Industry veteran and outspoken Duke Nukem co-creator George Broussard sets his sights on the indie-focused Ludum Dare competition with The Road, a side-scrolling browser game that reflects on the futility of existence.

Ludum Dare is an online game jam held every four months in which indie creators are given 48 hours to create a game based on an assigned prompt. Designed around the theme "minimalism," The Road challenges players to survive endless waves of falling objects and ground hazards in the hopes of living a long, fulfilling life.

In an interesting twist, the player's squarish avatar grows into a tall rectangle as it ages, making it more difficult to survive as the game progresses. After each death, players are given a brief (and often morbid) summary of how they made their fate. Broussard challenges players to survive past the age of 20; be warned that you'll likely suffer many deaths before you reach your teenage years.

Personally, I made it to age 19 before I died of explosive diarrhea. Harsh.