Unique Pixel-Art Game About Cursed Artifact You'll Struggle To Carry

Sometimes you come across a beautiful piece of art and think, "Man, I wish this were a game." Well, the good news is that what you're looking at above is actually a real game.

O EMPIRE! WARD OFF THY ROT, created by Dean Moynihan, features an incredibly distinctive visual style that's hard to look away from, and at first glance, you might mistake it for tilt-shift photography or even embroidery. The game is described as a "slow, journey-driven survival experience focused on travel rather than combat", where you play as a lone traveler tasked with transporting a cursed object across a vast, abandoned world. According to the developer, Tarkovsky and Tarr are the two biggest inspirations, so expect plenty of Stalker and The Turin Horse vibes.

There's very little dialogue or exposition. In O EMPIRE! WARD OFF THY ROT, progress is all about how far you can travel, the resources you can find, and how long you can survive. The artifact you're carrying can affect how you move and the choices you make, and it gets harder to carry as you go.

Check out more of the game's demo below:

O EMPIRE! WARD OFF THY ROT features resource management, scavenging, and light stamina systems, and "carrying weight – literal and moral – through an indifferent world."

Add the game to your wishlist here and follow the developer on X/Twitter to see more WIPs. Also,subscribe to our Newsletter, join our 80 Level Talent platform, Discord, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Instagram, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.