It's not every year that a game comes along that has such a huge impact on gaming culture that entire conventions are centered around it. Minecraft is one of those games, and needless to say, there's been a lot of expectations on what its creator would make next. After a couple of stops and starts, Markus "Notch" Persson, has finally released a new project, Drowning in Problems. That title says a lot.

I highly enocourage you to actually play the game if you're sitting there reading this, it only takes about 15-20 minutes to get through and it's best experienced without any previous knowledge. Seriously, go play it, I'll wait.



The game guides you through a life - whether it's yours or not is up to speculation. Actually, whether it's even a life or not is up for speculation. Using simple text, button clicks, and a sparse "inventory" system, the game forces you to "solve" problems to gain items, which then must be traded to "solve" more problems which quickly escalate into a mountain of issues.

In a lot of ways, this game is the exact opposite of Minecraft. Where Minecraft was a game about unlimited options, with the ability to create and explore endless worlds, Drowning in Problems is about simplification. Minecraft is about the player, about what he/she can create. Drowning in Problems is about the creator, and how he feels.

As problems to solve continue to pile up, you can't help but feel empathy for Notch, who must be feeling the weight of his own issues. Before Drowning in Problems, Notch's most publicized Minecraft follow-up was a game called 0x10c, a game about space enginering and building spaceships. Notch eventually scrapped the project altogether because he realized that the public awareness and expectations placed on him were such that it was sapping the fun out of it.


Before Minecraft, Notch was just a guy with a comptuer doing something he loved. After Minecraft, he suddenly found himself as one of the recognizable public figures in the industry, the head of a multi-million dollar company, and the person that many consider to be the center of the indie game movement. That's a lot of pressure.

Here's the amazing thing about Drowning in Problems to me, though: it both explains these feelings that Notch is going through by creating empathy within the player, while at the same time breaking the inhibitave chains that caused the game to be made in the first place. While it's up to each individual to decide just how well Drowning in Problems works, in my opinion, it easily proves that Notch isn't just a one trick pony.

Plenty of auteurs tend to get set in their ways. This isn't always a bad thing: I like the Wes Andersons and the Sigur Ros' of the world, but when they announce a new project, you know what to expect. It seems like most game auteurs are the same way. Hideo Kojima makes ridiculous espionage games, Gabe Newell makes story-driven first person shooters (editor's note: hats), and up until Drowning in Problems, Notch made big, creative sandbox games.



Notch has proven now that he can do more than just large, ambitious projects, and while I think there is some validity to the people saying that Drowning in Problems reflects Notch's mental state, I don't think it's anything to worry about. Drowning in Problems reflects his mental state, but also works as a form of catharsis, I believe.

Having proven that he can create something different, something so completely removed from Minecraft, I think Notch is pretty much free to do whatever he wants now. He doesn't have to create Minecraft in Space or Like Minecraft But Better, and I think that the fun of creation will return to Notch. Frankly, I'm more excited to see what Notch does now than I was before he made Drowning in Problems.