tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68238954813445810282024-03-12T18:06:34.847-07:00awesome little games- games that make you thinkJPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643208524400022673noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6823895481344581028.post-51759847775736265842014-07-23T05:57:00.003-07:002014-07-23T05:57:44.182-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><a href="http://adarkroom.doublespeakgames.com/">A Dark Room</a></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Created by </span><span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><u><a href="http://www.doublespeakgames.com/" target="_blank">Doublespeakgames</a></u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">2 hours </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://adarkroom.doublespeakgames.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images.jayisgames.com/13680-b.png" height="298" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Haven't written for a bit, was starting to worry that I wasn't really finding any games worth blogging about until I found this gem from <a href="http://www.doublespeakgames.com/" target="_blank">doublespeak games</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Taking minimalism to new heights - this is the first screen for "A Dark Room":</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://adarkroom.doublespeakgames.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhanya9fnGWaf6hGKfwZsfRdF3JfH21cerDhYShZacDSxTBGtxxEN1m5HcwpqhxOXXGbA7DsDg67xmobdYXYOzfLDlMsDHQ1hcI09oFONO9xvCyyuBFq-EgQTw7EzBXD4pFXjP8VVw2pOgb/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-06-30+at+20.08.39.png" height="337" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">You start the fire. You try to keep the fire going. You need to get more wood to to keep the fire going. There is no telling where you are or what you have to do apart from just keep stoking the fire. The room gets warmer. Suddenly a stranger hurtles through the doorway and collapses in the corner. It is freezing outside apparently. She does nothing for a while as you find you need to collect more wood, a new option appears for you to visit the forest outside. When you have gathered more wood, the person has thawed and says she can build things, and if you build more things, people will come.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">This is the beginning of a seriously EPIC adventure in text form. You have no idea what is coming next but as you figure out the game's rhythms and try to balance your resources, you slowly become obsessed by it, collecting things you don't know the use for (yet) and consumed by a burning desire to build and learn more things.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I'll give you some carrots for perseverance. 1 - there is a map. 2. If you play your cards right you'll see the stars. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">From zero to space hero in the most minimal way possible. This is evolution at it's finest. JP :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> </div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643208524400022673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6823895481344581028.post-38305742862839913042014-03-23T13:45:00.002-07:002014-07-23T05:52:26.470-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/garbage-dreams/game.html" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Garbage Dreams</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Created by </span><a href="http://www.garbagedreams.com/" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Duane Dunfield, Mai Iskander, Jeremy Bernstein, Kevin Kulp, Sean Nadeau, Alex Court</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">10 - 15 mins (but you'll probably need to play more than once and have good mouse skills)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/garbage-dreams/game.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.gamesforchange.org/g4cwp/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Garbage-Dreams-Game-Screen.png" height="400" width="640" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></span> <br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Ok, hands up who knows stuff about recycling? Well, I know that I throw my paper, plastic and glass into an opaque bag and Mr Trashman takes it far far away from my conscience never to return. And that's all I need to know right? Even if I'm ignorant of why recycling is important, how recycling happens and what its limits are.<br />
<br />
Fortunately for the likes of me and my conscience there's <a href="http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/garbage-dreams/game.html">Garbage Dreams</a>, a promo game for the 2009 <a href="http://www.garbagedreams.com/">film by Mai Iskander</a> that seeks to increase our knowledge by pitting us against the recycling powers of the Zaballeen (</span></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Arabic for "garbage people") </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">who live and work in </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">the world's largest garbage village. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">You start with one neighbourhood, one factory and one hungry goat, and the objective is to expand your business as much as possible within 8 rounds. You have to stay within budget, make the right decisions with regards to upgrades and expansions, and then have quick mouse skills to recycle the right waste within the given time.<br />
<br />
Immediately I was forced to learn about recycling in order to progress; I learned why I couldn't recycle things like coffee cups and plastic bags and found myself investing in education, and found it more profitable learning to recycle a greater variety of things rather than a greater volume of things. </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Also it became quickly apparent that each neighbourhood around Cairo had different characteristics and therefore had different costs to maintain and develop.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">On the outskirts of Cairo, </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Garbage Dreams gives us a window into the way of life of the afore-mentioned Zaballeen.</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"> For centuries</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"> they have recycled a whopping 80% of the waste they collect to become the most efficient recycling community in the world. Unfortunately their livelihoods have been threatened by </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">privatisation of the cities recycling services. Cairo has given contracts to companies that are only recycling 20% of the city's waste and leaving the rest to landfill. It's a situation which is ongoing and the Zaballeen waste system has since received international recognition as a model to follow. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Be patient with this game. It's hard and it's not immediately rewarding. However I think the knowledge of recycling you gain, combined with </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">a community under threat, along with a</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">wider message </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">of </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">consumerism and privatisation makes it worth including in this blog. It's certainly unique, and </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I don't think a more in-depth game about recycling has ever been made. <a href="http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/garbage-dreams/game.html">Enjoy</a> - JP </span></div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643208524400022673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6823895481344581028.post-26937993569127445662014-03-10T11:38:00.003-07:002014-07-23T05:54:14.991-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/634905" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-large;" target="_blank">ALZ</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Created by <u><a href="http://dyl.newgrounds.com/">Dyl</a></u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Music by <a href="https://soundcloud.com/broove">Broove</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">2 mins </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/634905" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://jayisgames.com/images/14992-b.png" height="234" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">This is ALZ, a brief but moving encounter with a world of ever increasing confusion and gentle but horrible suffering. Warning: spoilers ahead </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">so if you want the full experience </span><a href="http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/634905" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large;">play ALZ now</a><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"> before reading on.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I thought it would be better to write a little more -</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I'm actually feeling slightly choked up as I write this, and I have no experience of people with A</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">lzheimers (did you get the clue in the name?) </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">The poor guy! It's amazing how I got from "lah dee dah, what's going to happen" to a dejected "...oh..." in under 2 mins. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">This is not a game. This is not interactive art. There's nothing to do here but join in with the sad story of someone losing his mind. It's important to say that much of the pathos created is because of a fantastic soundtrack by <a href="https://soundcloud.com/broove">Broove</a>, who I will shortly be asking to join my music library :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">In the words of the author - "have a forgotten, but hopefully not forgetful, experience". - JP</span></div>JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643208524400022673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6823895481344581028.post-61115141810197777332014-02-26T09:45:00.000-08:002014-03-08T12:09:20.953-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.mochigames.com/game/momiga/" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-large;" target="_blank">Momiga</a>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.mochigames.com/game/momiga/" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;" target="_blank">(The Most Minimal Game Ever)</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Created by <u><a href="https://www.mochimedia.com/community/profile/Rogerup" target="_blank">Rogerio Penchel</a></u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">2 mins (more if you're not very good at pressing one button) </span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">
</span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.mochigames.com/game/momiga/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cfile28.uf.tistory.com/image/111A8C154CCAB9F571B71A" height="281" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">
</span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">See this screenshot above? That's the most un-minimal screen in the game. Most of the time you'll see this:</span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">
</span>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.mochigames.com/game/momiga/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://eplusgames.net/resources/games/momiga/screen_momiga.jpg" height="359" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Ya, deal with it. The reason why I've included Momiga is because it's actually very fun and eminently re-playable. An immense achievement for a game comprising of one button and one dot. Should I tell you what happens to the dot? Nah, let's keep it minimal :)</span><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643208524400022673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6823895481344581028.post-18464404763993370052014-02-24T05:15:00.001-08:002014-03-08T12:16:18.017-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.parapluesch.de/whiskystore/test.htm" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-large;" target="_blank">The Asylum </a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.parapluesch.de/whiskystore/test.htm" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;" target="_blank">(Psychiatric Clinic for Abused Cuddly Toys)</a></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Created by <a href="http://www.parapluesch.com/">P</a></span><span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><u><a href="http://www.parapluesch.com/">arapluesch</a></u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">About 2+ hours (unless you're a psychiatrist) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.parapluesch.de/whiskystore/test.htm" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images.jayisgames.com/theasylum_494x309.png" height="400" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">This is a very, very dear game. One of my friends works in psychiatry and I just watched her laughing her head off as she was told that cuddly toys have no defence against the violent tantrums of their owners in a dysfunctional lonely world, and then I watched her </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">methodically</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">try to diagnose the mental health problems of a traumatised stuffed snake. And suddenly there you have it - the most realistic sim I've seen of psychiatric therapy that exists on the net, and it involves sock puppets, crazy toys, cuddly drugs and fluffy dream therapy. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Once you get past the badly drawn nurse, what becomes immediately apparent in The Asylum is the incredibly high level of depth and personality in our cuddly characters, and the </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Sherlock Holmes-like diligence needed to </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">solve the mystery of their cutesy wutesy mental illnesses. </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.netlore.ru/userfiles/image/Images/Netlore2/paraplush1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.netlore.ru/userfiles/image/Images/Netlore2/paraplush1.JPG" height="506" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">In gameplay, tests on our furry friends do not work if applied haphazardly, also it sometimes takes time and repetition for a breakthrough to occur. This quickly brings home a sense of responsibility and commitment to the toy, and I admit I felt brilliant when I actually "helped" a toy overcome it's early 'toyhood' trauma. I now feel adequately qualified to go into an Asylum and give a few treatments here and there with my sock puppet :) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Meanwhile it's isn't exactly </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">clear</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> what </span><a href="http://www.parapluesch.com/"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">P</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">arapluesch's</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> motive is, why does this game exist? Throughout the game there are opportunities to buy a real toy as portrayed in the game, so I guess the motive could be to get people to buy cuddly toys, but the game is so deep and relatively unknown that I thought it unlikely that it's a for profit. There are crossovers with other toy projects, links to field studies, a link to a forum which had scores of "doctors" posting about treatment of cuddly toys... </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Digging a bit further into the </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.parapluesch.com/" target="_blank">P</a></span><span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><u><a href="http://www.parapluesch.com/" target="_blank">arapluesch</a></u></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> website, there are diagrams on psychoanalysis of cuddly toys, you can find referral letters for each character, and even <a href="http://www.paraplush.com/animismus/teilnehmer_liste.php" target="_blank">discussions</a> on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism" target="_blank">animism</a> (the idea that non-human entities, including animals, plants, and often even inanimate objects can have souls). This is clearly much more than just a simple game. In fact I feel a bit like I've discovered some strange spiritual cult. W</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">hat on earth is going <i>on</i> here? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I finally googled the name "</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Martin+Kittsteiner&oq=Martin+Kittsteiner&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60l2.667j0j4&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=91&ie=UTF-8" target="_blank">Martin Kittsteiner</a>", the contact name at the bottom of the Parapluesch </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">page, and found the truth. </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Martin Kittsteiner is a toymaker from Hamburg that thought it would be a good idea to create and sell toys with psychiatric problems that you could then solve online. There are brief articles and interviews scattered around the net in 2010 and nothing since, but the game remains and is being discovered to this day. Well. I hope Martin is doing well out of it. I'm going to order a Sly snake, or a Dr Wood crow. And never never do anything bad to it ever.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">This is a great example of an idea FAR surpassing it's original intentions, I would argue that most players don't even know </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.parapluesch.de/whiskystore/test.htm" target="_blank">The Asylum</a> is more than a web game, but many will wonder at how something so deep could ever have been created. Well now you know - Enjoy! - JP</span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643208524400022673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6823895481344581028.post-29459754940495902002014-02-19T16:51:00.001-08:002014-03-08T12:34:07.841-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.senggeng.com/wada/compe/main.html" target="_blank">Treasure Box</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Created by <u><a href="http://www.senggeng.com/wada/index.html" target="_blank">Nanahiro Wada</a></u></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">About 5 mins (longer if you can't read music).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.senggeng.com/wada/compe/main.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.lazylaces.com/pics/01/center_treasure_box.jpg" height="289" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Ever wanted to PLAY the beginning of a Monty Python's Flying Circus? Well now you can with Treasure Box, created by Nanahiro Wada. It took me a while to track him down, but I really do recommend clicking his name above and catching a glimpse of his world - it's a good world and certainly very wacky. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Anyway I won't dwell here </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">too much</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">. Treasure box is exactly what it says on the tin, it also has an ageless feel that adds to the inward pleasure of this interactive visual feast. If you can't read music it might take you slightly longer, but only slightly. <a href="http://www.senggeng.com/wada/compe/main.html">Enjoy the game :)</a> - JP </span></span></div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643208524400022673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6823895481344581028.post-91897555659147891792014-02-17T05:23:00.001-08:002014-03-08T12:22:05.062-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.kongregate.com/games/scriptwelder/400-years" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-large;">400 Years</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Created by <u><a href="http://scriptwelder.newgrounds.com/">Scriptwelder</a></u></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">About 10 - 30 mins</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.kongregate.com/games/scriptwelder/400-years" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://indiegames.com/400years.png" height="385" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Scriptwelder's rather zen offering takes patience. 400 years of patience to be exact. You are a sort of walking Easter Island head who wakes from his slumber with the vague knowledge that some sort of calamity is approaching. A calamity that you are going to try your damned hardest to prevent... in a very measured fashion of course. And off you trot at a stone's pace to do something to save the world.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Playing 400 Years can be a bit laggy on some browsers (the best link for me was the one I've posted here) and you may find yourself cursing our hero's inability to move faster or jump but these are all tolerable conditions in order to marvel at how the game uses <b>TIME</b> to overcome this. Your superpower is simply to be able to wait and not die, while helping your environment develop to aid you (mini spoilers ahead). </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The first time I watched my power manifest itself, I watched the seasons whizz by so that I could walk across a frozen lake in winter. This was mildly intriguing. When I planted a chestnut and waited decades for it to grow into a tree to climb, I felt that this was rather special. By the time I was helping civilisations out of hunger by introducing crops to them, so that they evolve and build bridges for me; that's when I realised I was playing a great game. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">400 years is a unique gaming concept that hasn't been explored in this way before. The music is great too, a tinkling soundtrack that adds to the feeling of biding one's time and patience. Finally the ending made me feel that I'd experienced a mini fable of timeless and dignified self-sacrifice without expectation. Enjoy! - JP</span></span><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643208524400022673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6823895481344581028.post-37524157434260038292014-02-12T12:20:00.000-08:002014-03-08T12:35:30.925-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://pgstudios.org/games.php?g=2" target="_blank">ImmorTall</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Created by <a href="http://pgstudios.org/" target="_blank">Evan Miller</a></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">About 5 - 20 mins</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://pgstudios.org/games.php?g=2" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://robotmonkeys.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/immortall1.png" height="268" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I realise that if I'm not careful, I'm going to end up with a blog that is full of thinky games that sort of leave people confused and a little depressed. Actually that thought makes me pretty cheerful. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">"How do you WIN?!?" scream the forums around this particular game. Well you er, don't and that it seems, is the point here.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">ImmorTall has been around for a while and unlike the tortured genius and complex existential mechaniss of <a href="http://armorgames.com/play/7327/the-infinite-ocean" target="_blank">Infinite Ocean</a>, or vastly researched playability of <a href="http://www.molleindustria.org/en/oiligarchy/" target="_blank">Oiligarchy</a>. Creator Evan Miller has stumbled upon something profound with a game that only requires the use of your computer's left and right keys. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">You are a wormy alien crashed on earth and discovered by a little girl. Her and her brother feed you and you grow much bigger, you then are taken in by her family. All would be calm and peaceful in the forest if it weren't for the rest of humanity, who aren't friendly at all, callously shooting through the family to get at you. But you are big, strong and tall. Big enough to shield others from mortars and bullets, or big enough to try and outrun attacks without protecting the family which nurtured you, or big enough to turn tail and leave the earth behind completely. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">There's a quiet and grave dignity about ImmorTall that sets it aside from most games, in fact many will question whether it is a game at all. From the atonal soundtrack and sfx to the slick yet emotive silhouetted graphical style, Immortal is a 3 minute experience that will leave you wondering who the real monsters are. Also it will test your character (as an alien) in terms of how far you are willing to go to protect those you care for. Love - an altogether human concept - is portrayed by an alien with a subtle variety of consequences and endings. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">There is a surprising amount of thought in the simple AI personalities ascribed to each of the family, when someone dies certain members will grieve, oblivious in their tears to the danger around them (which is stressful since you may be trying desperately to keep them alive). Other members seem bullheaded and cowardly at the same time, willing to put others in danger but at the first sign of trouble retreating behind other family members. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Many people have come away from this games feeling a little downtrodden and wistful about the human condition. If this is the case with you then welcome to the club; ImmorTall is an experience where it can be said that rather than you playing the game, the game plays you. Sucker :)</span></span></div>
</div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643208524400022673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6823895481344581028.post-79544069844657871292014-02-04T03:44:00.000-08:002014-03-08T12:37:00.634-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.molleindustria.org/en/oiligarchy/" target="_blank">Oiligarchy</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Created by </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://paolo.molleindustria.org/" target="_blank">Paolo Perdecini</a></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">About 20 - 60 mins </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.molleindustria.org/en/oiligarchy/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.molleindustria.org/files/content/oiligarchy_texas_massive.png" height="251" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">You know, this blog is EASY. I just write whatever comes into my head and it like, is counted as information by way of it being somewhere online. Sorry, my head is still reeling from the existential wonderland of <a href="http://armorgames.com/play/7327/the-infinite-ocean" target="_blank">Infinite Ocean</a> (last post). Anyway as I do these little posts I find I am checking out the creators of the games and looking at their takes, then looking at other bloggers who like these games and seeing their appreciation and critiques. I feel like I have stumbled onto a somewhat undiscovered, intellectual and wonderful part of the gaming community. However I will endeavour not to become too chinstrokey and therefore... buttocks, poo and willies. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Oiligarchy is little, yellow and different. For a game made in 2008 it's very close to what we now are seeing as the uncaring reality in 2014. Tar sands, arctic drilling, fracking (it's gas I know), are all part of our reality now, and we don't seem to care as a people, let alone attempt to stop it. Apathy is rife.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">However it's the little acts that count, and many kids who have mistakenly clicked on Oiligarchy thinking vacantly "Oo! I get to be an rich oil baron!" will have quickly and expertly been guided to the wisdom that oil is war, oil is subjugation and oil is ultimately inhuman. Whilst being very entertained. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I've played through about 3 times now and each time I'm astounded about how much detail is in there, stats, peak oil forecasts, secret government plots to invade oil rich nations. There is deeper meaning in seeing how politicians are just passive partners that need a little money thrown at them in order to aid the oily agenda, it doesn't matter who wins when they are both being funded by the same interest. But we knew that already didn't we? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Paolo Perdecini has managed a marvellous act of making the player the perpetrator of atrocity in order to 'win', pitting our morality against our ego in trying to beat the game. </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I also like how money becomes almost inconsequential next to the robot-like feeling of power you get in expanding and progressing at the cost of EVERYTHING. I've killed off indigenous tribes, massacred marine life, invaded the middle east, but I have yet to create human oil/fuel resources; I haven't yet got that far (I got the "Farewell West Ending"). Ironically the morally best ending for the world is the one where you 'lose' i.e. you lose your grip on politics, oil dependency decreases and there is the beginning of the transition to a more carbon neutral future. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Here's a </span><a href="http://www.molleindustria.org/oiligarchy-postmortem/" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;" target="_blank">detailed postmortem</a><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> by Paolo that will knock your socks off, play the game first though. I hope you enjoy it - JP</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643208524400022673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6823895481344581028.post-54643120330659553262014-01-28T09:33:00.001-08:002014-03-08T12:39:43.120-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://armorgames.com/play/7327/the-infinite-ocean" target="_blank">The Infinite Ocean</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Created by </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.jonas-kyratzes.net/" target="_blank">Jonas Kyratzes</a></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">About 30 - 120 mins</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://armorgames.com/play/7327/the-infinite-ocean" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.casualgirlgamer.com/assets/images/20-games-that-make-you-think-about-life/the-infinite-ocean.jpg" height="331" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Ok, I reckon when you first play </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Infinite Ocean</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> you will think "this is shit". However the reality is that you have no patience young padawan. In truth if you don't persevere with </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">this game</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> and get a slowly growing sense of trepidation and wonder, YOU are shit. Go back to Candy Crush Saga, we don't WANT you to play, bam! Ahem. That is to say, sometimes it may be challenging and I certainly needed to use a walkthrough at times. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">In short, this awkward, tense, black and white monolith slowly evolved into one of the most moving games I've ever played. Seriously, how can a progression of mostly text based blocky windows almost make a grown man cry? I've written and deleted a few sentences here before realising that I can't write any more about the story unless I want to give some of the plot away. Also I am lazy, so <a href="http://thenocturnalrambler.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/great-philosophical-depth-in-infinite.html" target="_blank">here is a great blog post</a> from The Nocturnal Rambler with spoiler alerts that will give you more info than I ever could. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">The writing is amazing, the development of main character of the story is what makes Infinite Ocean so compelling. Also, it really seems that a point and click environment is the <b>only</b> way the story could be told to this level of effectiveness. A movie couldn't do it better, or a book. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Dear readers, if anything justifies the existence of the point and click format, and indeed the world of casual gaming itself, it's this. Enjoy - JP</span></span></div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643208524400022673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6823895481344581028.post-16269141445469314912014-01-17T02:26:00.002-08:002014-03-08T12:42:07.433-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://amanita-design.net/samorost-1/">Samorost</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Created by </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Jakub Dvorský</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">About 10 - 15 mins</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://amanita-design.net/samorost-1/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://amanita-design.net/img/games/samorost1-02.jpg" height="443" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I played this game i</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">n 2003 </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">and it was instantly unforgettable, way ahead of it's time and has gained a cult following ever since. Music and sfx are brilliant, and sometimes you feel like you are playing within a piece of organic art. Amanita Design have since created a few more games, including one of the best games EVER made - <a href="http://botanicula.net/" target="_blank">Botanicula</a> - but if you want to see where it all started this is where to go. Enjoy! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643208524400022673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6823895481344581028.post-33782291556643702462014-01-16T23:35:00.002-08:002014-03-08T12:45:07.167-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large; font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.necessarygames.com/my-games/freedom-bridge/flash">Freedom Bridge</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Created by <span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Jordan Magnuson</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">About 2 mins</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.necessarygames.com/my-games/freedom-bridge/flash" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://necessarygames.com/sites/default/files/header_images/games/banner_1.png" height="179" width="640" /></a></div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Well this is the first game that started me thinking - "Well I play so many of these damned little flash games that it would be silly not to share what I've found, maybe others with like em too". We start off my little casual gaming blog with <b>Freedom Bridge</b>, a "Notgame" by <span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Jordan Magnuson. T</span>hat's all I'm going to tell you. Ok, I'll tell you a little more. I never knew I could care about a moving dot until it started bleeding.</span></div>
</div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643208524400022673noreply@blogger.com0