page.summary

page.figure
How to play
Controls
Your goal is to reproduce on the left-hand side canvas the abstract painting shown on the right-hand-side.
Move with ${Hyper("ArrowKeys")}. Stepping towards a coloured square will launch a straight line of colour onto the canvas all the way up to the frame.

${Hyper("Instructions/Game")}
${Hyper("Instructions/Community")}

Credits
${Hyper("GameCredits/Authorship")}
Abstract Artworks
All abstract artworks, listed chronologically below, are in the public domain (see links).



YEAR	AUTHOR					TITLE									WIKIART LINK
1914	Vanessa Bell			Abstract Painting						[WIKIART/vanessa-bell/abstract-painting-1914]
1915	Kasimir Malevich		Black Square							[WIKIART/kazimir-malevich/black-square-1915]
1923	Theo van Doesburg		Study for Composition XXV				[WIKIART/theo-van-doesburg/study-for-composition-xxv-1923]
1922	Paul Klee				Separation in the Evening				[WIKIART/paul-klee/separation-in-the-evening-1922]
1927	Sophie Taeuber-Arp		Projet pour l'Aubette					[WIKIART/sophie-taeuber-arp/projet-pour-l-aubette-1927]
1930	Piet Mondrian			Composition in Red, Blue and Yellow		[WIKIART/piet-mondrian/composition-with-red-blue-and-yellow-1930]

((Abstract Artworks in page.title))

WIKIART/:=https://www.wikiart.org/en/


${Hyper("GameCredits/Music")}

${Hyper("GameCredits/Engine")}

Special thanks
@@ le slo, thegreatescaper, personman, chz, marcosd, vandevander @@ for early positive feedback and/or for suggestions about the game synopsis; @grant for spotting other polishing opportunities.

F.A.Q.
What does the name page.title mean?
Abstract Tracts refers both to the vast canvas areas (tracts) to become abstract art, and to the colourful lines (also tracts) connecting different areas in each painting. The Ss were replaced by Xs to represent the intercrossing of paint lines - so often a byproduct of the game mechanics.

How is page.title unusual?
There aren't many games sharing its purpose, to spark curiosity for abstract art and classical culture in an entertaining way, nor that draw from the history of art rather than from a purpose-made fictional world.

Like-minded games
====================
Known games with a similar purpose:
- *2009* Leo Lefebvre's and Sacha Chouery's [Paisible après midi au fil des toiles|https://troleoleo.itch.io/paisible-apres-midi-au-fil-des-toiles] (thanks @chz)
- *2021* Studio Waterzooi's [Please Touch The Artwork|http://www.studiowaterzooi.com/]

 Which criteria guided the choice of artists and artworks?
The most important criterion for inclusion was the availability of at least one public domain artwork (per artist) that would broadly fit in the abstract category (e.g. Neoplasticism, Suprematism, Abstract Expressionism...). Critically, each artwork had to make a good puzzle, so those with very complicated details or too many colours were excluded. Also, due to the game mechanic and low resolution, right angles were preferred to obliques, and no curvature could be added. So, for instance, Rothko, Pollock, O'Keefe, Delaunay or Kandinsky couldn't be included.

Why are there differences between the original artwork and its depiction in page.title?
Most differences arise from the low-game resolution and by the limited colour palette (common to all paintings, chosen for simplicity). Canvas size was limited so it wouldn't be tedious to traverse by the player. Also, brush strokes and other tridimensional paint features were not considered.