We are developing two experimental short-form videogames for submission to Game Poems Issue #2, an international publication exploring videogame design as poetic practice.
Unlike traditional narrative games, game poems focus on mood, metaphor, interaction, and symbolic play rather than story or dialogue. These works investigate how gameplay, interaction, and audiovisual design can function as lyric expression, creating short interactive experiences intended to be completed in under ten minutes.
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Game Poems is an experimental development project exploring how videogame mechanics can function as a form of poetic expression.
The project responds to the international open call from Game Poems, an online literary magazine dedicated to short-form artistic videogames that operate in the tradition of lyric poetry.
Reality Checkpoint is developing two independent game poem prototypes using Unreal Engine and Godot. Each game is designed to be playable in under ten minutes and to foreground interaction as a poetic device.
The work explores how minimal mechanics, spatial sound, and constrained systems can communicate emotional or social experiences. One concept we’re exploring examines the paradox faced by many early-career creatives: the circular barrier of needing experience to get work, but needing work to gain experience. The design investigates how this friction can be embodied through player interaction, movement constraints, and audio feedback.
Rather than presenting the issue through text, the game attempts to translate the emotional experience of frustration, repetition, and perseverance into gameplay mechanics.
This project forms part of Reality Checkpoint’s wider research into play as a tool for cultural reflection, exploring how small games can communicate complex ideas quickly, accessibly, and emotionally.
This project develops new creative prototypes investigating the relationship between game design, poetic practice, and interactive media.
Through the development of two short-form game poems, the project explores how minimal mechanics, sound design, and player interaction can communicate complex ideas within extremely constrained formats. This work contributes to emerging conversations around games as artistic and literary expression.
The development process will produce:
• Two playable experimental games designed for browser distribution
• New workflows for rapid poetic game prototyping using Unreal Engine and Godot
• Exploration of spatial audio as a narrative and emotional mechanic in short-form interactive work
• Practice-based research into how gameplay can communicate social experiences such as systemic barriers, frustration, and persistence.
If selected, the work will be published through Game Poems and distributed internationally via academic networks, festivals, and digital platforms including Itch.io and Steam.
Regardless of publication outcome, the prototypes will contribute to Reality Checkpoint’s growing body of experimental games exploring civic literacy, cultural reflection, and playful critical thinking.
This project strengthens our studio’s portfolio in artistic game development and supports ongoing research into how short interactive works can function as powerful tools for reflection, dialogue, and creative experimentation.