FlOw, published by That Game Company, is as pretty to look at as it is addicting to play. And I don’t mean button-mashing frenzy-type addiction. FlOw is a beautiful, relaxing, experience with eye-candy that’s deceptively simple and a has a soundtrack to match. And it’s hard to put down once you’re fully immersed in its serenely-styled world of dog-eat-dog survivalism.

This is a game that will reward a casual player with mild curiosity and 10 minutes to burn; as well the hardcore type who will play all the way through, time after time, and relish small details. This is exactly what all games should be, but so many aren’t. It’s no surprise flOw pulls it off: it was designed from the ground up to appeal, universally, to the human mind.

Flow theory from wikipedia:

With Flow the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi names the feeling of complete and energized focus in an activity, with a high level of enjoyment and fulfillment. As Csikszentmihalyi sees it, the components of a Flow producing activity are:

* We are up to the activity.
* We are able to concentrate on the activity.
* The activity has clear goals.
* The activity has direct feedback.
* We feel that we control the activity.
* Our worries and concerns disappear.
* Our subjective experience of time is altered.

Not all of these components need to be present together for Flow to be experienced.

Or to put it simply: (Graphic from Deepfun.com)

The game’s creator, Jenova Chen, wrote his MFA thesis on flow and flOw. It came out in 2006 with little fanfare and has been slowly, but surely (4,000,000 downloads), gaining an audience. It was named one of the Best Indie Games 2007 by WIRED, was on PC World’s 101 Fantastic Freebies, and has been ported and made available for download on PSP via the Sony Playstation Store.

So, if you want a game that’s a little out of the ordinary with fantastic game play, and one that looks and sounds as good as it plays, go over and check out flOw. All you need is a mouse and hours/minutes of free time; you’re ready to flOw. (Warning: link may negatively affect productivity.)