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a sailor’s song is a game by simogo, the same company that made the interactive novel “device 6” and the thrilling puzzle adventure game “year walk”. a sailors song is very much like a product between those two, somewhere between a interactive novel and a puzzle game. is a game about exploring the different island, gathering different stories and listening to its relaxed and refreshing music.

unlike device 6, which is a interactive novel, a sailor’s song contains much less words and readings, but having more visual elements and animations like “year walk”. which is a reason why it got honorable mention for best visual on igf.

a sailor’s song is a very arty game, the mechanic being scrolling around with your finger to travel through locations and clicking for most interactions. rather than playing a game, i find playing a sailor’s song more as a kind of experience, and it has given me some pleasant times to spent with.

You want to know what my favorite chore is? Shoveling. I just love shoveling. The heft of a heavy blade swinging into the earth, sinking even deeper in as I press it down. The rewarding thrust of loosening dirt as I twist it into a fulcrum made out of my muscles. The relief I feel as a clod of dirt launches into the air, a gaggle of gems spreading out in its path.

I am, of course, referring to one of the key mechanics of the game Shovel Knight by Yacht Club Games.

Shovel Knight is retro-inspired game that takes place in a bizarre and lively world, complete with apple-fish deities and witches that are literally trees. It uses a rather traditional control scheme with two face buttons and a directional pad serving as the player’s main method of interaction. Each level is a side-scrolling expansive map filled with secrets, lore and the occasional treasure seller. Each level ends with a boss fight, and, upon winning, the player will be able to choose the next level through a world map. In an indie scene dedicated to both innovative concepts and old-school nostalgia, Shovel Knight falls firmly in the latter. It lifts the elements that worked for many NES properties and finds familiar but surprising ways to iterate upon them.

The key to Shovel Knight’s freshness is the player character’s shovel. The character’s gameplay revolves about this shovel, acting as the hero’s main method of attack, propulsion and, you guessed it, shoveling. The Hero of this story deals with a host of Knights with similar commitments, each one having a defining weapon or characteristics that defines the manner in which they act. This gives the game great variety and makes each level more enjoyable, as there is usually an artifact that allows the player full access to the level.

These artifacts are varied and unique, most draining from the player’s mana with each use. Each one changes the manner in which the character moves, be they helicopter boots or a jet-propelled gauntlet that launches its wielder ahead, consequences be damned. They add an extra layer of depth to the game’s large dungeons, unlocking new regions for Shovel Knight to dig into. The real key to the level design, however, is that the player does not need to rely upon the artifacts to beat the levels.

Shovel Knight also has a story. It is not strikingly original, but where it does succeed is in its theme. The hero suffered a lost before the start of the game, one that continues to haunt him. This element of the story is rarely, if ever, discussed. It instead allows the player to act through the fall of his comrade multiple times through dream sequences. When the character does speak, he normally does so to take a pacifist approach or beseech to his enemy’s better nature, normally resolving by the end that things always end in violence. The gameplay is centered around a very mundane object, a shovel, but it accomplishes a lot of depth through the handling of its world. Additionally, the game takes a different approach to character death. When the player falls in combat, or more likely drops down a misplaced pit, a portion of their earnings is depleted from their counter and is left where the character died in a flying pouch, awaiting the player’s return. This removes the frustration of a game over, but the amount of value those gems have is remarkably important. This adds further emphasis upon the controller to guide their avatar through the game.

It is here that we come to the most crucial aspect of metroid-vania sidescrolling adventure title- the controls. Shovel Knight is a very tightly knit package. The character’s weight, their attacks and their stops feel very fluid and interlinked. The physics are readily perceptible and easy to work within. The levels require very precise controls, and thankfully the gameplay feels matches the necessary requirements.

Shovel Knight is available on PC, Wii U, 3DS, Linux, Mac OSX, and, come April, the current family of Sony Playstation products. It was backed through Kickstarter, and was produced by Yacht Club games. It was finalist in the Excellence in Audio category at the IGF awards, and was an Honorable mention for the Seumas McNally Grand prize.

I highly recommend it if you enjoyed Duck Tales. You can use your Shovel as a pogostick.

Its quite entertaining.

title; Not Ping Pong

equipment;

ping pong table with net

two players

rules

regular ping pong rule applies.

game of three, players that win 2 game wins

at start of first game, players will both take out the most expensive belongings that he or she is carrying at the moment, use that item as bat for the current game. when the current game ended, both player will discard those items.

at the start of the second game, both player will take out the second most expensive belongings that he or she is carrying at the moment, use that item as bat for the second game.when the current game ended, both player will discard those items.

at the beginning of the third game, both player will take out the third most expensive belongings that he or she is carrying at the moment, use that item as bat for the third game.when the current game ended, both player will discard those items. a winner is therefore announced. both players may withdraw all their belongings.

idea and concept;

unlike regular ping pong, not ping pong is a competition game of both skills and pride. there are 2 games going on when playing not ping pong, the first game is the competition of ping-pongsmenship, the second game is the competition of the wealth. the second game begans when the moment that both player see the other player’s choice of alternate bat occurs.

by using items as bat, the function of that item has changed completely, and therefore creating a brand new function. now the question are 3,(there are 3 questions)

1. do expensive items gives the player an upper edge in the game of not ping pong?

2. will the player be willing to put the their most expensive items at risk?

3. how do player define expensive?

below are 3 scenarios that corresponds with the question;

scenario 1.

player 1 takes out a 800 dollar worth of i phone 6 ,

player 2 takes out a 30 dollar worth of shoe.

scenario 2.

player 1 takes out a fragile laptop computor,

player 2 takes out a fancy purse that can easily get dirty,

scenario 3.

player 1 takes out a Porsche car key,

player 2 takes out a photo of him and his family,

in any of the scenarios, audience and the player will experience fun and joy and envy and doubt and jealousy and hatred and realization, just like in real life.

“you are mountain, you are god.”

Mountain is a game showcased on the indiecade 2014,

in the game “mountain”, the player will play as the role of a mountain.

the player is allowed to drag the mouse on the mountain in order to rotate it

the player can spam the keyboard in order to generate piano note sound

those are the only control the player have for the entire game

the player will be able to see the mountain go through the four seasons and all sorts of weather condition, such as; snow, wind, blizzard, and occasionally frog-rain ( rain of frog)

the player will see something new every time growing or dropping on to the mountain once in a while

personally, for me, by staring at the slowly rotating mountain, i can see the entire universe in front of me, it clears my mind, shows me the truth, and points me the path.

the mountain told me to become a actor in the future, I will obey

mountain  is available on steam for 1 dollar.

there’s not much to do with 1 dollar, but it might just change one’s life.

I’m going to be playing Shovel Knight. I’ve heard its pretty unforgiving, here goes nothing.

http://www.indiecade.com/games/selected/shovel-knight/

Take your friends outside to build a snowman. Note- make sure the man has a bottom, middle, and a head.

Make sure to give the snowman a big, happy smile.

Pour cherry snow cone syrup onto the snowman.

With a large spoon, try to eat the snowman from the middle and bottom, without letting his head fall to the ground.

Whoever takes the bite that causes the head to fall is the loser.

Variation:

Place a hat on the snowman’s head, and play not until the head falls but until the hat falls. In this version, you may eat the head.

If there is no snow with which to make a snowman, you may either:

• Purchase a snow cone machine and make cherry snow cones for your friends
• Make a mud man. Do not eat him.

Think about paths and shortcuts taken on your trip to class.

Wait for massive snowfall.

Observe how the paths become restricted or blocked off by snow.

When the snow melts, take the same path as if the snow were still there.