There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension is an adventure game unlike any other. The debut title from developers Draw Me a Pixel, the game was released in 2020, a year that saw a wealth of moody and beautiful adventure games. There Is No Game brought a bright, humorous vibe to an otherwise fairly dour year. But it wasn't just the overall tone that set this game apart from the crowd -- it was the game's meta playstyle and send-up of other genres.
The overarching narrative of There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension is ultimately a good, old-fashioned adventure game quest. Players must find and neutralize Mr. Glitch, who is ruining their game and posses a threat to everyone in the world should he escape. They follow him through different games, interacting with the interface and the behind-the-scenes material to find him.
The first stand-out feature of There Is No Game is this type of meta-interaction. Immediately upon start-up, players are told repeatedly that there isn't any game. They are encouraged to close the program because there certainly won't be anything to play. After defying the narrator and finding their way into the game, Mr. Glitch takes players on a journey through different types of games and computing systems.
Players watch a Sherlock Holmes adventure game play out on an old CRT, stealing parts of his interface while also working to shift the scenery of his level from the back of the television. In a fake RPG, players can grow and shrink the environment to reach the end and escape, and in the free-to-play remix of this level can literally use their player's health bar to collect objects. There's also a level that's just a series of credits, where names can be interchanged to reveal different interactable objects.
Breaking the fourth wall -- having the game speak directly to the player and allowing players to interact with the game in unexpected ways -- adds a level of delight to There Is No Game. Most players will be familiar with standard genre mechanics or playstyles, but seeing things like the expected adventure game premise or the earnestness of an RPG narrative flipped makes this game even more fun.
It also creates some truly compelling puzzles. While other games provide everything the player will need to make progress within the bounded world of the game, There Is No Game makes it clear that outside-the-box thinking is necessary -- puzzles can't be solved with what's in the game alone. This forces players to rethink common interactions like boss battles and approach their solutions from brand new angles. Perhaps it's not about hitting hard and not getting hit back; perhaps it's about a well-timed bridge collapse.
The meta-narrative and complex puzzles suggest that Draw Me a Pixel had its work cut out for it. Not only did the studio have to create one game, but it had to create a number of smaller games that could then be linked under the quest for Mr. Glitch. This could easily lead to one-dimensional backdrops with a focus on the main storyline, but instead, There Is No Game creates fully-realized inner worlds that are often send-ups of the genres they're based on. Draw Me a Pixel phoned in nothing on this game.
With a combination of intricate, funny and fully-fleshed out inner levels and the fun of playing with the meta-environment they're presented with, There Is No Game creates an utterly compelling experience. It's funny that a game all about reminding the player that they're just interacting with code and breaking all sorts of rules can be so immersive, fully drawing players into the gameplay and story.
Because There Is No Game requires players to think outside the box, it also relies on a robust hinting system. At any point, players can select the "help" button for hints on how to proceed. This only works if they are on a screen that has interactable objects that are part of a puzzle, and the hints are visually associated with each object. With multiple hints available after a cool-down period, players can use this guidance to help them think in the oblique ways the game requires. It also can help find the answer if a puzzle's just not clicking with them.
This hinting system is often necessary not because of poorly-designed puzzles, but because There Is No Game relies on mechanics and techniques that aren't standard to the genre. Instituting a system that helps identify which objects to focus on just by hitting the "help" button and a tiered system that gives small hints before revealing the answer makes this system easy to use without triggering any guilt, something that makes the game more accessible to all gamers.
With such a unique story and fully fleshed-out mechanics and style, it's hard to believe that There Is No Game almost didn't happen. Developer Pascal Cammisotto released a free short version of this game in 2015 that caught the world by storm. Emboldened, he set up a Kickstarter in 2016 to fund the creation of a larger game that relied on the same core meta-concepts, but it raised only about 10 percent of its goal. Camissotto continued working on it anyway, founding Draw Me A Pixel in 2017 and eventually releasing There Is No Game as the studio's debut title.
Despite these lackluster beginnings, There Is No Game has been well-received since its release. It swept at The Adventure Gamers Aggie Awards, including winning the "Best Adventure of 2020." Other reviews compared it positively with darlings like The Stanley Parable and Undertale, recognizing the power and draw of the game's meta nature.
There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension asks players to rethink what an adventure game can be, and whether the setting of an adventure game can be an adventure game itself. This novel concept has been executed almost flawlessly, with deep worlds that help to bring the game to life. Coupled with extraordinarily fun mechanics and an ideal hinting system to help players through this out-of-the-box thinking, it's no surprise that There Is No Game is a stand-out title from 2020.
Developed and published by Draw Me a Pixel, There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension is available now on PC, MacOS, iOS and Android.