Tale of Tales is an independent studio that is no stranger to experimental titles. Hailed for such efforts as Fatale and The Path, the studio can easily be considered one of the most artistic and inspiring. For us iPhone and iPod Touch owners, this means good news as they have released their first portable title, Vanitas, to the App Store. Vanitas launched at the occasion of the Art History of Games symposium which took place on February 4th in Atlanta, Georgia.

Like its other titles, Tale of Tales’ Vanitas is much more of an experimental experience than what can be considered a normal “game.” The players look into their “Vanitas,” a wooden box that–when filled with a variety of objects–remind them of mortality.

“Despite using contemporary technology, we are artistically inspired mostly by pre-modern art. In the 16th and 17th centuries, many Dutch and Flemish painters created still lives with symbols that referred to man’s mortality. They were named after a famous quotation from the Bible by Ecclesiastes:
‘Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas.’ Or ‘Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,’ implying that everything we do in life is without meaning. Creating a ‘Vanitas’ painting for the iPhone felt like the appropriate response to the commission by Ian Bogost and John Sharp.”

- Creators Auriea Harvey and Michael Samyn

Vanitas is available on the App Store for only $0.99. View the foll0wing trailer to see if this may be something that interests you.