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Exploring the daunting tunnels of 2010 IGF entrant 'Cave' photo

Full from leftovers and bored out of my feeble mind, I did what I always do: scoured the Internet for free, no-nonsense videogames. You know, substance over style. Indie games and the like. That sort of thing.

Thankfully, the hunt was off to a great start once I remembered that IGF's student entries were still relatively fresh, and just begged to be lovingly inspected. Many of the more intriguing games aren't available in a playable form yet, which is admirable.

One game in particular, Cave, both scratched my "hmm, that looks interesting" itch and offered itself up as a download. Score! It's an exploration game in which you play as a boy and a girl, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. There's more to it than that, obviously, but the less I reveal, the better.

Since your sight is extremely limited, and Cave is presented in such a minimalistic way, you often have no idea where you're headed, or how to get back to where you came from and risk trying a different path; I say that as a compliment. Cave knows it's a game about exploring, and it embraces that fact.

Without spoiling anything, I'll say this: damn. More specifically: unless there is only a single ending, and it's an unpleasant one at that, I need to run through the game a second time. Here's the download page again (PC and Mac). Try it out.


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20 comments | showing # 1 to 20

brimtastic's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 05:30
brimtastic
Not sure I understood what was going on there, but that was a serious WTF moment. Very cool. Even made me jump a little bit.
Aeon's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 06:15
Aeon
@brimtastic
A little bit?! I guess thats what I get for having the speakers turned up even for crappy sounds.
Catbox's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 06:30
Catbox
Ah god, I did jump at that point, that after wondering what the hell was going on for a while. Anyone found an alternative to the 'unpleasant ending' yet?
Boatz's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 07:18
Boatz
Wow, that was pretty awesome. But

SPOILARZ

Is that the games ending? You leave with the girl and then the darkness closes around that other girl?

Anywho, that was really good :D
Kuwanjahbee's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 08:40
Kuwanjahbee
yeah i didn't understand that at all. and i hate playing as the girl. she is so slow.
Visc's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 09:03
Visc
This was a very interesting little game. Not sure I 'got' the entire thing, but some of the mechanics were really nice. I, too, would be very interesting in seeing if there were other endings!
sterbacblu's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 09:18
sterbacblu
I'm really glad you posted this. I have to say I prefer the "bad" ending but both stories were pretty unique.
nataneraser's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 09:53
nataneraser
LOL @ how the female climbs, looks like shes humping the rocks xD but the concept is rather good :D
betrayedark's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 10:16
betrayedark
It really feels like there should be a second ending...I'll keep looking...6th play through now.
Mecha Six VII's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 10:25
Mecha Six VII
I love this game
MunkyRiver's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 10:28
MunkyRiver
Got that second ending, but the "bad" one really is better.
PKNugget's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 12:02
PKNugget
Why is that HOE so slow!?!?
sprldr's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 12:19
sprldr
This looks a lot like Small Worlds.
Jordan Devore's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 13:25
Jordan Devore
Haha. I knew most of the comments would be about how slow the girl was.

Nice to hear some of you found an alternate ending. =)
Dexter345's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 14:39
Dexter345
Is it just me, or does the zip file have nothing but a readme?
Dexter345's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 14:56
Dexter345
Man, I don't think I get it. Why did the thing that happened happen?
brimtastic's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 16:36
brimtastic
So... how the peaches do you get the alternate ending? Third play and I'm stumped.
Projectexodus's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 19:59
Projectexodus
SPOILARZ


I suppose I got the "good" ending, where both the girl and boy leave the cave. I got it by jumping to my death on the spikes as the boy, after seeing the girl jump to her death on the spikes. Apparently they where both alive and well in the end...
Klempky's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2009 15:21
Klempky
Looks like /somebody/ had some post-sorority girl guilt.

ALSO SPOILERS (garnered from Projectexodus' post):
But in all seriousness, a very enjoyable little experience, even if getting the good ending involves (metaphorically, since the whole scene was supposed to be a mindscrew) killing yourself for a girl you've known for three months. x:

Minor quibbles aside, something about the game feels very genuine, in a human sort of way. Even in the face of the girl being slower than molasses and the boy jumping really awkwardly, it didn't ever come up frustrating, always just interesting.
Shaded Spriter's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/07/2009 19:43
Shaded Spriter
I was thinking that the metaphor was a bit heavy handed until I read the comments...I am not sure if I want to be impressed that I have thought about it enough to notice it or depressed that people here didn't get it.
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