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GDC 09: Tag: The Power of Paint photo

If there's one thing at GDC I love as much as listening to lectures by some of the most interesting established names in game development, it's heading to the expo floor and playing games made by the indies and students who might one day follow (or better yet, completely disregard) the footsteps of those lecturers.

One of the student finalists in tonight's Independent Games Festival, Tag: The Power of Paint was the first game I got to actually sit down with after hitting the show floor, and I was pleasantly surprised. I'd go into a lot of detail and say this first-person-puzzle-painting-platformer* has some really clever puzzles, great pacing, and a wonderful visual style, but you can actually find out for yourself. The full game they're currently demoing less than fifty feet away from me is available for free on their website.

You may find yourself surprised by how, despite being "just" a student project, it still feels like a complete, satisfying experience that takes what I initially feared would be a silly or pointless core mechanic -- all the player's platforming abilities are activated by spraying the environment with different kinds of paint  -- into a legitimately interesting half-hour experience.

As for now, I'm off to see if I can get my hands on Night Game.

*ALLITERATION, MOTHERFUCKER







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17 comments | showing # 1 to 17
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Captain Foolage's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/25/2009 16:26
Captain Foolage
Will you getting any hands on time with Aaron Linde's Boner








...Quest?
RonBurgandy2010's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/25/2009 16:27
RonBurgandy2010
I'm always up for free shit, I'll give it a go.
AKK's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/25/2009 16:32
AKK
Didn't you link us to this a month or so ago?

No?

Then who did? I got it a while ago... and I thought it was from you....

Weird.

Incredible game, regardless. Really, really incredible.
konrad hazen's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/25/2009 16:36
konrad hazen
I've seen a video of the gameplay a couple of months ago and it looked pretty compelling. But the visuals are ....erm..... pretty barebone. I wish Valve would pick this up and give it it's usual "brilliance"-treatment. I might become another "Portal". Even better: incorporate the gameplay into the inevitable "Portal 2", it would become the ultimate FPS-Puzzler.
Dead Movie Star's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/25/2009 16:43
Dead Movie Star
... Why does this game required pixel shader 2.0a?

Looks like I wont be playing this.
Chronic Logic's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/25/2009 16:58
Chronic Logic
SOMEBODY STOLE THE COLORS!
RonBurgandy2010's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/25/2009 17:12
RonBurgandy2010
I just finished it, and I was incredibly impressed! Very fun and interesting. I wonder what they got on the project.


Now to go do my homework :(
anoon's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/25/2009 17:12
anoon
"playing games made by the indies and students who might one day follow (or better yet, completely disregard) the footsteps of those lecturers."

What kind of fuck-wit comment is this?

Really? You want to throw away all of those years of accumulated knowledge gained by iteration, refinement, and honing of the craft? To what end?
anoon's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/25/2009 17:15
anoon
Crud, how do I edit my post. I used a naughty word.
RonBurgandy2010's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/25/2009 17:26
RonBurgandy2010
@anoon
What he means is that hopefully by disregarding the lectures and ideals of others, some of these brilliant minds will be able to think of some revolutionary and groundbreaking ideals of their own.

It's sort of like Andrew Ryan rejecting the ideals of those around him to explore other possibilities with Rapture in Bioshock.

Only, you know, less evil.
Simon's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/25/2009 17:34
Simon
I played this a little while back ,and enjoyed the hell out of it.
Brian Szabelski's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/25/2009 17:51
Brian Szabelski
So this is like de Blob, but with a gun?
Holyetheline's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/25/2009 18:00
Holyetheline
I would love to play this. I'll give it a download later.
Darren Nakamura's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/25/2009 18:17
Darren Nakamura
I want some video. Get some video of this, Burch!
Paroxysm's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/25/2009 19:20
Paroxysm
NihonTiger90: Not at all. Give it a shot it really is an enjoyable proof of concept.
DaedHead8's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/25/2009 20:11
DaedHead8
I played through a handful of levels and was really impressed. Are there any more colors than red, blue and green?
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