There's this very old concept that naming something gives it power. Once given a name, we take shape and form ourselves. Identity starts with a name, the wonder at what that label means.
Sometimes Always Monsters is not an easy name. Neither was Always Sometimes Monsters, but it's what the game had to be called. Artistic expression is driven by the absolute necessity of creation. In many ways a game like this makes itself, we just put the pieces in place.
We spent a long time considering alternatives. Adding a number to the end didn't make sense because this game doesn't feel like a progression forward. It's more like a reflection.
Similarly, this game is intended to showcase an almost opposite side of life. You're married, you're successful, everything is going well. The game begins with an awareness that the troubles you face are by your design more so than by the natural harshness of life. When you become a monster this time, there will be no surprise it's your doing.
With all of that in mind, the concept of always running into situations where we would sometimes choose to be villains provides too much absolution. Instead, we are now examining the notion of sometimes running into situations where you must always become a monster. As confusing as the difference between these may seem, it is a critical one in discussing morality.
It's easy to understand if you think about it like ASM is the slow climb up the ladder, and SAM is the quick ride down the slide. They are opposites in direction, acceleration, and sensation but both exist in pursuit of something greater. One cannot exist without the other. The theme of interrelation is something core to the concept of both games.
In the end, we could have chosen something else. Almost anything else would probably have been easier to explain.
However, the game's called Sometimes Always Monsters and we'll be waiting patiently until we understand exactly what that means.
