To Burn in Memory is an ahistorical and atemporal Interactive Fiction game for IFComp 2015. Explore a city that never existed, and uncover its secret history through the memories of a woman that lived its darkest moments. Find out more about this game here, Steam account holders!

Free-to-Play Indie Game on your Steam Account

You read that right! You can download this game now to increase your Steam account value. The game was released last October 1^st 2015 under Orihaus. To Burn in Memory tells the tale of a city that never existed, filled with secret history, uncovered through the memories of those caught in the chaos of Europe spiraling into war. It features a fully original soundtrack by the author, with illustration and graphic design maestro Johannes Poell.

Thoughts about the Game for Steam Account Holders

This hypertext game allows you explore a ruined city stuck in time – or abandoned by time – or abandoned by the world at large. Either way, it’s all the same. The era this city exists in shares similarities with early twentieth century Europe, and certain characters are mentioned as being French and German and so on. Fantastical elements play a large role. There are clocks that don’t tell time as we would tell it.

The gameplay involves poking around, finding keys, unlocking doors, opening safes, and gaining entrance to new areas. Sometimes you can activate memories that reveal how the city came to be. Despite the focus on memories and exploration though, you won’t really be able to visualize what was going on or what the city even really looked like. The text is written in an abstract, verbose style that often aims for higher marks than it can hit. And when it doesn’t hit them, it produces confusion. You have to be an extremely skilled writer to pull off a style like this.

To Burn in Memory for Steam Account Holders

The game’s opening references Umberto Eco, but it is more directly reminiscent of Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, which is an Italian book from 1499 about a man wandering a dreamscape. Almost the entire book is dedicated to explaining the architecture of buildings in the dream, and the text will go on for pages lavishing elaborate philosophical descriptions on columns and fountains. At times, it may be a bit suffocating to read, and while To Burn in Memory is not nearly as overwrought, it does share Hypnerotomachia’s interest in allegorical architecture. Both these texts also prefer complexity for its own sake, for its flavor.

Hypnerotomachia is a famously beautiful book, and To Burn in Memory also has a very lovely physical design. But they sit heavily in your gut and are hard to digest. As such, beautiful as the storytelling may be, this game may not be for everyone. What do you think? Will you be getting the game for your Steam account?