Yeah you're right... I dont see why you'd wanna play through ten times, but maybe they like ask for money or something afterwards.
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Indie Nation #30: Masq
I am assuming that everyone on this site has read at least one Choose Your Own Adventure book in their time. As a child, they were the only books in the entire elementary school library I felt no apprehension toward; with their branching storylines and simplistic prose, they were basically just low-tech videogames in and of themselves. This, I assumed, would be the future of videogames: gracefully branching narratives full of action and suspense, culminating in one very specific, very badass ending of my own choosing. That never really came to fruition until I played Masq. Billed as an interactive drama, Masq boasts a surprising amount of freedom within the narrative: though the player has one main story thread to deal with, you can diverge from it at literally any point and explore one of the numerous subplots. Want to cheat on your wife? Rob a dude? Choke an accountant? Shoot a rattlesnake in the face? Masq's branching storyline allows for such choices, and requires so little time for an initial playthrough (an hour or less) that it's become one of the most replayable, addictive indie games I've played in a while. The story you make truly feels like your story, just by the sheer amount of variation in the choices you make. You can download the whole game for free here or, as always, hit the jump as I talk more about it. Masq is a game that lends itself to multiple replays. If you only play it once, and irritatedly cry, "That's it?!" upon finishing, then you haven't truly played Masq. That shit I said above the fold about affairs and gunfights and all that was not exaggeration: the game is full of that stuff, and it's all totally optional. Though most of it doesn't inform the main plot in any significant way, each of the individual subplots (like the chick you can have an affair with) have enough dramatic weight behind them that you could easily base an entire game just around those segments. Granted, this may make the overarching plot (some corrupt asshole is trying to extort your company) feel somewhat unwieldy and unfocused, but it's a small price to pay for being able to have (seemingly) complete control over the story. My first time through, I did what I thought I, as a person, would do: I was as nonviolent as possible, remained faithful to my wife, and shot a fucking snake in the face because I goddamn hate snakes.
My second time through, I made the exact opposite decision for every choice, except for the snake part -- even a version of myself who would rather cheat on my wife than remain faithful still doesn't trust venomous reptiles. Far as the main plot goes, it is as follows: you're the head of a new fashion line called Masq, and need to get funding for it before the big release party. In other words, if you want someone to actually play the game, don't tell them anything about the story. It sounds, at least initially, like (and I say this as a pinko Liberal in favor of same-sex marriage) the gayest goddamn videogame ever.
Fret not, though: it turns out that your only source for funding is your wife's boss, a douchebag school supervisor who wants you to help him embezzle from the district's fund for new school uniforms. What happens from there, no matter what your choice, is pure noir. There's sex, blackmail, and murder: freed from the burden of having to provide actual "gameplay," so to speak, Masq has a refreshingly mature, unapologetic story driven more by character motivation than a need to provide the player with constant violence and conflict. Not to say it isn't well-paced, and not to say it doesn't get a little goofy near the end (you shoot a snake in the face), but it's got great, down-to-earth dramatic moments of the like I've never seen in videogames before. Just play through the scene where your wife inexplicably enters your mistress's house while you're having sex, and you have to either hide, or run, or talk your way out of it. You just can't get that out of Gears of War 2. Anyway, play it a bunch of times. Tags:#Indie Nation#PC Did you know? You can now get daily or weekly email notifications when humans reply to your comments.
Legacy Comments (will be imported soon)Okay, on one of the first screens, they misspelled "losing" as "loosing." I am not confident in this game. But it's free, so I'm going for it. Really enjoyed this game, though it took me a few play throughs to get an ending i wasn't pissed off with. Oh and groin shots are always hilarious! Looks interesting Anthony, downloading now. But these indie sites always look so unprofessional(Guess that's the point DUR) that I can just see you telling us about a game that has some virus on it. Am I correct in saying that you can only play through the entire game ten times? Seriously? What happens after the tenth time? You can NEVER play the game again? @ sharpless
Yeah you're right... I dont see why you'd wanna play through ten times, but maybe they like ask for money or something afterwards. I just hope it's not one of those downright Dyackian pretentious design choices. I mean, I may never play through it ten times, and it does only apply to the fifth episode, but I don't like knowing that I only have so many shots at a different ending. I played through this a few times a long time ago. It's definitely interesting and worth a couple play throughs. Huh I swear I commented here. Anyways, played this a looooong time ago, it's amusing to try once or twice at least. I better see Iji on the next Indie Nation though. I'm finding this slightly addictive. Quick, someone tell me how to get to the part where you shoot a fat guy in the crotch! I played this a while ago, and I seem to remember it was because you recommended it in some off-handed fashion. But yeah, I was really surprised how many divergent paths the story took, and I rarely did the same thing twice through at least 10 playthroughs. I recommend wholeheartedly as well. I gave this a shot and found it surprisingly enjoyable, purely down to the variety of options. I never actually saw the rattlesnake, so I didn't get to shoot it in the face. 6:00 PM on 05.05.2013 Breakout and permadeath combine to create 2x0ngClassic games like Arkanoid and Breakout are always a blast to play. I think one of my first "mobile games" was one of their clones, before smartphones were the phenomenon they are today, of course. I've j...
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A Fistful of Gun is a combination of a classic beat-'em-up like Turtles in Time and a shoot-'em-up like Jamestown. So naturally, I'm deeming it a sheat-'em-up. No, wait, that sounds terrible. A boot-'em-up? Better, but still not that great... How about a boosh-'em-up? Yeah, I'll go with that one. A Fistful of Gun is the best goddamn boosh-'em-up of all time. more
Videogames sure have come a long way, haven't they? Well, then again, maybe they haven't. Sure, games now are way more advanced than they were twenty years ago. But what about the untapped potential within the medium? Videoga...more
Jet Grind Radio is my favorite game of all time. I don't care that people think it no longer holds up -- its place is solidified in my mind as number one. It's a decade old and still has more style and better character design...more View all Indie Nation |


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