DreamFeel

After finishing my internship in Microsoft I hope I have time to finally go back and play all the indie & browser games I've bookmarked over the summer! Here's some of the games that caught my attention in the last week.

Graveyard, Graveyard Revolution

Created in only two hours for Klik of the Month by fellow Irishman Terry Cavanagh. Terry is probably best known for VVVVVV among a number of stand out smaller games. Since releasing that cheeky gravity flipping platformer early this year he's been remarkably busy experimenting with lots and lots of prototypes (sorry Chris Hecker) and collaborating with a number of other indie creators.

GGR is a play on Tale of Tale's The Graveyard, DDR, and Irish culture. It's clear that the gameplay is a bit broken, but the idea is so good, it'll probably be the most memorable thing you play all month. Inspired.

The Day

Created by Gregory Weir, perhaps best known for The Majesty of Colors, The Day is an interesting experiment. For your birthday you are given a set of cards, and sent out to play with the other kids. It's quickly apparent that things aren't quite right in this village, and it's up to the player to decide what course of progression to follow.

It's a bit crude, but it's remarkable how much atmosphere can be imbued in such an otherwise throwaway game, but more to the point, how creating wholly unconnected goals and letting the player do what they will can affect a game.

And last but by no means least:

Minecraft

Created by Markus Persson (who I have just discovered, thanks to Google Image Search, coincidentally looks a lot like Mr. Cavanagh) and already earning him hundreds of thousands of dollars a week despite being in Alpha. It's a phenomenon. In the last month it has been nearly impossible to go anywhere related to video games on the Internet and not come across Minecraft.

I tried it for the first time this week, and even in my little exposure, time very quickly ceases to have any meaning flying by. It's essentially a 3d, more immediate Dwarf Fortress, with all the unpredictable, player generated story telling, and player creation that implies, along with err.. an accessible instantly gratifying game.  I highly recommend Rock Paper Shotgun's Mind the Gap series of 'travel logs'.

 I think it can be best summarized in one comic by Penny Arcade.

Now to get back to work on the first of three in my magnum opus! >:)