The 2008 Independent Games Festival is set to kick off on February 20, with $50,000 in prizes going out to some truly deserving people who have created an astonishing amount of unbelievably cool games. Best of all, you can play them for free!
Online voting for the Audience Award has opened up and can be seen on this page right here. There are 11 finalists to choose from, and let me tell you, it's not an easy decision. Each of these games brings something unique to the table, and if you don't fall in love with all of them, you're bound to enjoy at least one of 'em on an almost intimate level.
My favorites were easily Audiosurf and Fret Nice. Both are music-based games, but are completely unlike one another gameplay-wise. Audiosurf (pictured above) incorporates your favorite music into colored blocks, making for an unforgettable experience. If anything, it reminded me of the first time I played Guitar Hero. In other words, it melted my face clean off.
The second game I recommend you for sure play is Fret Nice, a retro-styled platformer that has you using an actual guitar controller. You move your character with the green and orange fret buttons, tilting the guitar results in an on-screen jump, and enemies are defeated by playing music. If I could use the face melting comparison again to describe this game's level of awesomeness, I would.
Seriously folks, check out these innovative games in addition to the other finalists. You won't be sorry you did!
Contest:
11:35 PM on 01.17.2008
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When 4chan found a way to play the game AFTER the beta weekend, and OFFLINE, my addiction got worse.
It's like Aerosmith's Rockin' Roller Coaster, but it's a game...highly recommend it for anyone with oodles of music.
EMAIL ME THESWAGGA AT GMAIL DOT COM I WANT TO KNOW HOW TO KEEP PLAYING IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
equesardor@gmail.com
also, how does one go about playing fret nice. i cant find info on how to get the game anywhere.
cjmartino@optonline.net ?
I'm looking for the download pages.
Nevermind, I've find it.
ADivineUnicorn@Gmail.com
That Iron Dukes game is really weird.
If you still can't figure it out, email me at pheonixgamma@gmail.com (and that's with the mistyped "e before o" bit :E)
Regarding Audiosurf, I dunno what the big deal is. Most all of the music blocks I got seemed almost totally random in regards to the actual songs I was listening to.
A dynamic song is fun because you have those slow parts where you inch up a hill, then shoot down like a real rollercoaster once the song picks up (I hesitate to use this example, but one of the Lucky Star remixes has a fast chorus, so the track swoops down and makes a sharp turn, while the colors switch to red and the blocks start to add up. It's a REALLY cool effect.) Fast songs, like anything Dragonforce, is striaght downhill, so it's a little less exciting, but still very hard.
The best way to approach the game is as a rollercoaster, but with a puzzle sort of element tacked on. Rollercoasters are awesome, but games never really have "rides" that are fun. I remember playing some amusement park game and watching the rollercoaster ride. It wasn't fun or exciting, but this game has all my favorite music (duh) and works with it to create a better, more interactive experience.
(Plus, you really need to play some of the different game modes. I prefer Pusher Pro and Ninja Mono myself).
Actually, I thought chiptune music was kinda neat for that reason. Not like I'd want to play every song like that, but it was still pretty cool when I played the Mario Bros. theme.
Also, here's the download link for Fret Nice.