Dys4ia

By: Paul Eres

On: March 10th, 2012

Dys4ia is a new game by Anna Anthropy / Auntie Pixelante, developer of REDDER, Mighty Jill Off, Calamity Annie, When Pigs Fly, and other games, and who is also just about to release a book on independent game development, Rise of the Videogame Zinesters. Dys4ia is an autobiographical game about transgenderism and hormone therapy. The music is by Liz Ryerson. From Anna’s blog:

“dys4ia is the story of the last six months of my life: when i made the decision to start hormone replacement therapy and began taking estrogen. i wanted to catalog all the frustrations of the experience and maybe create an “it gets better” for other trans women. when i started working on the game, though, i didn’t know whether it did get better. i was in the middle of the shit detailed in level 3 of the game, and at the time i had no idea what the ending would be; it was hard to envision a happy ending.”

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REDDER

By: Paul Eres

On: March 11th, 2010

REDDER is a game by Anna Anthropy / Auntie Pixelante, with music by Amon26. It’s an exploration platformer focused around an alternating green/red block switch mechanic, similar to the mechanic used in the third pendent dungeon in the SNES classic A Link to the Past.

I found the colors very nice (even though the backgrounds are often just gradients, there’s a lot that can be done with just gradients of color), and the exploration of a fairly large world excellent. In a few ways the game resembles VVVVVV, but only in basic structure: a world of screen-sized rooms, numerous checkpoints, things to collect, but is more non-linear, slower-paced, and not as focused on challenge (you won’t die very often if you’re decent at platformers).

I’ve played through many of her other games (When Pig’s Fly, Calamity Annie, Mighty Jill Off, Invader), and so far this one’s by far my favorite; maybe you guys will agree.

Jill Off Harder

By: Derek Yu

On: October 16th, 2008

And I thought I jilled off pretty hard the first time! Jill Off Harder, the expanded version of Auntie Pixelante’s masochistic tower-climbing platformer, is now available. The game includes numerous tweaks to the original version, but the biggest draw is the super-tough second tower, which is inspired, in part, by the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 (aka “The Lost Levels”). Thankfully, Tower Two isn’t merely a rehash of the first, and it’s got plenty of tricks up its sleeves. Much more fun, too, in my opinion.

Be a Fan, Man

By: Derek Yu

On: October 9th, 2008

Two fan-alicious competitions in the works:

In the first one, you are battling for the opportunity to appear as a character in Time Gentleman, Please, the sequel to Zombie Cow’s hilarious adventure game Ben There, Dan That!. All you have to do to enter is let Ben and Dan know what kind of character you would play in the game. Leave your entry in the comments section of the contest post.

The second competition is a promotion for Jill Off Harder, the upcoming expanded version of Auntie Pixelante’s Mighty Jill Off. Submit your Jill fanart to vie for either a pair of running shoes or a notebook, both hand-painted to your liking by Mighty Jill Off conceptual artist James Harvey. This particular Jill Off ends on Halloween.

Calamity Annie

By: Derek Yu

On: August 11th, 2008

Kinda missed this last week because the panda got sick, but Anna “Auntie Pixelante” Anthropy has released her Wild West-themed game, Calamity Annie. In the game you play the titular Annie, a gunslingin’ gal who’s seeking the bounties on the heads of 25 bad hombres – real low down dogs like Mad Dog Coyote and, er, Urban Yeti!

Calamity Annie is a reflex game reminiscent of the “Quick Draw” minigame from Kirby’s Adventure, although in Annie you use the mouse to pull the crosshairs from your “holster” and shoot the bad guys. It does a great job of emulating the feeling of drawing a pistol! You can also disarm your opponents for a big bonus by shooting their gun out of their hand.

The game has a lot of neat touches that make it a very enjoyable and memorable game. And it’s definitely the most polished and ambitious of Anna’s efforts thus far. Great work!

It should be noted that the game was recently updated with bugfixes and a few additional hombres. Auntie has also put up a development diary for those who are interested.

TIGdb: Entry for Calamity Annie

Atmospheric Mario

By: Derek Yu

On: April 22nd, 2008

Auntie Pixelante (aka “dessgeega”) has been peppering her blog with thoughtful commentary about Super Mario Bros. ROM hacks. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I think of NES ROM hacks, I usually imagine something like this (which, I have to admit, is amusing in its own terrible way). But what Auntie P. shows us is that, at least with a game as ubiquitous as Super Mario Bros., there are some more interesting and… er, subtle remixes out there.

Enigmario replaces Koji Kondo’s music with chiptune versions of Enigma’s MCMXC a.D., a concept album from the early 90’s. It gives the game a very different feel. (Auntie’s Analysis)

Super Greyscale Brothers presents a monochrome version of SMB. There’s not too much more to say about it than that, but it’s an interesting effect.

Old Pond, Diving Frog, and Water Sound is a hack named after a Matsuo Bashō poem, and takes place entirely underwater. This is a really beautiful hack, visually, featuring quite a few custom graphics. As to be expected from the creator of Mario Air, it’s also pretty difficult. (Auntie’s Analysis)

Silhouette Mario makes Mario a two-color game. Lovely to look at, and quite difficult, also. (Auntie’s Analysis)

Last but not least, The Pixel Kingdom changes every sprite in the game into a single-colored rectangle. This, and Silhouette Mario, I think, really show off how iconic and well-understood the graphics in Mario are.

In conclusion: hacks can be delightful, and Super Mario Bros. 1 remains one of the most interesting conceptual playgrounds in video games (and probably elsewhere).

To play these, you need an emulator, an ips patcher, and, for The Pixel Kingdom, Super Greyscale Brothers, and Enigmario, a clean copy of the Super Mario 1 ROM, which you may or may not find if you hunt around in this thread.

Mighty Jill Off

By: Derek Yu

On: March 1st, 2008

Mighty Jill Off is a vertical platform game by dessgeega (aka Ancil Anthropy) that has you climbing a tall tower to please your mistress. The controls are based on Mighty Bomb Jack (hence, the game is a “Jack Off,” only starring a female character). You have a high leap that can be shortened with another press of the jump button ‘Z’.

The game is short (< 30 minutes) and you are meant to die many times on your way to the top – the game saves your progress every couple of screens. Your time is recorded and displayed to you at the end of the game. I think my best is around 11 minutes.

Mighty Jill Off can get repetitive and a bit frustrating at times, forcing you to make more than a few precise jumps off the very edge of platforms to avoid bumping your head on overhangs, monsters, and spikes. But overall I enjoy the simplicity and retro vibe… my only real beef with the game is that you have to keep tapping ‘Z’ to stay afloat, which is more of a challenge of physical stamina rather than skill or reflex. But then again, this is a game who’s plot revolves around BDSM, so maybe that’s entirely appropriate!

I want to mention the cutscene artwork and music, too – both are quite cute!