Experimental Games of The Week: July 15 - 21, 2012

So as it turns out, writing an analysis/interpretation of a game is really really hard and takes a lot of time and effort. It’s the master puzzle where the pieces are sub-arguments you have to fit together to make it logical and coherent, but entertaining and easy to follow and not to long and... it's just hard, like everything else in writing.

So as I slave away at my writing work while the ghost of William Strunk Jr. yells writing commandments on my shoulder (“omit needless words, dammit!”), I figured I could give you guys some recommendations on some great experimental games I've played recently, which I’ll likely write about sooner or later. I have a certain affinity for weird, abstract games. Call me a hipster if you wish, but I’ve just been having trouble engaging with AAA games lately. I’m losing interest in shooting things for the same reasons.

First up, Reveal

The picture is much too large for the page. View it here.

Reveal is a game developed by pixel butterfly. I won’t say anything about Reveal except that it’s really really weird and keeps getting weirder; but I’m into that kind of stuff and if you are too then check it out! Requires a UDK install, though.

Souvenir



So Robert Yang seems like a cool dude. I like him. And I also like Souvenir. I’ll let you sniff out the ideas for yourself, but they’re not that difficult to figure out anyways, and I just love the way the world is built here. I don't want to go into specifics. These types of games work best when you go in unknowing. Be warned though, the controls are somewhat wonky. I was falling off edges a lot due to weird physics, but the game isn’t punishing in the least. You can’t really lose, per se.



Hope you all have fun! Take Care, and expect good things soon.