But is it art?

As a follow-up to my Strange games through the ages post I decided to have a look at those ‘art’ games I mentioned…

And ask some obvious questions like:

1. What makes it different?
2. What makes it art?
3. Are they games?
4. What is available?
5. Where did this ‘movement’ come from?
6. And perhaps both most and least importantly, how well does it sell?

The supposed art-house games scene has become a bit of a semi-underground phenomenon lately. But is this a real movement and a bona fide genre, or just more industry hype and spin?

I decided to have a bit of a root around with these self-styled ‘art games’ and see what I could find out. I asked the six seemingly most asked questions as above, and have attempted to answer each in turn. But remember this is all just my opinion, and I tend to veer away from the standard FPS and like stranger games.