The Loss Levels

The Loss Levels is Dan Hett's compact suite of autobiographical microgames about the aftermath of losing his brother in the 2017 Manchester attack. It borrows the brisk controls and bright shorthand of an old arcade game, then removes the comfort of winning or changing what comes next.

What is The Loss Levels?

A run lasts only a few minutes, but it is split into fifteen sharply separated tasks: checking screens for news, moving through traffic, facing public attention, packing belongings, and completing other fragments of mourning. Arrow keys and Z/X provide the browser controls. The pixel-art vocabulary makes each instruction instantly legible, while the fixed outcome turns ordinary game reflexes into something more uncomfortable: pressing the right button can move the scene along, but it cannot repair the event underneath it. The online edition preserves a work originally built for a stark, one-button arcade cabinet at Now Play This 2018.

What you can do there

• Use arrow keys and Z/X to move through fifteen brief vignettes

Why we picked it

The uneasy fit between arcade language and autobiographical grief is the point, not a novelty wrapper. Each miniature mechanic communicates one pressure or memory before it can settle into a conventional challenge, making the whole piece brief, specific, and difficult to shake.

How to get the most from it

Set aside four quiet minutes, use the arrow keys to move and Z or X for actions, and let the sequence run in order. Do not approach it as a score chase; attention to how each task limits your choices is more revealing than trying to play perfectly.

Good to know

This is a serious work about bereavement and the aftermath of a terrorist attack, and the official page includes a content warning. The browser version documents keyboard controls; current touch, mobile, audio, accessibility, and motion behavior has not been verified. No signup is presented before the embedded game frame.

Who made it, and when?

Dan Hett is the credited creator or organization. The earliest supported launch date we found is 2018.