Bringing Artwork To Life With Every Level
Please Touch The Artwork was an indie title originally released by Thomas Waterzooi in 2022 that gave a handful of real world paintings, and you were tasked with moving around them with varying gameplay styles and elements. It was a mixed bag as far as gameplay is concerned, and same goes for the stories included in those. Now comes Please Touch The Artwork 2, and what we have is a more focused and refined product that cuts the smattering of gameplay elements and instead concentrates on the most important part: the art.
In Please Touch The Artwork 2, we are to focus on the paintings of James Ensor, a Belgian painter from the late 1800s who depicted skeletons as part of everyday society. Later in his life, his work started to move towards the religious, but always included skeletons. He was an expressionist and surrealist in his work. Now within this game, his work is celebrated through light interactivity but mostly in an electronic museum.
In the game, you are playing as a wandering skeleton artist as he traverses each painting. Some of the characters you encounter will task you to find hidden objects around the paintings, so off you go, through each piece of artwork to find hidden objects. It’s simple gameplay akin to a Where’s Waldo book but engaging with the artwork only gave me a finer appreciation of what I was looking at. Despite needing to find the hidden objects, I found myself admiring the work itself. It gave me exposure to an artist that I hadn’t seen before and in that exposure I grew to love what I was seeing.
The premise itself is so simple, yet it’s something I haven’t seen before. A way to almost trick me into experiencing new art and artists, leaving me with a deeper appreciation. It’s a cool party trick that I’d love to see replicated for other artists. Give me a Please Touch The Artwork pack, as long as we keep these coming, I’ll subscribe. It’s educational, it’s fun and simple. I would say there should be a bit more dynamic tasks, with some variation but ultimately, I don’t know if it would serve the artwork more or detract. As it stands, PTTA2 is a poignant, more calibrated game that spotlights fantastic art. Is it overly simple? Possibly, but it’s not about the game, let’s be real. This is an art history lesson that I would’ve gladly participated in during my college days. I’m ready to learn!
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