Islands: Non-Places is a 2016 abstract art game developed and published independently by artist and animator Carl Burton, best known for the animated GIF illustrations he created for season two of the Serial podcast. The game was released on November 17, 2016, on iOS, Windows, Mac, and Linux, and consists of a series of anonymous, liminal environments – the eponymous "non-places". These scenes appear mundane at first, but become increasingly surreal as the player interacts with the scenery.
Each place is rendered in the stylized manner that characterizes Burton's work, with solid monotone colors, dark shadows, and foggy backgrounds. The gameplay is minimal and consists mainly of clicking on the environment and observing what unfolds, a design choice that Burton hoped would engender a sense of slight confusion in the player without overwhelming them with difficult puzzles. In developing Islands, Burton drew inspiration from diverse sources, including the work of anthropologist Marc Augé, the installation art of James Turrell, and the field recordings of Chris Watson.
Critical response was generally positive, and the game was nominated for the Nuovo Award at the 2016 Independent Games Festival. Much of the positive reception focused on the abstract visuals and sound design; on the other hand, some critics were disappointed with the limited scope of the gameplay. Although divided on the precise message the game expresses, many critics described Islands leaving them with a feeling of renewed wonder at mundane things in the real world.
Gameplay
Islands: Non-Places consists of a series of ten scenes, each of which represents an anonymous, non-descript environment such as a parking lot, hotel lobby, or airport. These spaces are rendered in the stylized manner that characterizes Burton's work, with solid monotone colors, dark shadows, and foggy backgrounds, and although each scene clearly represents a constructed space, they are devoid of any human presence. The overall effect is intended to invoke the feeling of each area being a liminal place or "non-place". The seemingly-mundane environments become increasingly surreal as the player interacts with the scenery. In one scene, an empty bus stop becomes an incubator for eggs; in another, a malfunctioning fountain opens up to reveal a vast underground space beneath it.
The gameplay is minimalist; the camera can be rotated around the scene in a fixed circle, but the player cannot move within it. The only means of interaction is clicking on the environment to prompt the next step of the scene to unfold; once it has played out in its entirety, the game transitions to the next scene. Interactive areas are usually–but not always–noticeably lit up. There are no puzzles to be solved, and no overarching narrative or goal aside from interacting with the current scene. The game is short, and can be completed in less than an hour. Because of its minimal interactivity and emphasis on visuals, it is usually described by critics as an art game.
Development
The game was developed and published independently by artist and animator Carl Burton, best known for the animated GIF illustrations he created for season two of the Serial podcast. Islands was released on November 17, 2016, on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Linux. Burton estimated that the game had taken six to eight months to develop, using Unity Playmaker and Cinema 4D. Burton described wanting to expand on his animations to allow interaction. He stated that although it is never made explicit in the game, "what you see happening is something that might happen every day in the world of the game. The 'surreal' behavior is mundane from the point of view of the world itself."
In creating the game, Burton was inspired in part by the book Non-Places: An Introduction to Supermodernity (1995), in which French anthropologist Marc Augé coined the term "non-place" to refer to places such as hotel rooms, parking lots, and airports, which are ubiquitous in the modern urban landscape, but feel anonymous and interchangeable. With Islands, Burton sought to explore the strangeness of these mundane environments in a way that was accessible to anyone, so he built the game without challenging game mechanics. In an interview, he explained, "I'm not really interested in puzzles as difficult obstacles. I wanted a more light and realistic sense of momentary confusion, like when you're staying at a friend's house and have to figure out how their shower works."