OMG.

Why are game genres that I really don't like beginning to look so damn gorgeous nowadays?

This makes me want to learn how to play airborne shoot'em-ups (or whatever you call that genre). Check out the trailer, the screenshots don't do it justice.

There seems to be, nowadays, a subset of computer games/video games that are mainly about navigating a work of art, rather than about accomplishing any kind of directive. I hesitate to even call what's happening there worldbuilding, although that's a somewhat related phenomenon. But it's really closer to painting and sculpture than to worldbuilding and storytelling. Or maybe there's a bit of all of these in there. Anyways, this is nearly utterly about a new kind of aesthetic experience. 'New' in that you don't stand in front of the work of art, but walk/fly/jump around in it. Strangely enough, even with a 2D game, the fact of being able to 'walk around in it' changes the aesthetic experience, in ways that I find difficult to explain.

I've already begun to learn to love platformers. Will I learn to love other previously unattractive genres, too? (But my reflexes are crap! I'll never get good enough to really experience these games! *cries*)

Here's another example.

**

Here, have two short, artistic online platformers:

Shy Dwarf
Seven

If you have some time to kill this weekend...

Here's my Knytt Stories level, or rather the first part thereof (plus some screenshots both from that part, and from later parts). Instructions for installing are at the page linked above. The short play-through tutorial that comes with the software will teach you all you need to know about how to play.

There's about half an hour's worth of playing time in my level (possibly more if you overlook some of the secret areas and need/want to backtrack to find them later on).

My other, ridiculously tiny, easy and pointless level can be found here.

If you decide you like Knytt Stories, here's an older post with level recommendations.

And here's some more levels I enjoyed recently. They're mostly quite short and easy:

LG-28

A Black Comedy

Oil

Darkness (This has one rather difficult jump, and is slightly longer than the rest of the levels linked here.)

Knytt on the Moon (Another slightly larger level. Not large, but not really small, either.)

The Deserted Rustyard

Organac

Flood

Capitalism!

Upper City, Lower City, and Lower Lower City explained:

Sorry for the big image; it's a big world (and growing...)