Indie game Everything has qualified for an Oscar

Recent indie release Everything is treading new ground by becoming the first video game to be eligible to win an Oscar.

One of the game’s trailers, which takes the form of an 11 minute short film, won the jury prize at the Vienna Shorts Festival. As a result, the short automatically makes the longlist for Animated Short Film at the next Academy Awards.

The ‘Jury Prize – Animation’ goes to a film, which beyond being entertaining has a strong poetic and philosophical theme,” the Jury statement said.

It serves a highly educational purpose, including an important political statement, that encourages to let our egos dissolve and gain a new perspective on the world.”

Everything has an 80 per cent rating on Metacritic, and won itself three 100% ratings from critics.

I can only hope that Everything opens the door for more philosophical games,” The Washington Post said in its review. It is the rare game that may push you to want to lead a better life.”

The Guardian in its assessment described it as a game nestled somewhere between art piece and walking simulator”, adding: You are things and their thoughts, pieced together from their own exposure to the universe you exist in, ever recycling and generating into a potentially solipsistic infinity. Perhaps there is some comfort to find in this relentless existence, or perhaps it is merely depressing. But to be affected in this way – to contemplate one’s own relationship to the cyclical nature of things – isn’t necessarily a negative.”

Polygon concluded: Everything is telling me, again and again, that I am unimportant, unexceptional. Just like everything else in the universe, I’m kinda cool for a bit, and then I’m boring and I ought to be transformed into a new thing.

This is an exceptional piece of fantasy fiction, a metamorphosis machine, a toy, a game like no other. It’s a work of deep imagination, humour and thoughtfulness. Everything held me captive for many hours, and will continue to do so. It’s brave, bizarre, compelling and beautiful.”

https://twitter.com/davidoreilly/status/872534788183252992

Here’s the trailer in question: