Two games to discuss tonight, go!
First up is depict1, a platformer that’s also kind of a mind trip. It’s full of smiley surprises, and it has a subtle way of playing with our natural instinct to trust and listen to the tutorial man. In a way, it probes something deep down and makes me a little squirmy, but just barely, and not enough to decrease how enjoyable the game is.
The trick is not to get frustrated by its initial premise and the search for controls. Just check the readme file, it’s not that big a spoiler.
Secondly is the ever-popular Robot Unicorn Attack (short ad before the game). Now, I thought that Canabalt was pretty clever, what with its procedurally generated courses and all, but I played it like 2 or 3 times and then shrugged it off. Robot Unicorn Attack, on the other hand, I can’t stop!! The music! The rainbows! The sparkles! I cannot resist their juiciness!
It just goes to show how important the theming and aesthetic wrapper of your game can be. (For those who don’t feel like playing them or don’t have the time, here’s the spoiler: it’s the same game).
Also, I want that song, surely that song has to be in downloadable form someplace by now, right?
Wow, thank you for posting about depict1 – it’s like a charming mix of Portal (“The next test is impossible!”) combined with the cute and charming 2D-grafic style of “Cave Story” (Doukutsu Monogatari).
It’s really funny how those games play with our minds and try to lure us out of known gaming habits. It comes to a point where my gaming experience is rather hindering me because i often caught myself trying to avoid spikes and jump into “gems” out of a spontaneous reflex. 😀
I know! And even when I thought I’d learned my lesson, he still got me with the first “spikes” encounter and the “this is the end of the game” room, graaah!