mrfalcon (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} mrfalcon) wrote,@ 2005-02-21 21:11:00 |
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Indie Games!
I found this neat site called Game Tunnel, about independent videogames, which can be a lot of fun. Its just like independent film. Low-budget but sometimes delightfully quirky.
So anyway, they have a list of best independent games of 2004, and I was pleased and amused by the fact that Arkanoid-style games have their own category. Apparently there are so many of these breakout clones, that they could list the best 5 of them made in 2004.
They also listed Gish as the absolute best indie game of 2004. I played this game earlier in the year and didn't care for it, but I've heard so many good things about it, I had to try it again to see if I could figure out what I was wasn't getting.
Gish is a 2D platform scroller where you control a ball of black tar. The highlight of the game is the realistic physics engine that makes the blob really act like a blob and interact with other things like blob would. You have to do the usual game stuff: flip switches, open doors, kill enemies. But lest you think this isn't challenging, understand that when you are a black ball of tar, everything is challenging. In fact, the most mundane and simple tasks are transformed into... well, tedious, time-consuming chores. Its about as much fun as making tar crawl.
To be fair, this is a really innovative game. The physics is really impressive. Its got very hip comic book graphics, and character that is both likeable and A BALL OF TAR. I'm just not sure that its fun. After a few hours of playing it, I'm just not getting the "taking mundane tasks and making them difficult" philosophy. It seems to me that you could get the same effect by getting someone bind your hands and feet and then going about your daily business (incidentally, you can do the same thing with The Sims, and you don't even need the rope).
I think these guys are talented, and I hope they make more games. I'm really glad that other poeple are enjoying it, because the world needs more happy people. I'm guess I'd just like to say to anybody out there who doesn't like the game: You're not crazy.
I found this neat site called Game Tunnel, about independent videogames, which can be a lot of fun. Its just like independent film. Low-budget but sometimes delightfully quirky.
So anyway, they have a list of best independent games of 2004, and I was pleased and amused by the fact that Arkanoid-style games have their own category. Apparently there are so many of these breakout clones, that they could list the best 5 of them made in 2004.
They also listed Gish as the absolute best indie game of 2004. I played this game earlier in the year and didn't care for it, but I've heard so many good things about it, I had to try it again to see if I could figure out what I was wasn't getting.
Gish is a 2D platform scroller where you control a ball of black tar. The highlight of the game is the realistic physics engine that makes the blob really act like a blob and interact with other things like blob would. You have to do the usual game stuff: flip switches, open doors, kill enemies. But lest you think this isn't challenging, understand that when you are a black ball of tar, everything is challenging. In fact, the most mundane and simple tasks are transformed into... well, tedious, time-consuming chores. Its about as much fun as making tar crawl.
To be fair, this is a really innovative game. The physics is really impressive. Its got very hip comic book graphics, and character that is both likeable and A BALL OF TAR. I'm just not sure that its fun. After a few hours of playing it, I'm just not getting the "taking mundane tasks and making them difficult" philosophy. It seems to me that you could get the same effect by getting someone bind your hands and feet and then going about your daily business (incidentally, you can do the same thing with The Sims, and you don't even need the rope).
I think these guys are talented, and I hope they make more games. I'm really glad that other poeple are enjoying it, because the world needs more happy people. I'm guess I'd just like to say to anybody out there who doesn't like the game: You're not crazy.
