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The Far Shore: Indie Games, Superbrothers, and the Making of JETT
The genius and artistry behind Superbrothers and the making of an indie video game, from inception to its highly anticipated launch. Sword & Sworcery was released in 2011 at the forefront of an exciting era of “indie games” – with the aesthetic of punk rock and the edge of modernist fiction, indie games pushed gaming into the realm of the avant-garde. Superbrothers (Craig D. Adams) was hailed as a visionary in the video game world. Now, his long-awaited follow-up, The Far Shore , has been released for Sony PlayStation and Epic Games Store. In the decade from inception to launch, Adams brought author Adam Hammond along for the ride, allowing unprecedented insight into the complicated genesis of Jett. The Far Shore offers a portrait of the enigmatic Adams and his team, the genius and artistry, the successes and setbacks, that went into building the world of JETT , in which you’re tasked with scouting a new home for a humanoid people after they’ve decimated their planet. To provide context, Hammond recounts the history of indie games and how their trajectory has followed that of independent art and literature. A riveting insider’s look at one of our most popular art forms.
220 pages, Paperback
Published November 30, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 13, 2022
I picked up this book, not knowing much about what it would contain. I had not heard of Jett, nor the Superbrothers. In fact, though I passively follow the video game industry from a business news perspective, the only game I have played since passing eighteen years old is Starcraft Brood War from 1998. From reading The Far Shore’s back cover’s description, I was expecting a documentary story about the creation of a video game, but what I encountered was so much more.
At its core, The Far Shore presents Hammond’s theory that “modernism only ‘comes’ to a particular art form when it is possible for artists in that form to produce and distribute their work independently.” This argument is presented in an extremely convincing manner with references to examples across different art forms. Thus I found reading this book to be an extremely educational experience, which I enjoyed.
Of course The Far Shore is far from a textbook - the book still tells a linear and very captivating story of the game creators, Craig, Patrick, and team as they struggle to bring their game to fruition. Throughout this they face key questions of balancing artistic vision vs mainstream appeal and also business obstacles associated with entrepreneurship. Parts of the narrative reminded me of Phil Knight’s Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike, the story of Nike.
Along with this story, Hammond also writes of his own parallel adventure to the game’s creation and how it progresses. I found this perspective of the book the most interesting, especially chapter 10. I did question, as the author surely pondered at some point, what would have happened if the game creators had failed - if the game had failed to be completed at all? The research involved in covering the story of Jett spanned nearly a decade with many hours invested and it is disheartening to think if the story was not shared.
I realize that this book is a strong example of why academia is important. Beyond providing a formal education to students and conducting research, academia offers a unique environment for producing great works. Very few writers could have the potent mixture of patience, fortitude, and financial freedom to be able to pursue this story. It is even more rare for the writer to possess the scholarly background to frame the narrative against a broader backdrop of artistic analysis and history. Simply put, The Far Shore - Indie Games, Superbrothers, and the making of Jett lies in a exclusive club of books (alongside Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Thinking, Fast and Slow) that could not possibly be written by a non-professor. Even in such esteemed company, The Far Shore stands well.
Congratulations to the author - “you write real nice”.
At its core, The Far Shore presents Hammond’s theory that “modernism only ‘comes’ to a particular art form when it is possible for artists in that form to produce and distribute their work independently.” This argument is presented in an extremely convincing manner with references to examples across different art forms. Thus I found reading this book to be an extremely educational experience, which I enjoyed.
Of course The Far Shore is far from a textbook - the book still tells a linear and very captivating story of the game creators, Craig, Patrick, and team as they struggle to bring their game to fruition. Throughout this they face key questions of balancing artistic vision vs mainstream appeal and also business obstacles associated with entrepreneurship. Parts of the narrative reminded me of Phil Knight’s Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike, the story of Nike.
Along with this story, Hammond also writes of his own parallel adventure to the game’s creation and how it progresses. I found this perspective of the book the most interesting, especially chapter 10. I did question, as the author surely pondered at some point, what would have happened if the game creators had failed - if the game had failed to be completed at all? The research involved in covering the story of Jett spanned nearly a decade with many hours invested and it is disheartening to think if the story was not shared.
I realize that this book is a strong example of why academia is important. Beyond providing a formal education to students and conducting research, academia offers a unique environment for producing great works. Very few writers could have the potent mixture of patience, fortitude, and financial freedom to be able to pursue this story. It is even more rare for the writer to possess the scholarly background to frame the narrative against a broader backdrop of artistic analysis and history. Simply put, The Far Shore - Indie Games, Superbrothers, and the making of Jett lies in a exclusive club of books (alongside Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Thinking, Fast and Slow) that could not possibly be written by a non-professor. Even in such esteemed company, The Far Shore stands well.
Congratulations to the author - “you write real nice”.
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May 30, 2022who is this book for
September 4, 2023
intricately weaves both story & theory, engaging and brimming with literary references that inspires one to read more. the author’s voice has character & really makes me miss a. hammond’s lectures!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews