In the gaming world everyone loves the shiny, new thing. But when that fascination gets in the way of appreciating enduring quality, it should be resisted. Even though several years past its release date, now, I still say that, in the category of free games, still the top of the line in the best games for PC remains this swell bossa nova noir game, as I like to call it, Gravity Bones. A delightful standalone game, it immerses the player in a kind of avant garde art piece, functioning as a first person player mode, where we find ourselves strolling through a world of spy-like intrigue.
The game has only a couple levels. Experienced gamers will likely be able to play through in about 20 minutes. Personally, after the third bird, I was stuck for a while myself, but that’s just me. The whole thing has a mission orientation and the first level is almost a tutorial for the second more elaborate level. The learning process is nicely integrated into the first level. It comes in a zip file and needs no installation. It requires about 20MB of disk space.
None of that though really gives you a sense of what’s so great and fun about this game. It is experience-based and beautifully realized. Though technically a first-person game that description is misleading. This one kind of busts open a genre all of its own: bossa nova noir!
It does have a story, but delightfully not one of the color-in-the-lines type stories that are so common in today’s gaming world. Like a great avant garde film, the story emerges impressionistically and is subject to a whole bunch of interpretation.
Just a few brief moments after starting, the player is injected right into the action. You discover yourself stepping off an elevator amid some sort of Euro-spy scene. Even as the elevator descends (which is kind of funny, down from where exactly are you coming?), you’re aware of coming into dressed guests of some black tie cocktail party. The fete is spread out over a series of terraces overlooking breathtaking vistas of a mountain enveloped lake. A cool bossa nova sound track accompanies your meandering through the crowd of squares (inside joke). You’re initial mission has already begun.
This first level, really more a test run, is rapidly completed. Then you’re coming off a second elevator and things are a little more elaborate and complicated this time, as you have to find your way through back corridors and across catwalks on an ominous and stormy night.
There’s little to dislike about this exquisitely put together game, but I do have one complaint: I could have done just fine in the absence of the clue cards. Personally, I entirely ignored them and figured out the missions just through investigation and exploration. That was way more fun. The cards weren’t needed and I would have preferred not having them as a distraction in the corner of the screen. At the very least they should be optional. It is just a minor complaint, though.
The aesthetics of this game are beautiful and the play is engaging. I really appreciated the creator’s wise choice to not resort to the standard polygon realism so rampant in the gaming world today. Instead, the choice to conjure up a vivid and original world is far more beautiful and satisfying than would have been the same challenges put into the usual boring “realism.” The espionage sensibility evokes a sense of playful self-mocking that doesn’t slip over into cloying irony.
Though short and sweet, for play and aesthetics alike, this game is a real treat. It’s definitely still our number one choice among the best games for PC in the free category.
If you need the scoop on the top pay games for PC, you need to check out Mickey Jhonny’s picks of the best games for PC. Those keen on the joys of emersive, parallel experiences will love his article over at Pretty Much Dead Already on the phenomenon of the Walking Dead Fanfiction .