A little over a year ago, the award-winning physics-based co-op puzzle game Morkredd launched on PC and on Xbox as a console exclusive. Developed by Norwegian game studio Hyper Games, Morkredd earned a mixed response from reviewers and gamers, with many citing the game’s art style, music, and dark atmosphere as strong points, while its short play time, lack of story, and some technical issues earned criticism.
Morkredd on PC and Xbox features a unique gameplay mechanic that adds an extra layer of challenge to the over 60 puzzles that players must solve. “Morkredd” means “scared of the dark” in Norwegian, and the game centers around the balance of light and dark. Players must cooperate to roll around a large glowing orb and remain in its light at all times. Shadows mean death, including those cast by each player. So not only must players watch out for the darkness created by objects in the environment, but also by their partner.
In June 2022, the new National Museum in Oslo, Norway, will open its doors and become the largest art museum in the Nordic countries. The new museum will have almost twice the exhibition space as the old location, leaving room for an art form that is often left by the wayside: video games. The National Museum will feature a permanent video game exhibition, and Hyper Games’ Morkredd will be a part of the feature. The games in the exhibit won’t be playable, but museum visitors will be able to view gameplay videos and concept art.
The inclusion of video games in a national museum signifies an important and culturally significant moment for the game industry in general. In an interview, Hyper Games CEO Are Sundnes stated that “game developers are still struggling with misconceptions about our industry, and it’s not getting the recognition it deserves from the general population. Here in Norway, we're all so proud of our athletes, authors, filmmakers, and musicians, but most people couldn't name a single Norwegian game. Being included there is a huge step in the right direction.”
Although video games have become much more mainstream in recent years, especially when compared to just a few decades ago, the medium is still not fully understood by many or is viewed in a negative light. Most gamers can identify with the difficulty of understanding why it’s acceptable to binge on TV shows for hours every day, and yet playing a video game for any length of time is often considered a childish waste of time by non-practitioners. So when the pastime is not only recognized as a legitimate hobby but honored as an art form deserving of recognition, it feels vindicating.
This official recognition of video games as an art form has had positive repercussions on the industry in the past. In 2016, Poland’s government-funded National Center for Research and Development granted nearly $30 million to various Polish game studios, including CD Projekt RED to assist with the development of The Witcher 3, CI Games’ Lords of the Fallen, and Techland's Dying Light, whose highly anticipated sequel Dying Light 2 Stay Human launches in less than a week.
Morkredd is available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Game Developer, National Museum