Posted by Derek Yu
Mon, 14 May 2007 15:46:00 GMT
NIGORO (formerly GR3PROJECT), creators of La Mulana, continue their tradition of making really, really friggin’ hard games with Death Village, a decidedly smaller, more casual title that will nonetheless have you crying by the second level. At least, that’s where I started crying. But then again, I always cry when I play games. (And also when I touch myself!)
I’m not certain what the story is behind Death Village, but your goal in each level is to get a funny old man through a haunted house and to the exit door. You don’t have direct control over him, but by slamming doors and enabling a variety of traps and scary things, you can lead him over. The atmosphere is spot on, with creepy graphics and sound effects bringing the haunted houses to life and pushing you onward.
The learning curve is deadly high, however, so make sure you at least watch the Level 1 video to get a handle on how the traps work. I couldn’t beat level two, which, on the bottom floor, requires you to somehow jump a gap. So yeah, anyone have any ideas?
(Source: Tim W.)
Posted in Unique / Bizarre, Browser Games, Puzzle, Casual, Doujin | Tags NIGORO | 4 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 03 May 2007 02:48:00 GMT
The winner of this competition to make the crappiest game for the Korean open-source handheld GP2X was NOT the game depicted in this screenshot (Run, Hitler, Run!), but studies show that including a picture of Hitler on your website automatically increases the traffic by 0.001%, and quite frankly, that’s enough for me.
The way Hitler looks in the screenshot really reminds me of a Boris Artzybasheff painting!
(Source: Insert Credit)
Posted in Unique / Bizarre, Homebrew, Competitions | 10 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Mon, 30 Apr 2007 12:25:00 GMT
Yes, what you’re seeing above is a giant, tattooed baby with a gas mask, farting out mini robot ninjas and listening to music. You know! Just a typical scene in Makibishi Comic, the strange, delightful, and best of all, strange point-and-click (and sometimes point-and-drag) adventure game that has you searching for 5 ninjas hiding in 5 worlds.
I really love the art and sound direction in this game… the sketchy graphics and minimal sound are almost hypnotic, and it’s a real joy to explore the surreal landscapes to see what will happen next. The sense of humor is wonderfully bizarre, too. Definitely give this one a try!
(Source: Select Button)
Posted in Unique / Bizarre, Highly Recommended, Browser Games, Adventure | 20 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:56:00 GMT
Toribash, the amazing 3D, turn-based ragdoll fighting game just keeps getting bigger and better! We covered this game almost a year ago, and its great to see it thriving.
GameSetWatch reports that the game has introduced virtual credits into their online community, creating a virtual economy based on buying and selling everything from custom body parts to forum sig graphics to stories written about the various clans that have arisen around the game. Man, I love this kind of stuff… the idea of clans, histories, and economies emerging from these little game worlds drives me nuts.
I met Hampa, one of the creators, at GDC this year, and he’s also a really nice guy. Good game, good people. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should.
Posted in Unique / Bizarre, Fighters, Community, Videos, Physics | Tags Hampa | 17 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 25 Apr 2007 04:50:00 GMT
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!
Posted in Platformers, Unique / Bizarre, Windows, Physics, Freeware | 5 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:01:00 GMT
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)
Posted in Unique / Bizarre, Multiplayer, Highly Recommended, Fighters, Windows, Physics, Freeware | 14 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Fri, 23 Mar 2007 11:25:00 GMT
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:
Read more...
Posted in Platformers, Unique / Bizarre, Browser Games, Community, Physics, IGF / GDC | 10 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:24:00 GMT
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
Posted in Unique / Bizarre, Browser Games, Community | 4 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Mon, 12 Mar 2007 12:14:00 GMT
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)
Posted in Unique / Bizarre, Browser Games, Casual | 1 comment
Posted by Albert Lai
Sun, 11 Mar 2007 14:29:00 GMT
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.
Posted in Unique / Bizarre | 7 comments
We're drawing robots in the forums. 
