Ultra-Indie Spotlight Sunday: Milk Inside A Bag Of Milk Inside A Bag Of Milk
Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk is a game about buying a bag of milk. The game follows a woman who is tasked with this simple chore, but you don’t exactly play as her. You play as, for lack of a better description, her thoughts.
Conceptual Meta-Wank:
Crank philosopher Slavoj Zizek talked about watching his son playing a video game, and his fascination with the game. Specifically, the construction of the world, and how only what is displayed on the screen is what is rendered. Inside the buildings, there are no rooms, and behind the trees, there is no forest. Even behind the player’s back, there is no world, existence itself is whatever is in front of you right now. This can easily be transferred into real life. Is there anything inside of that nearby building until you look into it? Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk is a game about that, sort of.
All that existence is is what my eyes and ears tell me. So what would happen if my eyes and ears lied to me? Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk explores the life of a young woman who has experienced some extreme trauma. So much so that her reality has become permanently altered. Even the simplest tasks of going to the store are a maddening experience. Store clerks are twisted freaks who you can’t communicate with. The visuals are murky and abstract. Everything is confusing. And depending on your dialogue inputs, even her inner thoughts are pulling her down.
Non-Wanky Game Recap:
Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk is a visual novel. But it’s a sort of meta visual novel where the protagonist talks with you (which in the narrative means she’s talking with herself but describing it as if she were in a visual novel. Don’t think about it too hard). You mostly just experience the story of her store journey, but there are some instances of dialogue options.
What Works:
Of course, the visual style and writing, and aesthetics are fantastic. But what really makes the game great is that Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk is not afraid to explore some supremely heavy themes. Mental health, suicidal thoughts, familial abuse, all these make the clerk-who-looks-like-a-snake seem trivially un-scary. I won’t say that M.I.A.B.O.M.I.A.B.O.M. is the most realistic depiction of post-traumatic stress and mental health. But I think that exaggerating the situation makes the game that much more enjoyable.
What Doesn’t:
As previously stated, Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk is a bit hyperbolic when it comes to the effects of mental health problems. I like it, but I can definitely see how this might detract from the experience for some people who have firsthand experience with such matters. A more gradual lead-up and introduction to the character would make the transition more smooth.
How To Fix It:
I think the hyperbolic descriptions of PTSD would be better if there was a little more time to lead up to it. Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk does a great job of gradually leading towards the direst effects. Introducing the protagonist having severe discomfort at walking half on the grass and half on asphalt is a good place to start, all the way up to that trauma that I won’t spoil and seeing only the color red since. I guess what I’m really saying is that I want more of this game.
Wanky Musings:
Anyone who’s met a sleep paralysis demon knows just how scary an altered state of reality can be. Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk is an effective exploration of trauma and how it impacts the way one sees the world. Reality is what is whatever our senses show us, and the idea of our senses lying is a terrifying thought. While it may not be perfect, the game is fascinating and fun and abstract, and has a cool style.
You can download Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk on Steam by clicking here.
