Posted by ARelativelyHotGirl
Fri, 25 Aug 2006 20:32:00 GMT
Cory Doctorow took a break from whacking off to Disneyland to post “Manifesto went live today, filled with amazing-looking games, the likes of which I’ve never seen. Congrats, Greg!” on BoingBoing.
An excerpt from Man! Festo Games’ motto: “The machinery of gaming has run amok. Instead of serving creative vision, it suppresses it. Instead of encouraging innovation, it represses it.”
Hyperbole/repetition/mindless chest-thumping aside, ManifestoGames DOES offer some VERY innovative titles. Take for instance, the top featured $20 game Mudcraft. It apparently stars people made of poo. I think that World of Warcraft game stole its name or something. “At least download the demo, for chrissakes.”
Also featured is Aveyond, “a game you wouldn’t be surprised to find on your SNES or Genesis.” It’s very innovative. I think Squaresoft stole the idea of Final Fantasy VI from these guys via a time machine or something.
Welcome to the future of indie gaming. “Who doesn’t like playing in the mud?”
raises hand :’(
Posted in Community | Tags ManifestoGames | 24 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:30:00 GMT
What is it about Lexaloffle games that I love so much? Everything about them is so endearing, from the cute graphics and music to the easy-to-understand (but hard to master) gameplay. The games are just so earnest and polished. Playing one is like putting on your favorite sweater and having some tea and a scone on a blustery fall afternoon. It’s like what I imagine New Zealand to be like. Or maybe getting nuzzled by a unicorn. Does that sound “ghey?” ‘Cause I really don’t care.
Swarm Racer is a new game from Lexaloffle and it’s a racing/gem-collecting game where, instead of controlling a single car or something you control a group of bees. It’s a simple idea that is executed just perfectly. My only qualm is that there aren’t enough levels, although trying to get on the online leaderboards extends the life of this game some.
Hey Joseph, users need to be able to build their own levels!
Posted in Macintosh, Windows, Action / Arcade, Freeware | Tags Lexaloffle | 10 comments
Posted by Tim
Wed, 23 Aug 2006 23:26:00 GMT
It’s nice to see Steam picking up speed when it comes to supporting indie games (though it’s pretty much debatable if the games on offer are indie in the first place).
Seventeen of PopCap’s wonderful games will be made available on Steam starting this August 30th, while presumably DEFCON’s release date was pushed back due to the fact that they were trying to conclude this deal.
Posted in Community | Tags PopCap | 2 comments
Posted by Tim
Wed, 23 Aug 2006 15:17:00 GMT
Park it under the late news department, a demo for The Silver Lining is out. This King’s Quest sequel had been the debate of many but with Vivendi’s approval it was then elevated to a partially official status.
The developers have gone the route of impressing with 3D graphics instead of concentrating on telling a story. Character models don’t look too good either. Fairly disappointing to play, especially when just about everyone had such high expectations for it.
I’m certain that Matt will disagree with us. Placing a ‘save King’s Quest XI’ banner on TIGSource? After trying out the demo, this game really does need saving from being a mediocre adventure riding on the name of a famous series.
Posted in Adventure, Windows, Freeware | 19 comments
Posted by Max
Tue, 22 Aug 2006 18:38:00 GMT
Hey everybody, I’m one of the new writers for TIGSource. So all you long-time TIGgers (a horrible, if adorable appellation) let me know if I have a terrible new flavor of reporting, the Crystal Pepsi of journalism if you will. But that is neither here nor there. What brings us here today is perhaps the greatest casual games website on the net, Orisinal.
Orisinal serves as a personal portfolio/compilation of Ferry Halim’s flash games, with Halim acting as perhaps the most prolific casual games auteur outside of the shooter scene. The games featured on Orisinal are done in a wonderfully painterly style, set to gentle, melodic scores, and most importantly, are masterworks of simple interaction and design mechanisms. Most Orisinal games require only the mouse to play and resolve within minutes, but can be played again and again (and again). If coffee breaks were a docile herbivore, these seemingly tiny games would be their most voracious predator.
My personal favorite is The Runaway Train, but it would be a long and boring post if I were to describe each game, so let it suffice that I have given you the URL, pointed you in the right direction and given you a small shove. Go have fun.
Posted in Highly Recommended, Browser Games, Casual | Tags Orisinal | 10 comments
Posted by Tim
Tue, 22 Aug 2006 18:21:00 GMT
It’s that time of the month again for Game Tunnel’s most anticipated August Monthly Round-Up.
Some interesting picks in there, like The Blob (must try that), Shlongg (think I heard about it from someone), Virtual Villagers (I’m quite sure this was Jay’s recommendation), Avast! (the link is wrong, unfortunately), Grass Roots (NSS still rules), Plasma Spheres 3D (reviewed by ARelativelyHotGirl on TIGSource last week) and a few others.
Had to fill up that paragraph to make sure the image doesn’t go over the line!
Posted in Community | 2 comments
Posted by Albert Lai
Tue, 22 Aug 2006 17:39:00 GMT
“In Strider Mod Team, we made a little experiment with the source engine. Can we code a portal system like Prey, Portal or any game with portals and do it multiplayer?. Yes, we can do and source can do it.”
For those not in the know, Excite is the name of the mod (Portal: Please Don’t Sue Us probably wasn’t catchy enough). No release date yet, but it looks to be shaping up nicely.
Heck, funny things happen when the picture is larger than the post.
Posted in Multiplayer, Mods / Hacks, Previews | 1 comment
Posted by Derek Yu
Tue, 22 Aug 2006 03:36:00 GMT
Berbank Green wrote me to let you all know that his game Fleafall is now freeware (the game was originally being sold for the rather odd price of $23.95, I think). Fleafall is a pretty fun little action game where you play a flea competing against other fleas in a variety of orb-collecting challenges. It supports multiplayer via Internet or LAN.
So apparently Fleafall didn’t do to well in the shareware market. It’s kind of a shame, because the game has potential to be great. I’d say the number one problem with the game is the frustration factor, which sets in quickly as a result of some poor control and level design decisions. The inability to cling to the underside of things doesn’t make sense and is almost as annoying as having actual fleas… in your pubics. Add to this some pretty haphazard level design and you’ve got a pretty good reason not to spend… well let’s just say it’s $25, because it practically is.
Fleafall is a great freeware game, but it wasn’t a game worth paying ~$25 for!
Posted in Multiplayer, Windows, Action / Arcade, Freeware | 9 comments
Posted by Tim
Mon, 21 Aug 2006 20:23:00 GMT
The Exchange Student is a new episodic adventure game much like Telltale’s Bone adventures and the upcoming Sam and Max. In it, you assume the role of a twenty-two year old Italian casanova using a student exchange program as a cover for attempting to bed hot Swedish girls. If you’re thinking Leisure Suit Larry, then you’re partly right.
The game uses a verb coin interface (renamed “Amore”) most commonly found in classic Lucasart productions. Voice work is impressive considering the cast they had roped in, sounding much better than Himalaya Studios’ debut effort. No demo available yet, but a 50MB trailer showing quite a bit of in-game footage can be downloaded from the official web site. The first episode is set to be released soon.
Posted in Macintosh, Adventure, Windows, Previews | 1 comment
Posted by Derek Yu
Mon, 21 Aug 2006 12:36:00 GMT
Façade, the AI-driven interactive fiction game that puts you in the middle of a uncomfortable dinner party, is now available for Mac. Provided you have a 2.0GHz G4 or G5 (or better), you MacHeads can try out the game that the New York Times apparently called “the future of video games.” Which I think was a bit premature, considering that this is the future of video games right here.
But really though, the game’s AI and text parser are pretty impressive, so you should check it out.
(Source: Insert Credit)
Posted in Macintosh, Interactive Fiction, Adventure, Windows | 5 comments
