41148

                                   

                        41148                           

     41148 is one of the best games I've ever played! Being graphically beautiful and with a interesting story line, it's no wonder that this game is the best Iran indie game. Available for FREE on the app store. 41148 is a point & click style game, where the player plays as Sina, a man who has lost his memories. As the player, your main goal is to help Sina rediscover his memories in this dark twisted world he is now in. The game consists of 4 episodes, each short in length, but with several puzzles you must solve to progress the story. This game is not for those who have weak stomachs or are easily disturbed.

     The game was created by one man, Mahdi Fanaei, who is a junior high art teacher. His artistic skills are perfectly showcased in this strange game. However, things weren't always sunshine and rainbows with getting this game on the market for Fanaei. In fact, creating this game nearly landed him in prison. With the symbols that are portrayed in the game, such as alters of blood, ancient Egyptian pictures on the wall, and all the different monsters, this seemed to link with different conspiracy theories and religious worship. Because of this, when the first episode was released, many said that the game was satanic, and I have to agree. From the alters of blood, to visuals that showed sacrifices that had bee performed, to having to cut off a man's hand, I can see how this would come across as satanic. This scared Fanaei, due to living in a religious country. Promoting something like this could have had dangerous consequences.

     After fighting for three years, through different trials from both gamers and the government, and trying to sell his game for profit, he made more than $6000 off the final episode, totaling almost $30,000 with all the sales. (For more info on his battle with publishing and financial situation, Hermes Fang has a great review here: https://medium.com/@hermes_fang/41148-best-indie-game-of-iran-gorgeous-and-strange-cinematic-experience-b2bac1bc047c . His review was very helpful when doing my research on this game) He ended up publishing all the episodes on Google Play for FREE (seriously, go check out this game!) to gather fans for his future works.

     Now the title, what does 41148 mean? Well, nobody actually knows. Nobody except for Fanaei, his family, and the National Video Game Organization. It's not even revealed within the game itself, leaving many players confused and wondering what the strange title could mean. In Arabic the numbers 41148 means Allah, which is another term for God. So in my speculation, perhaps the title of the game is "Allah" which would explain why the game has such a strong religious feel. But as I said, the only ones who actually know are Fanaei, his family, and the NVGO.

     Now, I HAVE to address the beauty of the graphics for this game. They are absolutely stunning! I also believe that they are the reason I chose to play the game. The art style uses mostly dark colors, like blacks and greys, with highlights of red for blood. The characters are mainly black shadows, with red eyes. It is disturbingly beautiful, and a game you must see for yourself!

     Overall, I really enjoyed this game, and look forward to playing it again. For being a free game (you are able to give a donation if you want, at the end of the game) this was above and beyond your typical mobile horror game. It has story, it had beauty, it got you deeply involved in the story! That takes a lot of skill to make a game, especially a mobile game like that. 41148 is available on Google Play and is comparable with Android 4.1+.  Fanaei is also hoping to eventually publish the game for PC, on STEAM or other gaming markets.

     Happy Gaming!
                    - K.M. Baker