- November 12, 2013
- Seemingly Pointless
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Platforms
About
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a short, immersive game based on Ambrose Bierce's Civil War story. It offers a unique, emotionally gripping experience that takes advantage of interactive storytelling. By blurring the line between reader and protagonist, it showcases the power of game design as an art form.






- The game effectively conveys a powerful story through minimalist visuals and gameplay, allowing players to immerse themselves in the narrative.
- Many players found the emotional impact of the game to be profound, with some stating it brought them to tears and left them reflecting on the experience long after completion.
- The pixel art and atmospheric music were praised for enhancing the storytelling, making it a unique artistic experience despite its simplicity.
- The gameplay is extremely limited, primarily consisting of holding the right arrow key, which some players found tedious and lacking in interactivity.
- The ending was described as abrupt and disappointing, leading to mixed feelings about the overall purpose of the story.
- Technical issues, such as lag and the game restarting unexpectedly, detracted from the experience for some players, making it frustrating to play.
- story135 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
The game's story, based on Ambrose Bierce's classic short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," is presented as a minimalist, wordless experience that effectively conveys the protagonist's emotional journey through pixel art and sound. While some players appreciate its artistic approach and ability to evoke thought, others criticize it for lacking depth and gameplay, viewing it as a superficial adaptation of a powerful narrative. Overall, the game serves as a brief yet impactful exploration of themes from the original story, appealing to those familiar with Bierce's work while leaving some newcomers wanting more context.
“Bierce's story was unique for its time because of how the reader is able to directly experience the actions and feelings of the central character, Farquhar, as if it is their own.”
“This game variation has taken the Civil War story and kept the main theme yet shown it in an artistic way by using no words, only visuals in the form of pixelated graphics and sound.”
“This free game can be completed within 10 minutes and has no achievements or saves yet, for the players who pay attention to the story instead of going through the motions of 'do action until game ends', the 'Occurrence' story will undoubtedly leave you thinking on the experience long after completing it.”
“The visuals fully showcase the protagonists' experiences much as Bierce intended in his story, yet the only missing section is the story's explanation behind why the protagonist had ended up at Owl Creek Bridge and who was behind it.”
“Although not as effective as some of this developer's other titles, this game is another competent example of minimalist storytelling in video-gamedom.”
“An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is a 2D retro pixel 'walking simulator', thematically and poorly ripping off the classic short story from Ambrose Bierce, and also famous for being the last of many great stories told by the 1960's cult anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone.”