The Myth of Sisyphus

Tutorial:
Start and interact with "Z" or "W". 
Move with arrow keys. 

Author's statement:

The Myth of Sisyphus – imagine yourself playing is an invitation to experience Camusian existentialism in dialogue with video game culture. For Camus (1942), “one must imagine Sisyphus happy,” even though he is condemned by the gods to push a rock for eternity. This formulation encapsulates the human condition: the world is absurd, yet it is possible to derive satisfaction from it.

Here, the player embodies Sisyphus within a game that draws on video game conventions, such as those found in The Legend of Zelda—to which this work also nods through its many amateur reinterpretations. However, in this case, no reward is offered, and the uncertainty of the dispositif is very quickly exhausted through the player’s own experimentation.

The proposed parallel raises intertwined questions about life and play without providing definitive answers: can the act of playing, which usually relies on the management of uncertainty, serve as a means of revolt against the absurdity of the world? Conversely, can the absurdity of life—taken as a certainty over which no one has any control—corrupt the very activity of play? Finally, is not the creation of uncertainty the fundamental human activity through which we escape the absurd void?

Credits & Acknowledgments
Game by Pierre-Yves Hurel, first released on itch.io the 12.10.2026. 
Thanks to the beta-pushers: Yannick Rochat, Guillaume Guenat, Isaac Pante, Maxime Verbeselt, Adrian Demleitner, Fabián Ruz, and Fanny Barnabé.
Thanks to GB Studio creators - your engine is crazy cool.
Thanks to PyxelEdit creators - your tool is cool too <3.
Thanks to amateurs, hobbyists, fans for being out there.
Thanks to the IRL push blocks for helping me make sense of it all.