SPILL YOUR GUT

SPILL YOUR GUT is the third instalment of the GUT series, after GUT THE MOVIE, and the spoof GUT THE MOVIE 2: GUT ves. TER THE TWOVIES, where we check in on the original cast of GUT, Gemma, Uma, Tilla, and their manager Stace, after the movie was completed (or was it ever made?). There are four paths to follow, one for each individual, with the request to follow the above order.

Now, I don’t like being told what to do and started with Stace, essentially spoiling myself with the outcome of the previous paths… or did I?
Confused by the tone of that path (reminding me of the vibes of GUT2), I reloaded and followed the instructions in the game. Granted, there was a good reason for that.

Gemma’s, Uma’s and Tilla’s paths are completely different from Stace. While the later is in the third person, with the same interface as the starting page, the formers focuses on inner thoughts and bright, duo-tones, stylised and distinctive and restrictive interfaces. But more so, the gameplay of each path builds on the previous one: Gemma’s deep taunting red in a limited N/S direction, Uma’s cool emotional blue opening to all four main cardinal directions, and Tilla’s envious and tortuous greens adding the up/down option. All to finish with the linear definitive and decided Stace section, looping us back to the start.

But the contrast is not just in the visual and gameplay between the paths, but also in its content. The RBG section is enmeshed with anxious vibes, in the way the characters talk about themselves, their fears and insecurities, and the repetition of screens (indicating the end of content in that direction). Gemma, in kill the internet, feels hopeless and lonely, and struggles to find a purpose moving forward (funnily, you can only move back and forth between sections). Uma, in call your girlfriend, ruminates over her past and current relationships, the good, the bad and the ugly, and their inability to stay emotionally connected while with someone (her thoughts littered in a maze without much sense). Tilla, in sell your dreams, hides her true feelings (about the movie and herself) behind a criticism of society, which she has left being by moving to the Moon (layers discoverable by taking the elevator). Each are tortured in their own ways, either barred from opening a specific door, or unable to ever find that wanted exit.
On the other hand, Stance’s section has a more absurd take. She isn’t riddled with insecurities or worries, only caring really with eating chips. She flips the script on its head, going against the expectations, taunting the monster instead of being taunted (who breaks itself and sorta the game), unbothered with the change of/breaks in the environment or herself - as long as there are chips, she is content.
This contrast is made extra obvious with the repeated “I am lonely/scared/tried” screens in RBG, which Stance’s action can be reduced to “Eat chips”.

Strangely, though most of the game is very different from the previous iterations of GUT, it is surprisingly still much in line with the series as a whole. Through RBG, you are forced through these anxious-riddled paths, tortured along the characters, unable - like them - to escape (unless you reload the page), stuck in their head… Only to return to the absurdity of Stace’s section, greatly enhanced as it calls for the opposite almost of feeling. Stace is never stuck, whether she acts or not, circling through a death/rebirth unending cycle, always moving, and changing - while still staying the same. Stace is both the anchor of RBG, and the much needed comedic relief.

A third opus I didn’t know I wanted or needed. Neither better nor worse than the previous GUT. Only leaving me with the want of more sequels!

I played the first GUTS game, which I remember liking, but I didn’t play the second.

I’m not sure what this third one is really all about. It does remind me of my favorite opera, the Hungarian opera Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, which is a surreal two-person one-act opera about 7 colored doors in Bluebeard’s castle. As each one is opened, some emblem of power is shown (strength, cruelty, wealth, lands, etc.) and more light comes to the castle, but each is also tinged with blood. The last two doors only bring darkness to the castle and the end is one of eternal suffering.

This is really four games in one. I started on the 3rd first and I don’t recommend that, as I thought the game was just being very silly (tons of links that do nothing but repeat the same text). It made way more sense starting from the first.

The fourth link doesn’t seem thematically or structurally related to the other three at all, or even really with the same vibes. It’s a cyclical story of inescapable enmity with amusing undertones.

The first three are all the kind of nightmare you have where something is hunting you but you never really see it, so you’re just nervous all the time and can’t explain why and your chest is pounding and everything feels helpless and hopeless.

While I can certainly identify with many emotions in this piece, the interactivity left me frustrated at times, wondering if I was getting the point or getting stuck. That fits thematically, yet I still felt frustration at times.