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Winner of the International Serious Play Awards’ “Games for Good,” category, this unusual side-scrolling platformer digs into the nature of negative dependency. Play as a bespectacled man shackled to a heavy ball and chain that you must drag, fling, climb, and swing to make your way through the decaying domestic home around you.

Chained’s storyline is intentionally abstract, opening itself up to multiple interpretations. Even so, narrative is a strong component of the game—the student team working indirect storytelling elements in through the environment and gameplay mechanics. Players looking to get the most out of the game should pay close attention to how the ball and chain mechanic changes as they progress, as well as the subtle, and sometimes dramatic, shifts in the world around you.

Awards and Recognition

  • 2014 Serious Play Awards

    Gold Winner, Games for Good

  • 2014 Tokyo Game Show Sense of Wonder Night

    Best Art

2014 DigiPen Game Awards

  • Claude Comair Game of the Year
  • Most Poetic Experience
  • Best Characters
  • Best Senior Game

Game Screenshots

  • A bespectacled man carries a ball and chain down a decaying hallway.
  • A man looks down at the ball and chain shackled to him in a caved-in child's bedroom full of smashed furniture.
  • A bespectacled man carries a ball and chain over a wooden bridge.
  • A man chained to a weighty ball looks through a doorway at a child's bedroom.

The Team

  • Brandon Anderson

    BS in Computer Science and Game Design

    Role: Designer

  • Jonathan Everist

    BA in Music and Sound Design

    Role: Sound Designer

  • Anne Feeney

    BFA in Digital Art and Animation

    Role: Artist

  • David Fenton

    BS in Computer Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation

    Role: Programmer

  • Decker Geddes

    BFA in Digital Art and Animation

    Role: Artist

  • Jonathan Gregoire

    BS in Computer Science and Game Design

    Role: Designer

  • Hojun Lee

    BFA in Digital Art and Animation

    Role: Artist

  • Keith Leiker

    BS in Computer Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation

    Role: Producer

  • Adrian Orszulak

    BS in Computer Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation

    Role: Programmer

  • Adam Purvis

    BFA in Digital Art and Animation

    Role: Artist

  • David Scamehorn

    BA in Game Design

    Role: Level Designer

  • Hans Wagner

    BS in Computer Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation

    Role: Programmer


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