PlayPen

By: Derek Yu

On: April 27th, 2010

Aaaaaand, we’re back. Jeff Lindsay upgraded our blog software (Typo) and there were some hiccups. We were an entire version number behind!

Anyway, Farbs (ROM CHECK FAIL, Captain Forever) has created an awesome collaborative wiki game called PlayPen. Anyone can jump in and start adding to or changing the game, which lets you click hotspots to enter new areas. It includes a drawing tool much like TIGer Paint, which members have been using to create pixel art on TIGForums. Very simple to use, and very fun to play around with. You never know where you’re going to end up in this game!

If you want to discuss the game on the forums or give Farbs feedback, go here.

Poto & Cabenga

By: Derek Yu

On: April 16th, 2010

Honeyslug just released Poto & Cabenga, their browser-based one-switch game that was made for the Gamma IV party (and was chosen to be displayed there). You control both Poto and Cabenga with one button, and the way it’s done is pretty nifty… definitely a bit of a mind-bender at first, though. I like the art style!

TIGdb: Entry for Poto & Cabenga

Synopsis Quest Deluxe

By: Derek Yu

On: April 5th, 2010

Skipmore is a prolific Japanese game company that develops micro-games for mobile devices. They have a bunch of free browser-based projects on their website, but Synopsis Quest Deluxe is the first to be translated into English (thanks to Benito C.). The game consists of a series of micro-games and puzzles that poke fun at JRPG conventions. I thought it was pretty funny, and the clunky controls that are present in most of Skipmore’s titles are relatively bearable in SQD due to the tiny scope of the game.

(Source: Tim W., via IndieGames.com)

TIGdb: Entry for Synopsis Quest Deluxe

SteamBirds

By: Derek Yu

On: April 1st, 2010

Andy Moore’s SteamBirds is a Flash-based dogfighting game that’s set in alternate history versions of World War I and II, where planes are powered by nuclear power or some such. The game employs a kind of turn-based combat system that’s similar to Flotilla – the action is carried out in real-time but pauses at fixed intervals so that you can adjust your movements. Your planes will automatically shoot if they’re within range, so your main goal is to outmaneuver your opponents and use the special abilities of your planes at the right times. It’s really fun and the contributions from Danc (graphics and design), Danny Baranowsky (music), and Jordan Fehr (sound effects) make it a stand-out browser game.

My biggest complaint is that the game doesn’t go far enough. It’s a problem that I feel a lot of the Flash games I’ve played suffer from: by the time you get to the real meat of the game – the massive, knock-down drag-out battles with tons of planes – SteamBirds is already winding down toward a premature conclusion. At least there are a handful of bonus levels that extend the fun and let you play around with weapons that, for whatever reason, didn’t make it into the main campaign.

Still, maybe it’s best that SteamBirds leaves me thinking of possibilities and wanting more. Andy has even been kind enough to reveal the numbers behind the project: everything from how the development was split to how he chose his sponsor, Armor Games (and for how much). Nice!

TIGdb: Entry for SteamBirds

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.

Captain Impostor

By: Derek Yu

On: March 3rd, 2010

Farbs just released the latest episode of his Captain Forever series, called Captain Impostor (available for all registered players). CI puts you at the helm of The Narcissus, a new type of ship that’s powered by a CLONE DRIVE. The CLONE DRIVE lets you steal entire ships and make them your own. However, the strength of the parts cloned depends on how much clone power you have. Destroy other ships to raise your clone power!

So far I’m enjoying the cloning mechanic, but the lack of construction makes it a little less interesting than Successor, in my opinion. I’m still waiting for a more cohesive world and story, but I don’t know if that’s in the cards or not. In any case, it’s fun to see the series evolve and try new things.

Babies Dream of Dead Worlds

By: Guest Reviewer

On: March 2nd, 2010

[This is a guest article by Malec2b. If you’d like to contribute a guest article to TIGSource, go here.]

Babies Dream of Dead Worlds is a game by Gregory Weir (I Fell in Love with the Majesty of Colors). It takes place inside the dreams of babies. These babies are dreaming of a world inhabited by strange tentacle creatures. In each level, there is a center line of gravity, meaning that when you are above the line, gravity pulls down, and when you are below the line, gravity pulls up. The creatures have tentacles both below and above their body, so they can walk properly on either side of the line. There are also rifts which serve as obstacles as they will send you back in the level if you touch them. The game is rather quick to play through, although there is some added replay value in getting faster times on races and more coins in the collection levels.

[SPOILERS: The rest of this review reveals key aspects of the game’s plot and structure and is hidden under a jump. -ed.]

The game follows the lives of three of the creatures. Each story has three stages which can be unlocked by playing the previous stage in that story and you can move between stories after beating each level. These stages take place in a different baby’s dream and depict an episode in one of the three creatures’ lives.

Two of the stories follow rather standard video game tropes. One has you racing through increasingly difficult stages, while another has you collecting coins. However, the third story puts you in the role of a researcher studying the rifts. As the researcher, you can talk to people and see their reactions to the events unfolding in the storyline. It would spoil too much to say what exactly happens in the researcher storyline, but the researcher discovers something that puts the rest of the game into context.

BDODW manages to build a strong sense of mood while also maintaining well-designed and challenging gameplay. It’s built on a strong platforming mechanic created by the gravity system. As things get worse for the world in which these creatures live, the game naturally gets harder. The storyline and the gameplay feed into each other making the simple actions of racing, collecting and talking take on more meaning. The characters in this game, despite being strange tentacle creatures, feel very human in their actions and reactions.

TIGdb: Entry for Babies Dream of Dead Worlds

Pick Up the Phone Booth and Aisle

By: Guest Reviewer

On: February 23rd, 2010

[This is a guest article by Valter. If you’d like to contribute a guest article to TIGSource, go here.]

Pick Up the Phone Booth and Aisle is a parody of text-based adventure games. (Specifically, it’s a parody of Pick Up the Phone Booth and Die. -ed.) The premise is simple: You are standing in the center of a non-descript New England town. A phone booth is near you. What do you do? > _

The catch to this game is that the game ends after one command – every single command possible in the game will give you an “ending” (with a very small number of exceptions, which merely restart you automatically). A lot of time was given into writing endings for every bizarre thing you can think of! (You could think of it as taking the Scribblenauts approach to adventure gaming).

Finding endings can be a bit difficult, as certain “obvious” results like “use phone booth” do not work, whereas obscure entries such as “fry phone booth” have endings. Apart from that, though, it’s an excellent way to spend 10-20 if you’re bored. There are “over 200 endings”, as boasted by the authors, and they’re all comedic. The majority of the endings I found were capable of eliciting at least a dry chuckle, some were given a hearty chortle, and I must admit that a few led to some honest-to-goodness guffawing. Give it a shot!

Cream Wolf

By: Derek Yu

On: February 18th, 2010

Pixeljam (Gamma Bros., Dino Run) and messhof (Flywrench, Punishment), have teamed up to create a new “8-bit Rejects” game for Adult Swim. It’s called Cream Wolf.

TIGdb: Entry for Cream Wolf

Refugee

By: fuzz

On: February 18th, 2010

“I WAS A TORTURE VICTIM BEFORE I STARTED TORTURE MYSELF”

Ah, Vasily Zotov, our constant purveyor of autobiographical, surrealist snippets of something-or-other. In preparation for his upcoming trial, which will determine whether or not he’ll be granted asylum in the U.S., he’s released the first chapter of his newest puzzle game, Refugee. It’s in the same vein as Space Spy, but with better music and bigger explosions. This one attempts to encapsulate his feelings on the corruption of power within Homeland Security, although there’s not much of that as of yet. You can expect more levels to be added in the coming weeks, provided that he comes out of his trial unscathed. Come for the “crazy juridicial prostitutes”, stay for the B-Game appeal of this absurd experience.
Let’s hope Thursday’s trial works out for Vasily; he seems a reasonable guy, if a bit out of the ordinary, and it appears that a return to Russia would do far more harm than good.

You can play Refugee here, while the trailer can be viewed here.