Eczema Angel Orifice (Porpentine)

Eczema Angel Orifice is an anthology of Porpentine’s work from the last several years, assembled into an application with a soundtrack by Brenda Neotenomie and authorial notes for each piece.

Because Porpentine is prolific, there is a lot in the collection, including a number of works I’ve reviewed individually on this blog: howling dogs, Their Angelical Understanding, Ruiness, Begscape, ULTRA BUSINESS TYCOON III, Contrition, With Those We Love Alive.

There are a number of other pieces, too, some of which I hadn’t reviewed; a few I hadn’t even played before this came along, like the brief and curiously consoling mother from Twiny Jam, in which your insect-related parent cares for you with food and moths. Even if you follow Porpentine’s work, odds are good that at least a couple of her things have slipped past you and that you’ll have a surprise or two waiting in the compilation.

It’s also just a very pleasant way to experience these pieces. There’s an interactive guide at the beginning, to help you identify works that you might particularly like, or that might suit your mood. If you haven’t played ULTRA BUSINESS TYCOON III yet — and you should — this package will also make it easier for you. (I won’t explain why, as that would involve spoilers; just trust me on this.)

As for the design notes, they are like the rest of Porpentine’s writing, compact and thought-provoking.

I liked that the notes were offered as separate reading and that Porpentine hadn’t done any sort of overlay or footnote presentation within the main texts: these are often so carefully crafted that notes would come as an intrusion. Reading the commentary before or after a work felt like the natural way of doing things.

A couple of things aren’t in the collection: there’s no Love is Zero, no Cry$tal Warrior Ke$ha (perhaps because that relies on external music resources?). But that’s often the way with anthologies.

The full package is available for $5 on itch.io.