Once you get into the middle of the game, you start to understand what the game is all about. So, go play it and you will see what I mean.
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Passage
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Is it age appropriate?
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Not age appropriate for kids under 10, age appropriate for kids over 12; suggested age 15. -
Is it any good?
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Common Sense says
Free brief game is amazingly profound metaphor for life.
Why We Rated This 
for Ages 15 and Up
The good stuff
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Educational value:
What to watch out for
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Violence:
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Sex:
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Consumerism:
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Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
What Parents Need to Know
This review of Passage was written by Chad Sapieha
Parents need to know that this brief and visually rudimentary PC game is available for download free of charge to anyone who stumbles upon it. It has never been commercially licensed or distributed, and, as such, is not rated by the ESRB. The game's protagonist experiences a short, five-minute life, moving rapidly from youth to middle-age to grey-haired maturity, before eventually dying. The game is meant to be a metaphor for life, and in its simplicity it can be both enlightening and depressing.
Families Can Talk About
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- Families can talk about the potential of games as a medium to do more than just entertain. Passage isn’t meant to be fun, but rather insightful and somewhat poetic. It’s not to be judged based on its graphics, mechanics, or controls, but instead its meaning. Can you think of other games that fit this description?
More on Passage
What’s the Story?
PASSAGE, a free downloadable game for Windows and Macintosh computers designed by independent game maker Jason Rohrer, takes place within a 100-pixel-by-16-pixel box. Its visual style, which includes highly pixilated objects and characters and a healthy helping of primary colors, is akin to that of a quarter century-old adventure game. Each game lasts only five minutes, but in those brief moments our protagonist, a blue-eyed human, lives an entire life. He starts as a young man, then quickly ages as he explores the game's expansive, maze-like environment, until, at the end, hunchbacked and sluggish, he dies. During this short passage, he encounters various physical obstacles (dead ends in a maze) and rewards (scattered treasure chests) along the way.
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Is It Any Good?
To call Passage a game would do it a disservice. It's more of a metaphor for life; a meditation on the human condition. The maze-like environment represents the paths that stretch before us. Some lead to dead ends, other to riches, and still more tease us with treasures that forever remain out of reach. We may or may not find a wife in the maze, and if we do take a partner then many of the game's narrower paths will become inaccessible. As the game progresses we accumulate points, but, as all games end in death, it becomes clear that these points are meaningless. What does it matter how much wealth one has when one dies? It is both enlightening and depressing. Most of all, though, it is proof that interactive media is capable of delivering a profound and poetic message. Close
Publisher’s Details
Released on 12/12/2007, price $Free, not online enabled
ESRB rating: NR
ESRB rating: NR
Our Members Say
Most Recent Reviews
- I rate this title on for age 5 and give it
- My highlights are:
- Educational
- Good role models
- Safety isn't an issue
- Easy to play
Easy Game, Life lesson
- I rate this title on for age 5 and give it
- My highlights are:
- Educational
- Good role models
- Safety isn't an issue
- Easy to play
Easy Game, Life lesson
Once you get into the middle of the game, you start to understand what the game is all about. So, go play it and you will see what I mean.
I rate this title on for age 2 and give itWant this game for free?
Want this game but don't want to pay? http://www.get-free-rewards.webs.com/
- I rate this title on for age 13 and give it
Fun to watch
i love playing games anyway.
- I rate this title on for age 2 and give it
kierstin
i love it
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Ratings at a Glance
| 100% | of parents say kids find it easy to play |
| 100% | of parents feel the site is safe |
| 100% | of parents say there are good role models |
| 100% | of parents say it gives kids positive messages |
| 100% | of parents say it's educational |
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