All Articles: Fragile Equilibrium

Fragile Equilibrium will be released for the PC and Xbox One on December 21

Posted on December 18, 2018 by John Scalzo

MAGIC Spell Studios, an indie publisher who distributes projects created by students at the Rochester Institute of Technology, has announced that Fragile Equilibrium will be available to download for the PC (through the Windows Store and Itch.io) and Xbox One this Friday, December 21.

Fragile Equilibrium is a side-scrolling shooter that also serves as a metaphor for a chaotic life, as players will need to rebuild the world around them in addition to moving forward against the enemies in front of them:

Fragile Equilibrium is a game about the imperfection and impermanence of life. It is a reflection on transience, a balancing act between progress and regrowth, a reminder to find beauty in decay and inevitable destruction. Using old-school ‘shmup’ mechanics and forms, Fragile Equilibrium invites the player to explore a world of quick actions, forced decisions, and subtle strategy: but with each decision, the player falls ever out of balance.

As a work of art, Fragile Equilibrium is a thinly veiled allegory for dealing with depression and anxiety: it is intended specifically to create in the player the sense of being ‘squeezed’, a slowly building pressure and feeling of being trapped, and to lead players to reflect on balancing their forward progress with a constant need to reconsider, rebuild, and refocus on internally facing (i.e. inward facing) issues and obstacles. It challenges players to find a Fragile Equilibrium in their own play, as a metaphor for conveying issues of instability.

Fragile Equilibrium will also be released through Steam in January, and it’ll be available as a free download on all platforms.

Posted in News, PC, Xbox One | Tagged

Fragile Equilibrium is a side-scrolling shooter that also asks players to rebuild the world

Posted on March 7, 2018 by John Scalzo

MAGIC Spell Studios, one of the only publishing labels to publish student-created games, has announced they’re bringing Fragile Equilibrium to this year’s Game Developers Conference. Students from the Rochester Institute of Technology are developing the side-scrolling shooter, but players will also need to balance their attacks with rebuilding the decaying game world:

Fragile Equilibrium is a game about the imperfection and impermanence of life. It is a reflection on transience, a balancing act between progress and regrowth, and a reminder to find beauty in decay and inevitable destruction.

Using old-school shmup mechanics and form, Fragile Equilibrium invites the player to explore a world of quick actions, forced decisions, and subtle strategy: will you engage every enemy you can? Will you pass over a difficult encounter? Will you fire or dodge? But with each action or inaction, the player falls ever out of balance – too aggressive, too passive, too quick, too slow. And as balance decays so does the world, eroding over time and out of space, compressing the player to a smaller and smaller area, pressing in upon the mind. Built upon layered interactions, a Wabi Sabi aesthetic idealism, and a rich, broken world of times long past, Fragile Equilibrium invites the player to reflect on their play, their world, their nostalgia, and themselves.

Fragile Equilibrium is currently in development for the PC, and a playable demo will be available for attendees of GDC 2018.

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