And Yet It Moves

By: Derek Yu

On: April 25th, 2007

And Yet It Moves is a 2-level experimental platformer that lets you rotate the game world around while you play. The concept itself is interesting, but in practice it’s rather frustrating, due to the extremely linear level design that requires a lot of trial and error. The fact that the main character (who looks a lot like Fido Dido, don’t you think?) dies after falling a few feet doesn’t make it any nicer.

The graphical style is pretty novel, though.

AYIM was a student finalist at this year’s IGF!

Sumotori Dreams

By: Derek Yu

On: April 24th, 2007

I don’t think I’ve laughed so much playing any other game, to be quite honest. Well, maybe Pillar Killer.

Sumotori Dreams is a sumo wrestling simulation that incorporates some sort of self-balancing algorithm. What that really means is that the wrestlers stumble around like a couple of drunken clowns. Add to that an easy jazz soundtrack and you basically have the funniest 88kb of fun you’ve ever had.

(Source: Sensible Erection NSFW)

Tri-achnid… and Manhugs

By: Derek Yu

On: March 23rd, 2007

I had the privilege of getting a personal demo of Tri-achnid from one of its creators, Edmund McMillen (the other being the programmer, Florian Himsl). In this game, you control a tri-achnid, as he searches for his brothers.

The atmosphere in this game is phenomenal. The graphics, music, and sound work together wonderfully to bring the three-legged protagonist and his world to life. You start caring for this critter almost immediately. It’s hard to forget when he first grabs his egg sac and lets out a little cooing sound. And when he slams into a rock too hard, you feel palpably hurt for him.

The thing that makes this game difficult to get into (and probably the reason why it didn’t qualify for IGF this year) is that it is hard to control. Watching Edmund play is great, because he can really get around and do some cool stuff, but for me it can be frustrating to even get from point A to point B. There are moments where the legs just don’t move as quickly as you’d like and it’s easy to get stuck… darn.

But regardless, I find Tri-achnid to be a real wumpus of a game that should definitely have made it into IGF this year.

Speaking of which, check the extended for some totally (not) poignant IGF reflections:

Funny thing about running a website where you “review” games and sometimes punch them around a bit: you end up meeting the people who’s games you’ve panned. Case in point: the aforementioned Sir Edmund McMillen! As you may recall, I didn’t have a, well, favorable reaction to his casual game Blast Miner when it first came out. I still don’t really love it, although I must admit, the new Puzzle Mode is a lot of fun!

But yeah, wouldn’t you know it… this guy has a kiosk set up a few feet away from us at the IGF section! Awwwkward! Well, at least it could have been, if Edmund wasn’t such a freakin’ great guy. He and his (wonderful, hilarious) wife Danielle gave me a well-deserved ribbing (more like a nut-punching) for my post, but we got along pretty famously after that. In short, by Friday’s end I decided that I basically love him. Is that gross? I don’t know, there’s something about GDC, especially amongst the indies… there is just so much manlove and passion for games going around, it’s insane. I’ve never been more proud to be a part of this community.

I even got to talk to Russ Carroll, who Kenta Cho knows I have been making fun of Game Tunnel since the moment I took over the site. Also a great guy. Can’t say I like GT much more than I did before, but I do have to give Russ his due respect for having the kind of passion that he does for his family and his work.

So, in short, manhugs all around! Well, except for that old bastard at the Arcane Legions kiosk next to us. If you want us to turn down the music from our game you can ask us nicely. Your game looked nice… why did you have to be such a dick?

But yeah, manhugs for everyone else!

Understanding Games

By: Derek Yu

On: March 21st, 2007

Games finally have their Understanding Comics, and it’s called… Understanding Games! Pixelate has created an utterly charming series that teaches some of the basic concepts behind games by playing games. The graphics and music are top notch!

I think in a perfect world all the lessons would be finished and combined into a single game that had more interactivity from the outset. For the most part it feels more like a series of cutscenes with little games in the middle. But these are grievances I level at Understanding Games with no small amount of guilt, considering how original and polished it is.

There are three episodes out right now, check them out here:

Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3

Moai Heads!

By: Derek Yu

On: March 12th, 2007

Who doesn’t love moai heads? The enigmatic stone giants from Easter Island have also made appearances in numerous Konami games (most notably Gradius). Well, no one probably loves them more than SKT, who’s made a bunch of simple moai-themed flash games. Try this one and this one (pictured in my screenshots). In the first, you just move your cursor over moai heads to “collect” them, in the second, you’re moving the tower with your cursor to try and get moai heads to safety.

I especially dig the music and voices.

(Source: Insert Credit)

In The Pit

By: Albert Lai

On: March 11th, 2007

I
remember seeing In The Pit previewed
a while ago in one of the game magazines I stole off the shelves of SuperFresh
(As well as, but not limited to, a week old issue of Times, Reader’s Digest,
and three packs of Tic-Tacs. Score!) but it was only recently that
I’ve rediscovered the link and decided to try it out.

Then I found out I couldn’t, because it required an XBox 360 controller
to play. But, you may be asking me, why did you decide to post about this
on TIGSource without first making sure it is worth precious, precious time I
could be using to find other games/talk about Aquaria/sending money to TIGSource?
The answer:

In The Pit is an “audio-only” stealth action game, in which you play a nasty creature living at the bottom of a pit, hunting down people who fall in. The “audio-only” part means that there are absolutely no graphics at all.

So – very, very intriguing. If anyone is able to try this game out, give us
your impressions!

This also linked me to Sonic
Invaders – an audio-only take on Space Invaders. Needless to say, I didn’t
get too far (bombed out at around level 6), but I choose to blame my terrible
earbuds rather than my non-existent ability to pin-point positions based on
auditory cues. Games for the blind. Who-da-thunk-it?

Also! Shinji16 has pointed out a few more interesting games for the blind in
the comment section – Shades of Doom
and BSC Games among them!

The previous statement is not intended to be directly or
indirectly derogatory in relation to those who are visually impaired and/or
sensitive about those who are. etc. etc. etc. War is peace, freedom is slavery,
ignorance is strength.

What a (F)art!

By: Derek Yu

On: February 28th, 2007

When someone asks you if games are art, point them at this.

The goal of “What a Fart!” (exclamation point added by me) is to pass gas loudly without letting the salaryman standing next to you hear. To do this, you must fart while cars are passing in front of you. Hold down and release (LOL!) the spacebar for massive damage. To relieve pressure (displayed by the colored bar), you can press the left arrow key, but keep in mind that those silent ones run out eventually (displayed by the white bar).

I couldn’t take it after 25,000+ points and let a loud one rip right in the guy’s face. And he loved it!

Hint: don’t listen to the sound effects. As long as a car is on the screen in the lane closest to you, you can let it rip.

Also: if this (YTMND) doesn’t make you laugh, you’re dead inside.

(Source: selectbutton)

Phoboris

By: Derek Yu

On: February 22nd, 2007

Hero! Grab and pull the red center of the magical Puck of Slaughtering and then let go of it to unleash a world of pain on the evil Metal Diamond-Thingies, lest they destroy our Glowy Donut of Life. So sayeth the gods of Phoboris.

(Source: Game|Life)

Valo

By: Derek Yu

On: February 14th, 2007

The premise behind Valo is quite simple: click and drag your mouse over the blue squares and avoid the red ones. It’s quite relaxing to play, and I enjoy the random blips that emanate from the game. Drawing lines with the mouse is fun, also, but sadly the game begins to drag on as the difficulty is so low.

(Source: 4cr)

Ride Me!

By: Tim

On: January 19th, 2007

You can download Rider here.

Quoting dess:

it’s a motorcycle sim where you try to get your package to its destination on time without breaking any traffic laws (when cops are watching). reminds me of tokyo bus guide, but better since it involves motorcycles (and you don’t have to observe crazy bus codes). it’s a pretty nice chillout game. videogame sunsets!

There are some crazy rides to unlock if you play long enough.

EDIT: Options on the main menu, from left to right, are: records (for this playthrough), options, play and quit.