I recognize some of the games on this list but there were quite a bit that I forgot about and all of them could definitely fall under games that I might not have tried.
If you want the game to succeed, wouldn't you want it to -not- be in these episodes?
And yeah, this list was quite a bit less obscure than previous entries. I recognized all but two as something I'd seen and/or purchased and played. I know it's not their job to cater this to me. I just see these lists as an opportunity for games without advertising budgets to get some attention, as opposed to games that had launch events through Steam, and get ads regularly.
I feel like there's a lot of games in this episode that were fairly well represented in the critic circuit. FTL and Mark of the Ninja especially, but Tokyo Jungle and Thomas Was Alone got quite a bit of talk as well.
Next time you do one of these episodes, try pulling in more experiences tons of people haven't heard of. More stuff like Papers Please, Cart Life, or Depression Quest. Look through the comments for these videos for ideas. There's plenty to draw from here. I could give you a list of 10 or more games that are in my steam library that should've been on this episode instead of FTL and Mark of the Ninja.
I realize that these episodes are geared towards getting people to try games they might not have played, not necessarily tell people about games they haven't heard of, but I feel like both FTL and Mark of the Ninja did fairly well across their various platforms.
I second Antichamber. And, to some extent, Don't Starve. Don't Starve is excellent. I'm not completely sure if it's because it's innovative or just extremely well executed.
Sigh... I love these episodes, but every time it makes me want a PS3. I think you guys should categorize these games into different console categories. Got my hopes up for unfinished swan, only to find out I can't play it.
Love Thomas was Alone. I cannot recall the last time I cared so much about a games characters. The game has so much heart. It's a shame the AAA titles have lost this kind of touch.
I would love to see you guys mention the truly amazing Papo & Yo. It shows how games can be a storytelling medium that goes beyond what other forms of media can achieve.
Yes it has its flaws but it achieves what it sets out to do and does it in a beautiful, heart-wrenching and thought provoking way. It also doesn't shy away from confronting some very serious issues.
I find it really .. funny / ironic / peculiar that you warn of the "inhumane" violence in Tokyo Jungle where animals do what animals do: kill each other for food (admittedly, they do it very graphically and more often then they would in nature).
But Mark Of The Ninja, where you slice and hack through real people, in close ups, doesn't seem violent to you?
Nor Natural Selection where you rip people apart or shoot them down by the dozens?
I'm not ranting or complaining here. I just find it somewhat sad that we are so used to horrific depiction of violence in so many games.
And yes, only two of the many games that you have selected for this episode rely heavily on depiction of violence, while the others manage to be fun and interesting without doing so.
@ kimlin
We always react stronger to violent towards animals. Especially when compared with men. The typical urban person have nothing to fear from animals "IRL" which leaves more room for compassion, compared to people that we are constantly competing with and blasted by media as rapists, murderers etc.
If you play "Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead". You will see just how overrated "good" graphics can be.
As an employed parent who doesn't get much time to game, I found this episode helpful. The day-to-day doesn't allow much time to browse Steam or read many reviews. It's kind of sad, but I own good games from 10-15 years ago that I have yet to play. One day I may actually get to do it, but until then I welcome shows like this that give me useful insight in less time than it would take to download and play through one demo.
Bah, I knew all the games in this episode already. Always enjoy learning about new games, but it was nice to see two of my favourite games of last year (Tokyo Jungle & Mark of the Ninja). My contributions to the recent-yet-interesting games list:
Kid Icarus: Uprising - It sold over a million copies, so its not really obscure, but its insane mashup of an on-rails shooter (ala Panzer Dragoon) and third person shooter (ala gears of war) that you rarely see.
999/Virtue's Last Reward - Excellent use of the visual novel genre to tell a weird and fascinating thriller story, a genre of storytelling rarely explored in games.
Awesomenauts - A distilling of the MOBA genre down into the core basics mixed in with platform action games (see: Mega Man). Superb co-op. If you enjoyed MNC's spin on the MOBA genre, check this out.
Etrian Odyssey IV - The modern day classic first person dungeon crawling series, but this entry is not only the best to date, but the most accessible.
Anarchy Reigns - It's weird, it's fun, it's highly unbalanced, it's soundtrack is one of the better of the year.
Pandora's Tower - Emotionally manipulative game that is somewhere between the 3D Bionic Commando and Castlevania games. It's not the best game or story, but it's highly unique.
Little Inferno - A game by the World of Goo developers about burning everything you own in a fireplace. It's an oddly enjoyable and compelling title for what is basically a repetitive task.
Antichamber - Just Antichamber.
Really love this series, thought I'd contribute, so here goes; found Papers, please. a lovely game in build that has great potential in story telling, and developing that story with interesting mechanics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QP5X6fcukM the game is in beta and is free for the time being.
You should do a subcategory one of these on boardgames. Boardgames have come really far in the last 20 years well past the doldrums of sorry and monopoly. Plus designing boardgames is a really good way to play with some of the concepts of design without having to invest the amount of time needed for coding.
I liked the unfinished swan, but I think it kinda lost steam at the end. I'm not saying it ended far too soon, it could've gone for a bit more but thats kinda the point, but I felt at the end it didn't create as interesting of an art statement as the rest of the game. It was mainly push a light up ball around, and then don't drown. I felt something visually different could've mixed it up, but its still a very good game and I hope they get to make more like it. Also to share a game, I would reccomend rebuild, the zombie game by twotowers. Basically you are tasked to rebuild society in a number of ways. I think it can be very addictive, difficult as it can get. http://www.kongregate.com/games/sarahnorthway/rebuild-2
May I recommend Time Fcuk (yes that's how it's spelt). When playing that game I got powerful feelings of hopelessness, abandonment and depression (and these were intentional on the game's part). Plus the puzzles are pretty satisfying.
For the love of god,WHY WON'T ANYONE TALK ABOUT THE RE-RELEASE OF SYSTEM SHOCK 2!?!?! Just one of the best games EVER! Seriously. It's on GOG. 10 bucks. Go see what you've been missing that has all the old school gamer nerds misty eyed for the "good old days" of System Shock 2. WARNING! Playing System Shock 2 will make you realize what a steaming pile of garbage the Bioshock games are. Play at your own risk.
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Caulk Bite 6One of the multitude of Dans infesting this placeRegistered Userregular
The Unfinished Swan is a fantastic game. One of my favorite PSN titles by far. I also loved that you guys included Tokyo Jungle, I bought that game on a whim and I highly enjoy it.
Vessel is a really interesting game, but sadly very unknown.
I also vote for Achron.
A multiplayer free-form time-travel RTS. See in the future. Undo your moves. Send units back to defend the factories that built them. Fire a missile that travels back in time and detonates before it was fired.
RIdiculously innovative. It's a game where "causal dependence" is actually an important strategy element.
Vessel is a really interesting game, but sadly very unknown.
I also vote for Achron.
A multiplayer free-form time-travel RTS. See in the future. Undo your moves. Send units back to defend the factories that built them. Fire a missile that travels back in time and detonates before it was fired.
RIdiculously innovative. It's a game where "causal dependence" is actually an important strategy element.
Ludum Dare is happening this weekend with the theme of Minimalism. If you want to play small games by both game developer youth as well as pros, go take a look. Google it.
A bit disappointed to see that most of the mentioned games here are actually rather popular. Here are more obscure Indies that definitely need the push more than FTL or Mark of the Ninja (although they are fantastic games as well): http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=551216
A bit disappointed to see that most of the mentioned games here are actually rather popular. Here are more obscure Indies that definitely need the push more than FTL or Mark of the Ninja (although they are fantastic games as well): http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=551216
A bit disappointed to see that most of the mentioned games here are actually rather popular. Here are more obscure Indies that definitely need the push more than FTL or Mark of the Ninja (although they are fantastic games as well): http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=551216
Posts
I recognize some of the games on this list but there were quite a bit that I forgot about and all of them could definitely fall under games that I might not have tried.
If you want the game to succeed, wouldn't you want it to -not- be in these episodes?
And yeah, this list was quite a bit less obscure than previous entries. I recognized all but two as something I'd seen and/or purchased and played. I know it's not their job to cater this to me. I just see these lists as an opportunity for games without advertising budgets to get some attention, as opposed to games that had launch events through Steam, and get ads regularly.
Next time you do one of these episodes, try pulling in more experiences tons of people haven't heard of. More stuff like Papers Please, Cart Life, or Depression Quest. Look through the comments for these videos for ideas. There's plenty to draw from here. I could give you a list of 10 or more games that are in my steam library that should've been on this episode instead of FTL and Mark of the Ninja.
I realize that these episodes are geared towards getting people to try games they might not have played, not necessarily tell people about games they haven't heard of, but I feel like both FTL and Mark of the Ninja did fairly well across their various platforms.
Yes it has its flaws but it achieves what it sets out to do and does it in a beautiful, heart-wrenching and thought provoking way. It also doesn't shy away from confronting some very serious issues.
But Mark Of The Ninja, where you slice and hack through real people, in close ups, doesn't seem violent to you?
Nor Natural Selection where you rip people apart or shoot them down by the dozens?
I'm not ranting or complaining here. I just find it somewhat sad that we are so used to horrific depiction of violence in so many games.
And yes, only two of the many games that you have selected for this episode rely heavily on depiction of violence, while the others manage to be fun and interesting without doing so.
We always react stronger to violent towards animals. Especially when compared with men. The typical urban person have nothing to fear from animals "IRL" which leaves more room for compassion, compared to people that we are constantly competing with and blasted by media as rapists, murderers etc.
If you play "Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead". You will see just how overrated "good" graphics can be.
Kid Icarus: Uprising - It sold over a million copies, so its not really obscure, but its insane mashup of an on-rails shooter (ala Panzer Dragoon) and third person shooter (ala gears of war) that you rarely see.
999/Virtue's Last Reward - Excellent use of the visual novel genre to tell a weird and fascinating thriller story, a genre of storytelling rarely explored in games.
Awesomenauts - A distilling of the MOBA genre down into the core basics mixed in with platform action games (see: Mega Man). Superb co-op. If you enjoyed MNC's spin on the MOBA genre, check this out.
Etrian Odyssey IV - The modern day classic first person dungeon crawling series, but this entry is not only the best to date, but the most accessible.
Anarchy Reigns - It's weird, it's fun, it's highly unbalanced, it's soundtrack is one of the better of the year.
Pandora's Tower - Emotionally manipulative game that is somewhere between the 3D Bionic Commando and Castlevania games. It's not the best game or story, but it's highly unique.
Little Inferno - A game by the World of Goo developers about burning everything you own in a fireplace. It's an oddly enjoyable and compelling title for what is basically a repetitive task.
Antichamber - Just Antichamber.
I design games under the name New Experience Workshop.
Website. Facebook. Twitter.
http://www.kongregate.com/games/sarahnorthway/rebuild-2
The Unfinished Swan just became one of them.
Great suggestions!
http://www.strangeloopgames.com/
I also vote for Achron.
A multiplayer free-form time-travel RTS. See in the future. Undo your moves. Send units back to defend the factories that built them. Fire a missile that travels back in time and detonates before it was fired.
RIdiculously innovative. It's a game where "causal dependence" is actually an important strategy element.
http://www.achrongame.com/site/
I also vote for Achron.
A multiplayer free-form time-travel RTS. See in the future. Undo your moves. Send units back to defend the factories that built them. Fire a missile that travels back in time and detonates before it was fired.
RIdiculously innovative. It's a game where "causal dependence" is actually an important strategy element.
http://www.achrongame.com/site/
I particularly like the RTS bits.
This lil flash game called No One Had To Die is purty interesting.