a good videogame

a good videogame turns a personal argument about making games into a keyboard-navigated HTML5 piece. It is less a conventional game than a statement you move through, with separate keys for scrolling and changing pages. A recent visitor report says the embedded frame may currently load blank, so keep the linked static version in mind.

What is a good videogame?

The itch.io shell gives you just enough orientation to start: W/S or the vertical arrows scroll, while A/D or the horizontal arrows change pages. That split control scheme makes the manifesto itself feel like the object being played, not merely an essay pasted beneath a game frame. The work was made for Manifesto Jam 2022, whose brief welcomed writing about games in whatever form best carried the argument. Here, the form is a released Construct-built HTML5 experience with a static reading route linked alongside it. The protected check confirmed the public page is reachable, but the embedded piece was not run during this review.

What you can do there

• Scroll through a games manifesto with keyboard controls
• Change pages with letter or arrow keys

Why we picked it

It treats interface as punctuation. Giving scrolling and page turning different keys is a tiny design decision, but it makes reading feel deliberate and slightly game-like. That is an apt fit for a manifesto concerned with videogames, and a neat example of an essay refusing to sit still in a plain document.

How to get the most from it

Start with a keyboard: W/S or Up/Down handles movement within a page, and A/D or Left/Right moves between pages. If the embedded frame stays blank, use the static-version link on the itch.io page instead of repeatedly reloading.

Good to know

This is an interactive manifesto, not a score-driven game. The current itch.io page identifies it as released HTML5 work made with Construct, but a recent commenter reported a blank or unreachable frame. Touch controls, audio, accessibility support, and the present behavior of the embedded build have not been confirmed.

Who made it, and when?

izzy kestrel is the credited creator or organization. The earliest supported launch date we found is 2022.