variations on coda to yellow sky (im/perfect dawn: repeat)

immersed in the calm of the pre-dawn night, a monastery prepares in a quiet frenzy for the arrival of a brutal invading army. "variations…" is a contemplative micro-RPG about how one lives in their final moments, when the approach of death is all but certain.
in a recursively looping structure of "active-time preparation," "variations…" reinterprets visual and mechanical tropes of the role playing game in service of a collection of intimate ruminations on a sobering dilemma.
while exploring the monastery and conversing with peers—each dealing with their drastic fate in their own unique way—the player is confronted with the reality of death, and forced to expose their gameplay priorities as the sands of the unrelenting hourglass rise ever higher.
reconfiguring established conventions in user interface, structure, space, and movement, "variations…" is an atmospheric meditation on genre and mortality which holds aesthetic and philosophical concerns in careful balance—an intricate puzzle box, unfolding into a dense and poignant exploration of humanity's closest-held hopes and fears.