Fez Is Currently Free [Update]

[UPDATE: 31/01/2017, 18:37] At the time of writing, Fez was free, but has since changed to a minimum price of 1 cent. That's still worth buying into.

For those who don’t own Fez, which would be weird: Fez is currently free, in a pay-what-you-want model. Developer Polytron has made the game available until February 6, 2017. Proceeds from the charitable payment model will go to the American Civil Liberties Union, commonly abbreviated as ACLU. A tweet from the developer comes with a currently trending protest sign, stating:

 

For the first time, and until Feb 6th, FEZ is pay-what-you-can. All proceeds go to the @ACLU foundation. https://t.co/2wuWHyVD2P #RESIST pic.twitter.com/Z3QucyCFWm

— Polytron (@Polytron) January 31, 2017

 

While not explicitly mentioned, it’s safe to assume that Fez being free is in reaction to the current hotbed that is the American, but also global, political climate. With President Donald Trump signing several executive orders that harshly limit freedoms and tighten the grip on any reluctance to obey, a lot of people are left dissatisfied right now. In short notice, the White House has declared a ban on several countries from entering the United States, affecting people who are working with tech companies and others. The general attorney has been taken down for their unwillingness to cooperate with presidential orders. Abortion has come into question and funds towards specific medical care have been targeted.  And that’s just off the top of our heads; there’s still a lot more restrictive changes the world is currently forced to deal with.

 

 

Fez is should be a somewhat pleasant escape from reality for a bit. At least, it’s colors and cute art style will be soothing, but the platform puzzle game itself is quite hard. Fez messes around with perspective and space, rotating areas on their axis to hide and reveal certain parts, using that to navigate. Notably, the game rose to popularity at the cusp of the indie boom, through developer and internet sensation, Phil Fish, who has since moved on to produce SuperHyperCube, a virtual reality game that still rotates blocks to progress. Some habits are hard to break it seems.

While Fez is free, any help towards a small donation would be highly recommended and appreciated. Be safe out there.

 

Daav Valentaten, NoobFeed (@Daavpuke)