The Gamer's Quarter

simplicio · . Joined: 03 May 2005 Posts: 1091

No long storylines to forget, no involved combos to learn, no dancing the quickload dance, just short and sweet and very playable at any time:

Misyo, a miniature Lost Vikings-esque game with little ninjas. One can be invisible, one can run, one can jump, and you have to save them all from peril at the tusks of wild boars.

And the Sky Full of Stars, wherein you pluck stars from the sky to eradicate the approaching forces of darkness, like Missile Command plus what, Luigi's Mansion?

lockOn and also Valence, (third item from the bottom) take standard enough gameplay but put a pretty unique aesthetic spin on it. Certainly more memorable than most arena-shooter clones. Negative points for having to start from the beginning every time though.

Titan Attacks, again with the starting over each playthrough, but for some reason this one's easier to start over. It's an Invader clone, with emphasis on upgrades and progression. Very solid production, with nice visuals.

Oasis, a mini territorial strategy game. Get the same gratification of any RTS or TBS in 3 minutes per stage instead of 30.

Torus Trooper. ABA pretty much started the "countdown as primary play mechanic" style of game, so one of his has to be in here. Torus Trooper's my favorite for the way it uses the timer to make a game more tense than F-Zero, but at the same time uses speed to make things meditative.

flOw, taking the aesthetic of Electroplankton and combining it with a Cubivore-style evolution game, is probably the most relaxing gaming I've ever done. I grow a strange attachment to my little creature every time, willing it to keep eating and succeed! Like I'm an invested spectator, rather than controlling the whole thing. Ambient and beautiful and hypnotic.

Every Extend is one of my favorite games ever, and the primary inspiration behind this thread, and perhaps the reason I'll buy a PSP (provided Mizoguchi doesn't mess it up). It elevates short, timed gaming to an artform, providing amazing depth, given its simple mechanics.

Got more?

Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

Though I understand the purpose behind this thread, wouldn't the free games one work just as well?
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ApM · Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 4:13 pm Post subject:

Not all of those games are freeware. (See: Valence, Titan Attacks, Oasis.)

dark steve · . Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 1110

Oasis is getting a mac release!

Neat!

simplicio · . Joined: 03 May 2005 Posts: 1091

These aren't all free, and my purpose is different here anyway. I'm not including stuff like Cave Story and Within a Deep Forest because those are more long-form experiences. The focus I'm looking for lies more in a game designed to be picked up, played for a few minutes and (very importantly) dropped just as easily. The only reason this list is (so far) only indie PC titles is that professionally developed and console software tends to be more goal and progress oriented, plus I don't personally put in a PS2 title just to play for a few minutes as much. And looking over my portable games, about the only ones I'd feel right including are Electroplankton and Wario Ware. Maybe Point Blank DS? Maybe Super Monkey Ball 2, except it's too frustrating at parts and no progress can be made in a couple minutes sometimes.

Lackey · . Joined: 11 Jul 2005 Posts: 1107 Location: Canada

This is a good list. I would reccomend Weird Worlds. Quick, deep, and well polished.
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ApM · Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:13 pm Post subject:

I'm partial to Noiz, myself. The levels last around ten seconds. It's totally my sitting-on-the-toilet game.

Lackey · . Joined: 11 Jul 2005 Posts: 1107 Location: Canada

dessgeega · Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:39 pm Post subject:

oasis is pretty swell. i beta tested for it, way back in the day.

dessgeega · Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:40 pm Post subject:

also hey i hear i do a weekly column on free games for gamesetwatch now.
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simplicio · . Joined: 03 May 2005 Posts: 1091

Actually, thinking of things a different way, I realize that Meteos fits this category bizarrely well, largely because of all its random unlockables. So even if you just play a round or two, it's counting towards something in the long run but is also a fulfilling, self contained experience.

ryan · . Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 999

Mr. Mechanical · Friendly Stranger Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 1276

Man, Flow. I just spent forty minutes playing this. I still am, in fact! It's great. I like how it goes in cycles. You get so far as the snake like creature, eating other organisms and growing in size and complexity, that a tiny egg pops out after you eat your equal or doppleganger in the deepest darkest region, and floats back to the surface. Then everything turns from blue to orange, and you start the game again as a different creature, having to work your way back down and up the evolutionary ladder.

That's awesome. And here i thought the game didn't have an ending or point to it. But it does, in a way. It just flows, I guess you could say.

dark steve · . Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 1110

Wow! Flow is really good!

Guys you have to tell me when something's flash or java or has a mac version!

Lackey · . Joined: 11 Jul 2005 Posts: 1107 Location: Canada

Huh, I played Flow once but seemed to run out of food completely and be in a complete void. This only took about 5 minutes. Is that not supposed to happen?
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

dessgeega · Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2006 4:32 am Post subject:

did you have flash 8 installed?
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Hey, guys I recommended Flow when it first came out. There was even a thread in this very forum about it. It is really great, and it re-plays really well after a week off or so.
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

Mr. Mechanical · Friendly Stranger Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 1276

Yeah, I remember that thread, Shaper. I never played it then though, because me old computer wouldn't run it without an error message poppping up or something like that. This new one runs it just fine though, so I'm getting to see what the deal is two years after the fact.

Still! Flow!

Szczepaniak · . Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 770

I finally got around to playing Noitu Love and Within a Deep Forest today.

Noitu has a great aesthetic and some really zangy music. Only played for 5 minutes though, due to work. But I liked it enough to warrant the download.

Played WaDF for about two hours though. I managed to get balls 2 and 4, but not 3. And then reached the spider tower, but stopped for lunch. Beautiful game.

[stoner dude voice]
Also, dude, that alien ship that's supposed to be tough? I, like, totally aced it.
[/stoner dude voice]

You know, I love indie games. Does anyone else think a printed publication dedicated to indie games, complete with free cover disc that contains various free indie games and demos, could possibly be economically viable? Does such a thing even exist already?

dhex · Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2006 12:39 pm Post subject:

GSL · Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2006 2:50 pm Post subject:

Y'all totally forgot Warning Forever. Sure, there are a few different game modes to mix things up but the default premise is simple: Destroy the boss as fast as possible to add time to the countdown. Lose 20 seconds when you die. Oh, and the bosses get harder very very quickly.

dark steve · . Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 1110

You know a CD packed with indie games would be a great supplement for some kinda special TGQ issue. Dunno how viable that is, though.

dessgeega · Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2006 3:34 pm Post subject:

one of my games was included on a magazine pack-in cd without my consent.

i wasn't totally pleased!
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Lackey · . Joined: 11 Jul 2005 Posts: 1107 Location: Canada

Why not?
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

Which game?
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

dessgeega · Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2006 4:15 pm Post subject:

jaywalker.

granted it's a free game, but i would like to have some kind of say over how the game is distributed. is it that hard to provide a link to my website?
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GSL · Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2006 4:34 pm Post subject:

That would be a really neat idea though, to have a TGQ pack-in CD for one of the issues. I'd imagine you could offer CD-less issues at a cheaper price, and figure out some sort of print-on-demand thing with the CDs so there's not a huge surplus in the event of little interest.

Of course, getting permission from the creators of said games would be very important. I would imagine someone like pixel, who seems to be just tickled pink about the success of Cave Story, wouldn't be too hard to secure permission from, but it could pose a problem, I'd imagine, with old, obscure games whose creators might not be around, or games whose designers speak a foreign language, though it seems we've got enough multi-linguism on the board to tackle almost anything of that sort should it come our way

Szczepaniak · . Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 770

I secured permission from Pixel to have his game distributed on a magazine cover disc, once. Then the magazine went bankrupt, before the issue was published, and without paying me the $3000 worth of back-pay wages they'd been owing me for months. But let's not open that Pandora's box of discussion, because I don't think my liver could handle it again.

A lot of indie game developers I spoke to were happy with games being distributed, as long as proper credit was given.

Lackey · . Joined: 11 Jul 2005 Posts: 1107 Location: Canada

Lackey · . Joined: 11 Jul 2005 Posts: 1107 Location: Canada

Here's another one.
Assage Home
A mysterious collection of games. The grid-based movement and frequently reused sprites give these games the curious impression of existing in the same adorably rectangular universe. The author has a great aesthetic. The square characters and black backgrounds are perfectly suited to the gameplay and don't presume to be anything but sprites on a playing field.

Plus the brief descriptions, like "The chicken avoids rocks" or "Make a ladder", are extremely appropriate.
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dessgeega · Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 1:56 pm Post subject:

those are totally endearing. it's like someone took every game in the world and taught them a common language.

i would totally buy the full version if my bank account wasn't on the fritz.
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Lackey · . Joined: 11 Jul 2005 Posts: 1107 Location: Canada

That's a very nice analogy. I'm impressed by her/his consistency. I can't find anything out about the author though.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

dessgeega · Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:32 pm Post subject:

so i just bought game 50.

further details to come!
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dessgeega · Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:00 pm Post subject:

these are brilliant.

i might make a video later.
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JasonMoses · . Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 407

I'm really interested in seeing that, dess!

Because, y'know. Those games look pretty awesome.

dessgeega · Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:55 pm Post subject:

there you go.

over an hour of footage! see which clones you can recognize. one of them may surprise you!
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dessgeega · Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:29 pm Post subject:

incidentally, i wrote up the game 50 package.
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Lackey · . Joined: 11 Jul 2005 Posts: 1107 Location: Canada

It sounds magical. I think I'll buy it myself when I'm back in North America.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

sawtooth · . Joined: 02 Nov 2005 Posts: 419

World to Conquer isn't bad! It's pretty simplistic, but it has no stat/item management, and offers a pretty good challenge otherwise.

last time I was at my cousin's house we played quick games of Lux while I was helping him rip his vinyl reggae collection. Depending on how big the map is, the game can either be very quick or very short. It's really quick to get into if you have any experience with Risk, too.
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ApM · Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 1:58 pm Post subject:

I met the guy who did Lux while attending a Vancouver indie game dev meetup that I never ended up writing an article about because I am a horrible monster who is allergic to words. He's a nice guy. Made Lux for fun in his spare time, and just had it sort of turn into a viable business without really having to do anything. I think I still have his card in my wallet for no good reason.

Supposedly he was talking to a publisher in Germany about a boxed retail release. In Germany.

dark steve · . Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 1110

I like Lux quite a bit (very classy!) but what's the appeal of risk if you can't set up an alliance with cousin susie then backstab her later during your invasion of Africa?