''Zineth'' is a 3D skating

freeware Freeware is software, often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the free ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

by independent developer Arcane Kids released for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

and

Mac Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

in 2012.

Gameplay

''Zineth'' takes place in a dystopian future in which the entire world has been "absorbed by a mobile game", resulting in the brainwashing of all of its inhabitants. The player controls a magazine deliverer who must deliver "'zines" to people in order to show them what real life is like.

Development

''Zineth'' originally began development as a student thesis project in experimental game design at the

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...

, worked on by a team of 7 developers. Co-creator Jacob Knipfing cited inspiration from many

Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...

games such as ''

Jet Set Radio (originally released in North America as ''Jet Grind Radio'') is a 2000 action game developed by Smilebit and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. The player controls a member of a youth gang, the GG's, as they use inline skates to traverse ...

'' and '' Rez''. It began development in late March 2012, and was later released in early August of that year. Described as "a student game made over a few months meant to celebrate speed, movement, and twitter," it has the player traverse through various environments at high speeds, all the while completing missions provided by other characters in order to earn cash. A

cell phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This radio ...

is consistently present on the player's screen and incorporated into the game, used to receive missions as well as play other games contained within the phone, with inspiration taken from free-to-play

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * The Flash, several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Barry Allen ** Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third adult Flash ...

games and

RPGs RPG may refer to: Military * Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon **''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

is also prominently featured as an aspect; players can use it to take in-game pictures using the phone and tweet them. The game's title is a play-on words of the terms "zine" (short for

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

) and "zenith". Upon launching the game shows disclaimer about the controller it was intended for, which is a reference to Jet Set Radio PC remaster complaints, when players attempted to use keyboard instead of usual controller and had problems with walkthrough.

Reception

In 2013 Zineth won an award at the

Independent Games Festival The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers, ...

for best student game.

References

{{reflist 2012 video games Arcane Kids games Browser games Indie games MacOS games Video games about video games Video games developed in the United States Video games set in the future Video games with cel-shaded animation Windows games Single-player video games Independent Games Festival winners