#45: Lemmings (Psygnosis, Amiga, 1991) 

YOU ARE A BUILDER!

Wow! You really bridge the gap!

[…]

When you first play Lemmings, the Builder does not appear capable of a great deal of versatility. The only thing the Builder can build is a staircase, consisting of exactly twelve steps. By building a second staircase on top of the first, one could argue that a Builder can also build a staircase of twenty four steps, or indeed any number of steps, so long as that number is a multiple of twelve. But, ultimately, a Builder still does nothing but build staircases, no?

Well, no. A Builder will build a staircase consisting of exactly twelve steps, unless something happens to interrupt her build, like meeting a wall, or a ceiling. By building into a wall, a Builder can be used as a de facto Blocker. By building into a ceiling, a Builder can be used as a de facto Blocker that works only on herself, as her staircase won’t meet the ceiling itself, thus allowing other lemmings to pass right over it. In both cases, the Builder transcends the perceived limitations of her creative medium by using the actual limitations to unexpected effect. And that, in the end, is what our Builder is. One who takes their limitations as a challenge, and uses them as a driving force.

I am nothing but a Builder, but here I dreamt I was an architect.