the clever use of the medium and the emotional depth of the narratives, others find the gameplay simplistic and the storytelling somewhat disjointed, with concerns about the order of story access and the overall engagement level. Overall, the experience is described as atmospheric and visually appealing, but opinions vary on its depth and coherence.
“The punchline of using the video game medium to have the player discover what the artifact mentioned in each story is was amazing and a clever use of the format.”
“The stories remind me of a collection of bedtime stories that present a variety of topics, but one that I felt encapsulated all was human emotion. Even with the gods present in some of these, the emotional reaction or ego presented in each story caused it, either by the feeling of superiority leading to stupidity or the wish for violence to cause a never-ending scale of war. It was presented in a great manner of writing.”
“The point of this game is to discover a story laden with metaphor, and if you're at all familiar with magical realism, the graphics of the game fit right in with the story being told.”
“Semi interesting surrealist museum with a short story to go along with it, no real gameplay other than opening doors; not sure if there are different endings depending on what doors you go through because I can't be bothered to replay.”
“The symbolism in this one is a bit on the nose, and the impact of its storytelling is stretched thin by perhaps a tad too many parables and the motif of 'big object in a room.' Technically, there are a few glitches as well, and it's somewhat immersion-breaking when up close the objects have visible polygonal and textural artifacts.”
“This isn't even a game... you just click on doors, read a little story, and look at weird objects that are supposed to be museum exhibits?”