Game Description
Benign Land is an otherworldly walking simulator that invites you on a surreal journey through Ireland’s myths, history, and collective memory. Drift through 17 evocative scenes—spanning centuries from ancient pagan sites to the rise of Christianity, and from the Irish Famine to the haunting echoes of the Troubles.

Blending historical, political, and mythical elements through a cryptic, symbolic narrative, Benign Land defies conventional gaming norms. It’s an experience for those who embrace games as profound artistic and narrative experiences.

Inspired by Seamus Heaney’s poetry, the layered prose of Finnegans Wake, the Tibetan Book of the Dead, and Gaspar Noé’s Enter the Void, Benign Land is an immersive, dreamlike odyssey that unfolds in symbolic, ethereal scenes. Political, spiritual, and poetic, the experience blurs the line between history and hallucination.

With no combat or puzzles, Benign Land invites you to absorb its world as an artistic meditation on Ireland’s psyche, touching on its spiritual evolution and lingering social scars. Originally crafted as an interactive art installation in Belfast, by interdisciplinary artist and game developer Leandros Ntolas, it’s an homage to abstract storytelling and visual art, made to evoke rather than explain.

Featuring an original soundtrack by Belfast-based sound artist John D’Arcy, the soundscape of Benign Land draws you deeper into this liminal space—with lingering echoes of the sonic past of Ireland.