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GDC 08: Experimental Gameplay Sessions
9:46 PM on 02.21.2008, Anthony Burch 26 comments

     GDC

erer

See that picture? You're probably wondering why I posted it, right? Why would I bother making my headline photo nothing more than a collection of static? 

I'm posting it because it's a goddamn screenshot. The above photo was taken from Lost in the Static, an indie game which is entirely built around the idea of obfuscation. It was highlighted in the "Experimental Gameplay Sessions" lecture today alongside several other games which, regardless of how fun or good they are, attempted risky and unusual and balls-out experimental things.

The entire two-hour lecture was basically just a big list of games everyone should check out for their experimental qualities, so hit the jump to get that list along with a very, very short descriptions of what made them so experimental. 

The highlighted games were broken up into four categories: Replay, Obfuscation, Games Made By Rod Humble Titled "Stars Over Half Moon Bay," User Generated/Controlled Levels, and Two Levels at Once. The categories should be pretty self-explanatory, and if they aren't then that's a good thing: though the entire lecture consisted of the speakers playing these games while explaining their experimental aspects you should really play these games without any primer rather than listening to someone explain them and rob them of all their intrigue.

Replay

cursor*10

Timebot

Braid

The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom

 

Obfuscation

Lost in the Static

Transparentor

Space Giraffe

La La Land

 

Games Made By Rod Humble Titled "Stars Over Half Moon Bay"

Stars Over Half Moon Bay

 

User-Generated Content

Line Golfer

Desktop Tower Defense

The Kingdom of Dewdith the Witch

Crayon Physics Deluxe

Audiosurf

 

Two Levels at Once

Yin Yang

Shift

Shadow

 

Though Braid, Winterbottom, Half Moon Bay, Crayon Physics Deluxe and Shadow aren't playable for the general public yet (and I couldn't find a link to The Kingdom of Dewdith the Witch -- perhaps I wrote it down incorrectly), all the rest of the games are really, truly worth finding and trying out if only for how they experiment with game design.


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bottled dark's Avatar
bottled dark at 02/21/2008 22:05
Obfuscation ftw!
Fleet3000's Avatar
Fleet3000 at 02/21/2008 22:12
yay i'll add it to my mental dictionary.
Jetsetlemming's Avatar
Jetsetlemming at 02/21/2008 22:13
Too busy to actually provide links? I googled up Lost in the Static, and it was kinda cool, and surprisingly creepy as hell, but about two dozen screens into it the controls started acting weird and lagging, so that the player character would respond to my movements up to 20 or 30 seconds after I pressed the buttons. Don't know what was up with that.
nicojay's Avatar
nicojay at 02/21/2008 22:16
It's one of those hidden image thingies right?

I see a wo............... ew gross dude.
Dr Milkdad's Avatar
Dr Milkdad at 02/21/2008 22:22
Looks like a cock
Tubatic's Avatar
Tubatic at 02/21/2008 22:28
Its a scooner.
weirdfunk's Avatar
weirdfunk at 02/21/2008 22:29
This game seriously creeps me out
allisonaxe's Avatar
allisonaxe at 02/21/2008 22:33
@tubatic:

no, its a sailboat!

i've actually played "lost in the static" before and it sucked. it was a sort of interesting idea, but it wasn't any fun and it gave me a headache.
Ogu's Avatar
Ogu at 02/21/2008 23:15
this was in IGF some time ago, I agree with allisonaxe. It's kind of interesting but not all that fun and pretty much headache inducing.

Relevance of this experiment? dunno.

Other games in the list are pretty nice though and more relevant to game design. This one just has the shock factor.
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 02/21/2008 23:23
I honestly have no idea how you're supposed to play that.
Sheir's Avatar
Sheir at 02/21/2008 23:32
Oh man, I'm too late with the Mallrats references.
Batthink's Avatar
Batthink at 02/21/2008 23:58
Bloody hell, I never liked those Magic Eye images. My eyes go funny trying to find the image. I never do.
Nubc4kes's Avatar
Nubc4kes at 02/22/2008 01:04
Rev. Do you just keep sneaking Desktop Tower Defense into these lists, or is it actually suppose to be there?
Kurtz's Avatar
Kurtz at 02/22/2008 02:03
Loving Timebot and cursor so far
HarassmentPanda's Avatar
HarassmentPanda at 02/22/2008 02:56
Bookmarked. I can't wait to give some of these games a try when I get the time. Continue the great GDC work!
mistic's Avatar
mistic at 02/22/2008 04:35
next time i boot in windows I'm so gonna try that static-game, sounds really good!
hjd uk's Avatar
hjd uk at 02/22/2008 06:07
ying yang is cool , shame its limited to flash - would be ace on full platform.
wardrox's Avatar
wardrox at 02/22/2008 07:22
Space Giraffe you say?
wardrox's Avatar
wardrox at 02/22/2008 07:35
Ok, I started playing Lost in Static, but got stuck on this level (It's the one with the static ball at the top that shoots smaller static balls at you):

Zac Bentz's Avatar
Zac Bentz at 02/22/2008 08:57
Wow, the ending of Static is...a let down? The huge, lumbering dude was really awesome though.
Mekanikles's Avatar
Mekanikles at 02/23/2008 06:03
Goddamn that static game sucked, just a simple 2 cent platformer wrapped in, ooh, "innovative" graphics. Might as well have been a virus too, at the 8th screen or so, it crashed forcing me to reboot. I want my 5 minutes back! *waves angrily with fist*
jaybird1905's Avatar
jaybird1905 at 02/29/2008 11:58
Stars over Half Moon Bay ....... can someone please explain to me how this is really creative ... or even a game?

It reminds me of that game Passage. There's so little interaction, it borders on the definition of a game. I understand pushing the boundaries is the idea, and finding the limits of gameplay ... but if something is so far outside the realm of the term "game", it really shouldn't be categorized as such.
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