Month: November 2017

Official Trailer:

Short Description:

Little Inferno is a puzzle video game developed by the indie developer Tomorrow Corporation in 2012, and it can be played on multiple different platforms, including Wii, PC, mobile, and Switch. In the game, the player assumes the role of a kid who is able to order and burn items endlessly by using their Little Inferno Entertainment Fireplace by Tomorrow Corporation (essentially a game within a game). Different items react differently as they are burned, and the player can unlock combos by burning specific items at the same time. There is no scoring system or time limit at all. The player also receives letters along with packages occasionally, which is how the player learns about the freezing world outside. However, the player is also encouraged to burn every letter as soon as they finish reading. There is essentially a loop of ordering and burning items as the player unlocks new catalogs and explores more burnable items in the game.

***Spoiler Alert***

Despite the simple mechanic, Little Inferno has a powerful narrative and ending, which is the reason I chose it. As the player unlocks new items, they would get new letters that advance the narrative. At the end of the game, the player is eventually able to escape the endless loop and explore the world outside, which turns the whole game from a puzzle game to an adventure game. The message of the game is about not burning away time meaninglessly in your life, and I think the developers did a great job conveying it.

Screenshots:

Despite veering slightly off the technical definition of an indie game, throughout Minecraft’s rise to fame it very much represented the truest form of the independent genre, its focus on content, and its content geared towards player value. Minecraft offers players a limitless sandbox in which myriad materials, structures, and NPCs generate endless  possibilities.

First and foremost, I did not enjoy playing this game. In fact, I would go as far as to say I genuinely hated it. I despised the tedious necessity for harvesting resources, and could not find any motivation to learn the seemingly infinite crafting combinations. I never found a purpose, and the few hours I did spend wandering aimlessly after my friends were quite unmemorable. But it must be said; Minecraft is an amazing game.

I felt almost overwhelmed by all the options; specifically, there was too much I needed to do. I needed resources to build; I needed a crafting table; I needed a home or shelter; I needed to be able to defend myself; I needed to feel safe exploring the landscape; I needed to contribute to the server. Minecraft‘s seemingly infinite direction can be quite misleading; it is not meant to overwhelm, but rather to empower. Players are given all the tools necessary to enforce one’s imagination on the game.

It is a little ironic that the most valuable aspect of the game had such a deterrent effect on my enjoyment of it, but a part of me wishes I had invested more time into exploring the concept of possibility. The videos below, tagged Presentation Material, demonstrate the multitude of activities in which the Minecraft community indulges. From befriending ducks to harvesting blue pickles, from killing other players to building enormous structures, there are so many options.

The second video demonstrates the intrinsic value of a simple game mechanic, manifest in the form of a “Block Save Montage,” almost three and a half minutes of a player falling to death, only to be saved by the last minute placement of a block of dirt. With so much satisfaction engendered from such simplicity, I can’t help but wonder why I couldn’t find my own value in the game.

I attribute my lack of enjoyment to an innate stubbornness, developed over the course of my time playing competitive levels of League of Legends and Rocket League. I have decided that playing a video game is much like reading an english class book; given identical schemas, the value we find is entirely dependent on what we notice. In Minecraft, focused on a purpose and begging for direction, I failed to notice all the wondrous opportunity.

I still refuse to play Minecraft, but I cannot help but appreciate all the related material that pops up on YouTube, Facebook, or Reddit. I’ve found myself vicariously enjoying the massive player built structures that appear overnight in community servers, empathizing with the streamer that throws her diamond ore into the lava, and even despair as your new pet duck falls to its unfortunate demise.

Minecraft is a free game, designed for the sake of its players, and represents the best of what indie games can be. This game has developed from an ambiguous, open-ended sandbox into a vast community of servers and mods. The culmination of player imagination is manifest in the intense variety of server environments, interface quality-of-life mods, and repurposed servers for PVP and other specific communities. The limitless concept that drives Minecraft has even been purposed towards education, teaching students to delegate resources, practical maths, and spatial awareness. Although I will never play this game, I implore you to explore its potential, and appreciate its value.

Presentation Material:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn8H5CfGqq4

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jan/22/minecraft-education-edition-why-its-important-for-every-fan-of-the-game

Lisa: The Painful RPG is a game about pain, perversion, addiction, and the social darwinism of a world in ruin. In the game, players play as Brad Armstrong, a drug-addicted man who stumbles upon an abandoned baby. As far as Brad knows, the baby, who he takes in and renames Buddy, is the only female left in the entire world. He swears to protect her, dressing her as a boy and raising her underground.

When Buddy is kidnapped, Brad embarks on a quest to find her and bring her back home. During his journey, Brad is faced with tough decision after tough decision, forcing the player to realize that, sometimes, there is no such thing as a painless choice.

Watch a trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-kT5SDifCU

Screenshots:

http://www.lisatherpg.com/images/screenshot1.jpg

https://33.media.tumblr.com/661a83e80bbc9f5a3f768836ed0c8662/tumblr_inline_nh2xwqbNF81r35ep2.png

http://i.imgur.com/JJkQhdB.png

https://img.fireden.net/v/image/1449/60/1449603457916.png

https://img.fireden.net/v/image/1450/18/1450183009636.png

Items needed:

1. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes Game
2. Game Manual

About:

“One player is trapped in a virtual room with a ticking time bomb they must defuse. The other player are the “Experts” who must give the instruction to defuse the bomb by deciphering the information found in the bomb defusal manual. But there’s a catch: the experts can’t see the bomb, so everyone will need to talk it out–fast!” — Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

How it works:

Depending on the level of difficulty the bomb might have a maximum of 12 puzzles. Each sector is a puzzle. There are three strikes for mistakes and after the third strike the bomb will explode and you lose the game.

Watch the gameplay here!

Why this game?

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes evokes two mediums. Each medium is independent of the player. The bomb defuser plays the game through a VR or a computer screen while the instructor plays through a computer screen or with a hard copy of the in game manual. When we watch a bomb defusal happen in a movie, everyone claims that they can do it. This game challenges that notion.

Overview

Mount Your Friends is a physics based competitive climbing game by Stegersaurus Software Inc.

This game is a lot of fun to play, but it is so much more fun to watch! I believe the character animations really define the game. The main game mode in Mount Your Friends is to “climb the goat” where you create a tower of contorted bodies atop a goat and the first person to run out of time loses. There are other game modes such as trying to throw your character the farthest distance. It it simple, fun, and packed with humor.

Trailer

Screenshots