ARTE 10-Year Collection of Games: A Decade of Interactive Art

It is always a great accomplishment when you see a company that has been creating games for 10 years. Obviously, that means that the company has been doing something right to meet such a great achievement. I first came across some of ARTE’s games when I provided coverage for Steam Next Fest 2021 and LudaNarraCon and fell in love with the story-rich games.

 However, not all of the games that have been worked on and published by ARTE have been the story-based games that they appear to be known for now, and honestly, I liked covering each of the games that ARTE has published and worked on because it was astonishing to see where the games have come from and where they have gone. In the beginning, it appears that the games that the company took on varied, but in the later years, they began to focus more on story games.

Therefore, when ARTE reached out to us here at dailygamepad.net with the opportunity to cover ten of their games for their 10-year anniversary, I was really excited to provide feedback for the games. So before we go into the article, I would like to thank ARTE for providing us on dailygamepad.net with free copies of the following games to review for this article.

The following game, “To Hell with the Ugly,” contains one or more of the following subjects:

Violence/Abuse
Suggestive Themes
Drug Use
Crude Humor
Blood and Gore
Sexual Themes
Simulated Gambling
Strong Language
Mental Health Struggles

Therefore, it may not be suitable for some people.

To Hell with the Ugly is the latest installment of the ARTE publishing collection, and it looks fantastic. In To Hell with the Ugly, you play as Rock Bailey, a young man who is saving himself until he is 20 years old. The game starts off with Rock and his buddies going to a jazz club known as the Zooty Slammer to cut a rug, have drinks, and have a good old time. However, something then happens to Rock,and he sets out on a quest to right the wrong that has been done to him.

The game uses a keyboard and mouse as controls, and the story, like many on this list, is very intriguing. Accompanying the jazz music and the art style of non-traditional noir [when I think noir, I think of black and white], the orange color adds more to the game. It’s truly a game that is really solid, and if you are into story-driven games, then I highly recommend giving To Hell with the Ugly a go. There are some elements in the game that may be sensitive to others, so play this one with discretion.

The following game, “How to Say Goodbye,” contains one or more of the following subjects:

Loss
Death
Grief
Mental Health Struggles

And therefore may not be suitable for some readers.

How to Say Goodbye starts off very differently than its demo, which I thoroughly enjoyed when I played it for LudoNarraCon 2022. In the full version of the game, you fill out a mad lib-type page to set up your character. If you are someone who wants to dive into the game, you can also have the game fill it out for you. After you set up your character’s story, you are then allowed to customize your character’s look as well. The game consists of 16 chapters in total. Each chapter consists of a series of puzzles that you must complete to progress the story.

As you go through your journey, you come across other ghosts who are trying to move on, as well as creatures known as spleens, which are ghosts who cannot accept the fact that they need to move on. Again, keep in mind that this game does center around loss, death, and grief, but it does so in such a positive way that the game is delightful. In terms of controls, the game does use the mouse to solve the puzzles, which are similar to those of sliding puzzles. I also really thought the art style was fantastic and pulled you into the story of the game that you created. If you are looking for a story-driven puzzle game that will keep you entertained throughout, then I highly recommend playing How to Say Goodbye.

In Inua: A Story in Ice and Time, you play as a reporter named Taina Hyppolite, who has been sent out to do a story on a team of archaeologists who are currently trying to figure out what happened to the crew of a British ship known as the Terror in 1848. The game plays like a visual novel, with point-and-click elements incorporated into the game. One of the cool features of the game is that you get to switch between time periods in the game to get the full picture of the story. Although the game doesn’t have traditional gameplay, it is a very intriguing story that pulls you in from the beginning.

In terms of controls, the game uses the mouse, and the game does feature some voiceover, which proves to be nice and limits a lot of the reading you would need to do. To progress the story, you will have to find important tokens that you then use on the characters to get more information about the story. I do really like that you do go back and forth between multiple timelines, accompanied by voiceovers. This is a game that you can sit back, relax, and enjoy. If you are someone who likes story-driven games and are a fan of visual novels, then I highly recommend giving Inua: A Story in Ice and Time a try. 

The next game on the list is BattleScar: Punk was Invented by Girls which looks very interesting. However, because I do not own a VR set, I am unable to play the game for myself and give a full review. Although I will say that if I had a VR Set I would have loved to give it a play, as it does sound very interesting.

Based on the synopsis from Steam BattleScar: Punk was Invented by Girls is an immersive coming-of-age film told by Rosario Dawson that takes place in 1970s New York City. Join Lupe and Debbie, two runaways whose experiences in forming a punk rock band take them to unexpected places. I wish the game had a non-VR version because the game does sound really interesting, so maybe in the future, in 20 years, they could release a non-VR version of the game. However, if you are fortunate enough to own a VR headset, then I would say to go ahead and pick up the game for yourself.

The next game on the list is Gloomy Eyes, which piqued my interest as it reminded me a bit of a Tim Burton film. However, like Battlescar: Punk was invented by girls, this game is VR-only, and again because I do not own a VR set, I am unable to play the game for myself and give a full review.

The synopsis from Steam states that the game Gloomy Eyes, narrated by Colin Farrell, tells the story of the sun, who became bored with people and chose to hide and never shine again. Gloomy Eyes is a 6DoF and 3D real-time animated VR series. So the idea of the game sounds really fascinating, and I would have loved to check it out. Again, maybe when ARTE celebrates its 20-year anniversary, they’ll look into making a non-VR version of the game so that those who don’t own VR can enjoy the game as well.

The Wanderer: Frankenstein’s Creature is what I like to refer to as art in motion. The art style in this game is truly breathtaking. While the game does require you to do a lot of reading, and in the beginning I was a little confused, the game does pick up as it progresses. In The Wanderer: Frankenstein’s Creature, you play as a creature who is telling the story of the time they woke up and got to experience the world for themselves. As they woke up alone, it seems, they ended up leaving where they were created to go out into the world to explore it.

The game only uses the mouse as its controller and features mini-games to help progress the story further. I will admit I was a little nervous about the game when it first started because in the beginning it didn’t pull me in immediately like some of the other games on this list, but again, once you get into the swing of things, the game does truly shine, and I can’t recommend it enough.

As most of the games that I play from ARTE are story-based games, it was quite surprising but refreshing to see a game that wasn’t exactly a story-driven game. Vectronom is a platform puzzle game that has great music. The game is a friendly family game and has the opportunity to be played with others via couch co-op with up to what appears to be four players. I am a huge fan of rhythm games, and I thought the game was a lot of fun. The game does use a keyboard as well as a controller for it’s controls. I used the controller when I played, and it activated player 2, but it looked like whoever made it to the exit square pulled the other player. Now, keep in mind that I accidentally activated player 2, so I’m not exactly 100 percent sure if this is how it would play out if there were actually two players playing the game. I will say playing with a controller or keyboard is both pretty nice, as I did go back and try it with the keyboard.

I feel like Vectronom would make a great party game for you and your friends. The only sad thing is that this is a couch co-op game, and I am not sure if it utilizes Steam Remote Play. However, if you are looking for a cool rhythm game to break up the story-driven games, then I highly recommend giving Vectronom a go. Again, the game is a lot of fun and can be quite addicting.

As I am not really a fan of tactics games, I went into the game of Vandals with an open mind. I was very surprised by the game. Again, it is a tactical game, but not in the sense that I was thinking. In Vandals, you play as a graffiti artist who tags different walls in different cities. Like I said, I was surprised by the game because not only do you have to avoid the cops as you tag the walls, but you do get the opportunity to display your art skills. I like that there isn’t a time limit to do so. So the game is pretty mellow and chill. Yes, you are trying to avoid the cops so that you can tag in peace and maybe snag a bonus star.

In order to avoid the police, you can distract them by using a whistle or picking up a bottle and tossing it. There is no penalty if you don’t get seen; the only thing is that you don’t get the star for being invisible. The game only uses the mouse for controls. I do wish there were more colors that you could tag with, but overall, I thought the game was pretty cool,  and if you like to draw and are into tactical games then I would say give Vandals a go.

Probably one of the strangest games on the list is Californium. The game does mention drugs and alcohol, so the game may not be suitable for some players. When I first played the game, I was a little confused until I read the Steam synopsis, and then it started to make sense to me. You start off writing what appears to be a poem or story; after that, you receive a letter from someone named T, saying that since Alice died, you haven’t really been there and that they are leaving. Then the game turns into a walking sim in which you have to find the symbols in order to progress.

I can appreciate a good walking sim, even though I did find it a little confusing. It looks like the game takes place sometimes in the 60’s, based on the Volkswagen Van covered in peace and love. I will say that I do love the art style of the game, and I’m curious to see what goes on in Elvin’s adventure. If you like games that are a little different and bizarre, then I recommend Californium.

As the first game published and worked on by ARTE, I can say this is quite an interesting game. You roll around as two dots, which, upon reading the Steam page synopsis, are actually the colon symbol. As you play the game,  you are tasked with collecting letters featured in fonts as well as learning about the writing styles of history. The game is interesting because if you are a person who is into history, you will be able to appreciate it. I’m not sure if they were trying to go for an educational game approach, but it does work as an educational game, at least from what I played of it.

You use the keyboard to play the game, and I did have an issue that when I tabbed out of the game, it ended up stopping the music to the game. Overall, Type: Rider is still a great game, and if you love learning while playing, then I do recommend this game for you.

All in all, I do want to take the time to congratulate ARTE for creating games for the last 10 years and to say that I really enjoyed each of the games that I did get to cover in this article. There is currently a sale going on for the games created and published by ARTE on Steam up until November 2, 2023. This is in honor of their 10 years of creating fantastic, breathtaking, and intriguing games. I would also like to thank ARTE for reaching out to us at dailygamepad.net and providing us with the games to play for free for this article. I hope to play ARTE Games for years to come.