Posted by Derek Yu
Fri, 12 Oct 2007 05:00:00 GMT
From the title of the game, you might expect that you’re playing to stop the pedophile priests, but actually, you’re playing to cover up the sexual abuse of the horny paters. This, as you can imagine, changes things quite a bit.
Quote Ian Bogost:
Operation: Pedopriest is definitely disturbing to play, and the cartoony graphics do little to mitigate the how awful it all feels. Which isn’t a condemnation of the game itself, mind you – I’m quite certain this is the exact reaction developer Molleindustria was going for. It does make it quite a mixed bag of gaming peanuts, though – do I even WANT to win at this?
The game mechanics are quite simple, and involve clicking “eunuchs” around to distract adults and police officers while the clergy is molesting children. When things get really bad, you can airlift a priest out of there to go hide out in the Vatican. When a certain number of priests are arrested before the given time limit runs out, it’s game over.
You know, I just figured there wasn’t enough controversy on TIGSource…
(Source: Play This Thing!)
Posted in Browser Games, Social Impact, Casual, Windows | Tags Molleindustria | 87 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Tue, 25 Sep 2007 05:19:00 GMT
In Hoshi Saga 2, you are presented with a series of mini-games and the object of each is to find a hidden star. How the star is hidden and how you find it varies with each game. It’s kind of Wario Ware-ish in that the fun comes from figuring out what you’re supposed to be doing (minus the time pressure).
The levels are presented in a grid, and at the end of each row and column is a hidden mini-game that can only be accessed once every other game in the row/column is beaten. Beating all the hidden games unlocks the credits.
The games are all very clever, and beautifully presented. Quite lovely!
And be sure to try Hoshi Saga 1, too.
(Source: Sensible Erection [NSFWish])
Posted in Highly Recommended, Browser Games, Puzzle, Casual | Tags Nekogames | 23 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Mon, 24 Sep 2007 03:55:00 GMT
Everyone remembers Squidi’s attempt at 300 game ideas, right? Sadly cut short to 60 games, but still an admirable effort.
Well, y’all, it looks like we’ve got a little indie internet drama going on, as Nitrome’s latest flash title, Yin Yang, looks a wee bit similar to Squidi’s first game idea, Negative Space. Okay, maybe a little more than a wee bit. More like, if you shaved Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen’s heads and stripped them naked, would you be able to tell which was which? No, because you’d be throwing up. Zing!
In all seriousness, though, here are the facts:
1. Nitrome is claiming they came up with the idea on their own. They are, unsurprisingly, supported by Jay of Jay is Games, and the Jay disciples.
2. Squidi did, in fact, say that his game ideas could be used without credit.
3. Squidi raised a bit of a stink over it, however, both on his blog, and on the Jay is Games site.
4. One thing he claims is that MTV contacted him about his 300 game ideas long before Yin Yang was released. (MTV hired Nitrome to create Yin Yang.)
5. Jay is now threatening libel for a (rather innocuous, imo) quote from Squidi’s blog.
Hit the extended for my very serious opinions:
Read more...
Posted in Platformers, Browser Games, Community, Casual, Developers | Tags Nitrome, Squidi | 126 comments
Posted by ARelativelyHotGirl
Thu, 23 Aug 2007 00:43:00 GMT
“Sandra Richardson … fits the mold of the new gamer. The 55-year-old Bloomington, Ill., resident started playing online casual games about a year and a half ago when her kids left home.
She’s bought 40 online casual games so far…”
(San Jose Mercury News)
“For males, you are probably going to want to look for games involving challenge.”
“men like games where you destroy things”
“Everything degrading women will also pretty much ensure it has a male audience.”
(IndieGamer)
Posted in Community, Casual, Developers | 60 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 22 Aug 2007 07:33:00 GMT
Pillage the Village is the spiritual sequel / literal prequel to Defend the Castle. The story explains why your antagonists in DtC are angry with you in the first place… apparently you went around throwing people into the air and slamming them into the ground, occasionally crushing them with their own houses and casting wicked spells on them.
And that’s how the game plays, basically. Prevent the villagers from escaping to the left and right sides of the screen by hurting them mercilessly with simple physics. In between rounds, you can buy magic spells with your dirty blood money. It’s fun, it’s simple, it’s relatively inventive. And the game does a good job of introducing new villager types to make your life harder (God how I hate those dopes with the parachutes).
Beware some of the technical issues, though. Occasional ads displayed between levels can cause the game to hang if you have Firefox with Adblock, or Safari. The game will also churn on slower computers. Look out! (XGen Studios has since contacted me to tell me that they have since fixed these problems.)
By the way, Jay is Games (source) describes this game as “a smashmortion of click-tastic mayhem!” (Snicker, he said smashmortion.)
Posted in Browser Games, Casual, Action / Arcade | Tags XGenStudios | 8 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:11:00 GMT
Jay is Games has released the results of its third Casual Gameplay Competition, where the theme was “replay.” Specifically, Jay was looking for games which have a lot of replay value. The winner, Gimme Friction Baby, has a genuinely interesting concept behind it, but its replay value would benefit a lot from a little more speed, in my opinion.
And there were some games in there that I felt had even better ideas, like Timebot, but perhaps less replay value. Seriously, try Timebot out, it’s a hoot. (I also reminds me, when is Braid coming out?)
The Casual Gameplay Competitions are great because it’s obvious there’s a lot of enthusiasm behind it and the games are always interesting and fun. Great job! But if we’re picking a game for having the most replay value, I’m going to have to posthumously nominate and vote for Benzido’s Too Many Ninjas (WIP), which has basically turned our Feedback forum into a crackhouse…
Posted in Browser Games, Casual, Competitions | Tags JayisGames | 30 comments
Posted by Lorne Whiting
Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:29:00 GMT
Derek Yu and Greg Costikyan go around kicking people in the crotch in this issue of Game Tunnel’s indie review panel thing... actually, they don’t, sadly. But Derek does use creative metaphors to insult (arguably) bad games!
And Immortal Defense grabs the metaphorical cake by the nards this issue, scoring 1.3 higher than any other game in the round up. This makes me happy, because, you know, I have an unexplainable dedication to ID (I believe the random obsession before that was roast beef sandwiches with Havarti and horse radish sauce?).
Certainly, though, similar insanity as in previous GT roundups. Score of 2, 4, and 8? The hell? Although there is method to this madness, you will note that those are the first three powers of 2, not counting 0.
Also: I give this month’s panel a 3.8 MuscleStrongers.
EDIT: Derek’s notes in the extended.
Read more...
Posted in Community, Casual | Tags GameTunnel | 46 comments
Posted by Tim
Tue, 17 Jul 2007 23:34:00 GMT
Competition entries for the latest Casual Gameplay Competition are coming thick and fast, and as is the norm with these sort of contests there are bound to be several standouts among all the submissions. (Sprout was Derek’s favorite from the last one.)
The “Replay” theme was imaginatively applied to at least one entry so far (Super Earth Defense Game, not unlike Historica), and if the rest of the submissions are anything like it then we’re in for a treat.
Posted in Browser Games, Casual, Competitions | 5 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Fri, 13 Jul 2007 03:47:00 GMT
I’ve seen this top 100 list posted in a number of places and everyone seems quite positive about it. Why is no one mentioning that half the links have affiliate referral codes in them? The more I think about it, the more I am horrified by it. What we have here is an indie gaming news site run by a Reflexive employee, hosted by a Pop Cap studio, running a list called “The Top 100 Indie Games” that is little more than a portal front page. What the goddamn hell?! Can someone explain this? Russ, c’mon now!
Jesus, Big Kahuna Reef at #25. A fucking match 3 with shitty graphics that even Mike Hommel declares to be “dull.” Sigh. Sometimes I wonder if I’m living in an alternate universe where bad, boring games are considered good. Seriously, someone who likes this game tell me what interests them about it. Tell me what is compelling about clicking clam shells to make them match up. The graphics are terrible. Anywhere else but in the independent gaming community, and this game would be laughed at. Quantum physics is easier to understand than why Big Kahuna Reef deserves to be the twenty-fifth top indie game of all time.
There are some good games in there, and I don’t want to devalue them. Unfortunately, they are already being devalued just by existing on that list with Big Kahuna Reef. And that goalkeeper simulator. That’s right, a text-based goalkeeper simulator made the list. And honestly, a text-based goalkeeper simulator could be fun, but I happen to know for a fact that this one is terrible.
I’ve heard some people say that they wished Cave Story on there. I don’t. That would be like saying you wished your best friend was on a list of the “top one hundred greatest people” but at #25 was that guy who killed Jon Benet Ramsey.
I don’t hate casual games. I hate the mentality that surrounds casual games. And I don’t want people to think that this is what independent games are about. I can’t believe people think this is alright. It’s like someone farted at the dinner table and no one wants to admit that it smells. Over at the Indiegamer forums I just know that the conversation is going like this: “Honey, this chicken is delicious!”
WELL YOU KNOW WHAT IT SMELLS TERRIBLE IN HERE AND IF THINGS KEEP UP THIS WAY NO ONE IS GOING TO WANT TO EVER HAVE DINNER WITH US.
Russ, I implore you… please take out the affiliate links and change the name from the “Top 100 Indie Games” to “100 Indie Games that Game Tunnel Recommends.” In the end, opinions are opinions. But at least that way it’s semi-honest.
EDIT: Guert from our forums started up a thread about a week and a half ago before GT’s Top 100 list about introducing people to indie games. In case you want some alternatives. And I really hope you do!
Posted in Community, Casual | 95 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 12 Jul 2007 15:07:00 GMT
Gamasutra reports that Pop Cap has bought casual developer Retro64, turning it into one of its satellite studios. In other words, Retro64 has been assimilated into the core and the buzzing of the hive mind just got a little stronger…
Retro64 is a development studio / casual portal that recently developed the casual game Venice, which was published by Pop Cap, and also hosts the Indiegamer forums as well as Game Tunnel.
What we have here is definitely a “casual bloc” forming… a “Gem Curtain” behind which millions of creative minds will die under colorful, gem-toed boots of match 3 oppression. Indie gaming cold war for the win!
(Source: Indygamer)
Posted in Community, Casual, Developers | Tags PopCap | 15 comments
