The colorful landscapes designed for video game worlds have long leaned toward the surreal, but the recently released Giorgio de Chirico–inspired Surrealista has brought new levels of strange to the medium. Developed by Brazilian designer Carlos Monteiro and presented by Gigoia Studios, this homage to the father of Metaphysical Painting is available as a free download and will delight early-20th-century-art aficionados as well as fans of 1990s-era video games. The graphics are boxy, and nothing looks particularly real—but realism, of course, was never the point with de Chirico.
Down through five levels, players delve deeper and deeper into an austere dreamscape of illogical shadows, antigravity, and haunting emptiness. A ghostly soundtrack tinkles and clanks as players wander around. The only motive here is to keep exploring—to push on and see as much of de Chirico’s strange world as possible.
Download Surrealista at gigoiastudios.itch.io
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