It is an awful misfortune when a remarkable game becomes unavoidably lost in the shuffle. Sheer volume alone ensures that this is an incurable part of independent games, and Covetous is a fantastic example of buried treasure. Released in 2010 as part of the Ludum Mini Dare 20 event, Covetous is a short free to play flash game where you control the remains of a fetal twin that has managed to survive inside its brother.
Though you start no bigger than a single pixel, you are forced to progress and ultimately grow by consuming more and more of your host. Every level is punctuated with short monologues from the parasite, showcasing its mind’s slow transition from cautious appreciation at its brother’s unknowing sacrifice to indignant survival for its own tragic situation.
For a game that takes only around five minutes at most to complete, features rudimentary pixel graphics and the only real gameplay element is consists of directional navigation via the arrow keys as you navigate your growing clump of flesh through your unwitting host, Covetous manages to create a truly foreboding atmosphere.
The pulsating soundtrack that increases as you grow bigger and bigger, the increasingly vulgar, stilted thoughts from the parasite and a legitimately uncomfortable moral choice at the end all works together to create a brief but disturbing experience.
A Slow Burn
Covetous is a slow burn, and if you go in the game blind you might not really even realize what you’re doing until the third or fourth screen. It plays like the Atari classic Go Fish! but without the challenge, and by the time you realize the gruesome act taking place you’re left in a real philosophical dilemma: will you take your brother’s life to salvage your own?
Play Covetous for free now at https://www.y8.com/games/covetous
