Gesundheit! is a beautiful little game (or should I say 12-level demo), and it’s not surprising, considering the creator is professional illustrator Matt Hammill. With “handmade scratchboard graphics and a soundtrack filled with toy instruments,” Matt has created a world that seems like it could stretch far beyond the simplistic gameplay. Which isn’t to say the single-level puzzle-solving is bad by any stretch of the imagination. But with a game that looks and sounds this good I really want to play a full-scale adventure. Maybe next time?
(By the way, I had no idea you could make a game like this with Adventure Game Studio.)
JIG’s Casual Gameplay Compo Showcase is well under way, though only two entries are playable at the moment. The current highlight is a puzzler/adventure entry entitled Gateway II. Some of the latter puzzles can be rather ambiguous, and the story itself is a little contrived (perhaps due to the requirements of the compo), but any game with a torture scene definitely gets my vote. (Alright, just MGS)
You can grab hints/the entire walkthrough from their comments section.
Tim is good at writing about games. So good, in fact, that he renders most other attempts at game journalism worthless. Such is his power.
So why not borrow wholesale from his blog! That’s what I always say.
He’s been posting, and will probably continue to post, Top 10 and 20 lists for 2006 that are well thought out, detailed, and expertly organized. But you wouldn’t expect anything less, would you?
The articles feature write ups, screenshots, and download links for all the games and are ordered by awesomeness (or sometimes alphabetically). Check em out here:
“But Tim, It’s only February! How can you say that, you’re nuts!”
To be honest, this might as well be my last post. There’s no other game I can write about that’s more addictive than Blocksum anyway. Pack my bags and head off into the sunset…
Join a number of tiles together by using the Z key, and their corresponding number increases. Gather a large group of blocks with the same number to make them disappear. Grey orbs can be used to remove all blocks with the same number on the field simply by connecting it to a tile. Hold the X key to move the tiles upward. Press the C key to access a pause menu. Requires the latest DirectX version to run.
As pointed out by Tomas, this game must be slapped a Health Warning.
Well, it was only a matter of time before someone made a game for the PC that’s compatible with the hacked Wii-Mote. Colocoro is such a game, and like lots of Wii games; it’s very simplistic, and quite a bit of fun.
The goal of each level is to deliver your ball to the blue exit. It all sounds fairly simple and easy, until you realize that you need to bump, rotate, and move the playfield. Warps and enemies also try to ruin your day.
I haven’t gotten a change to play with a Wii-Mote sadly, but from what I’ve been seeing, it works flawlessly and adds a lot of fun. At less than a 1 meg download, there’s really no reason not to give this fun little game a try, even if you don’t plan on hacking your Wii-Mote. (There’s mouse control too).
I still think kids who spend too much time playing military-based FPS should consider joining the army instead for a real-life experience, if not for the discipline. Ignore me if it doesn’t apply to you, or if you think I spout misinformed statements.
Even though Edmund McMillen struck gold (no pun intended) with Gish, his partners still don’t trust his ideas. Maybe it’s because he wears all black to the office, or maybe it’s just the natural distrust of marketing people and programmers for artists. In any case, they promise him that they’ll let him make The Book of Knots if they get to pump out a few Tetris clones and bridge-making games first. (After all, we all know that casual games are where the real money is!) Edmund, remembering that he had to bitch and moan like a broken record for many months to get Gish made, acquiesces. Blast Miner is conceived because studies show that physics, explosions, and Tetris are “in” right now. Confusion ensues amongst Gish fans.
I don’t know, see the website. Try the demo for yourself. This is not – CANnot – be Edmund’s game. I just don’t believe it. It’s like the Blast Miner website doesn’t even believe it.
Also, see attached photo for one of the most confusing menu screens I’ve ever seen. Try and figure out what you can and can’t click and where the options are.
Or maybe I’m just dumb and the game is brilliant.
EDIT: My conjecture was completely wrong, not surprisingly. The game isn’t brilliant, but I am dumb!
A retro platform/puzzle game by Monokey made with Allegro, Bollen is simple and clean. The music is good. The goal is to move the pink/purple ball that you control to the red flags in each stage, collecting coins on the way.
The main feature is that your purple ball can only move fowards and backwards. So you must rely on the green Mr. Happy’s or the jump blocks in order to jump higher places. (The more I talk about this game, the more it’s starting to sound like a metaphor for life.)
The red Mr. Evil’s frown at you until misfortune dashes you against them. Then they laugh mockingly at you, pleased that you have failed miserably at life.
