Alphabet (video game)

Alphabet (stylized A͈L͈P͈H͈A͈B͈E͈T͈) is an experimental video game that was developed by Keita Takahashi & Adam Saltsman,[2] designed "for 1 to 26 players". Saltsman has additionally described the title as a "massively single-player offline game". The game has variously been presented either as a downloadable title or as an installation piece.

Not to be confused with The Alphabet Game.
Alphabet
Developer(s)Keita Takahashi & Adam Saltsman
Publisher(s)LA Game Space
Platform(s)Windows, Macintosh, Linux[1]
ReleaseApril 5, 2013 (installation)
September 7, 2013 (download)
Mode(s)Multiplayer, single-player

Gameplay

The objective of the game is to guide increasing numbers of letters to the finish line – with one keyboard key corresponding to each letter. The player can tap a key to make the letter jump, or hold it to make it run. This task quickly becomes chaotic due to the large number of letters that need to be managed. In the 2016 arcade-style version, this reaches a maximum of ten letters, while the 2013 version features the full alphabet.[3]

Releases

Announced in 2012,[4] the game was originally developed and released as part of Experimental Game Pack 01, a collection of games released to Kickstarter backers of LA Game Space in 2013. The game was first made playable to the public at an event hosted by Juegos Rancheros on April 5, 2013, while the downloadable game pack released that September.[5][6] In December 2013, Japanese magazine Dengeki offered skins for the PlayStation Vita themed around Alphabet and Tenya Wanya – another of Takahashi's games.[7]

The game was later re-released in an arcade format for the 2016 Fantastic Arcade,[8] and when LA/GS ceased operation in 2018 the Windows version of the title was made freely available via The Internet Archive.[9]

From January 23 to July 14 2019, Telfair Museums ran an exhibition at the Jepson Center entitled "Keita Takahashi: Zooming Out", featuring various elements of Takahashi's work including Alphabet.[10] The game was presented at the installation with a custom controller table with large circular buttons for each letter.[11]

Reception

Wired called the game's premise "deceptively straightforward", stating that the Fantastic Arcade version's gameplay became "frantic" as the amount of characters they had to control increased and describing the game as "overwhelming insanity". They also recounted that even the 10-letter version was "simply beyond [their] capacity to handle."[3]

Paste, who found it "endearing", called it the third-best game from Fantastic Arcade 2016. While they described it as a "frantic typing mess" and remarked that they became "annoyed in harder levels," they concluded: "Alphabet has a great deal of style and charm, and is unique enough that it's hard to dissuade anyone from trying it at least once."[8]

References
  1. "Experimental Game Pack 01". LA Game Space. Archived from the original on July 21, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. Tach, Dave (April 1, 2013). "Keita Takahashi's Tenya Wanya Teens and a new game called Alphabet playable at Juegos Rancheros". Polygon. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016.
  3. Muncy, Julie (October 1, 2016). "Katamari Damacy Creator's New Game Is Overwhelming Insanity". Wired. Archived from the original on May 14, 2020.
  4. Tach, Dave (November 21, 2012). "Katamari Damacy creator's next game available for $5 through L.A. Game Space Kickstarter". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020.
  5. Renovitch, James (April 1, 2013). "Keita Takahashi Games Set to Debut Locally". The Austin Chronicle. Archived from the original on December 29, 2013.
  6. Schramm, Mike (April 1, 2013). "'Alphabet' made by Takahashi and Saltsman for LA Game Space backers". Joystiq. Archived from the original on April 6, 2013. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  7. Lien, Tracey (December 15, 2013). "Japanese magazine offers Alphabet and Tenya Wanya Teens PS Vita skins". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  8. Van Allen, Eric (October 4, 2016). "The 10 Best Games from Fantastic Arcade 2016". Paste. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  9. "LA Game Space: Experimental Game Pack 01 - Windows" – via Internet Archive.
  10. "Keita Takahashi: Zooming Out". Telfair Museums. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020.
  11. Delorme, Harry (February 13, 2019). "Tracing the work of Keita Takahashi, from Sculpture to Games". Telfair Museums. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020.
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