GameCity 3: In these times of financial crisis the number of independent developers is dwindling, so it’s good to know that independent games still have a voice. That voice is IndieCade, a team of experts who work tirelessly to assist indie developers and showcase their work at festivals around the world. IndieCade were stationed at the rather quaint Malt Cross, at this year’s GameCity. Here are some of our favourite picks from this year’s parade of indie games.
Where Is My Heart?
In this charming game you must help guide a family of monsters home safely. One of the most striking elements of this game is its 16-bit level design. If you were to view it from afar it would practically look like an interactive comic book page. To move between the sections of this world you must make use of each of the monster’s unique abilities to find all the hearts needed to progress. Pick up a green heart though and you’ll find yourself lost yet again. Created by Bernhard Schulenburg – he was inspired to make the game after getting lost while hiking with his parents. With its noteworthy statement on family relationships, this is one game that definitely has its heart in the right place.
ibb & obb
This co-op only game was created by Richard Boeser for his final year graduation project. The crux of the gameplay involves using the physics to guide ibb and obb between the two plains of movement. Often at times you’ll be forced to reach certain areas by standing on the other character’s head and performing a successive jump. You collect diamonds by defeating enemies and finding hard-to-reach collectables, again as a team. ibb & obb has some deep, involving gameplay underneath its hued pastel look. If more games encouraged you to work to together like this one maybe we’d all get along that bit more.
Cactus Arcade
Cactus Arcade is a compilation of seventeen titles from Swedish game designer, Jonathan Söderström. What we loved about this was the multitude of abstract, bite sized games here. Some just used one game mechanic while others offered quick bursts of familiar gameplay, like F*** Space!, Shotgun Ninja and xWUNG. The Design, a game where you use both hands to control two dots in a geometric 2D shoot-‘em-up, left us bitter at the hands of defeat but fascinated all the same. While the difficultly might not be to everyone’s liking, Cactus Arcade is a fun selection of games that entice you to keep on playing.
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom
It’s difficult to describe a game like P.B. Winterbottom. This tasty treat was developed by the Odd Gentlemen. In it you take the role of P.B. Winterbottom, a peculiar little fellow with an affinity for fresh pies. Set in a grisly silent film world, you must record your actions then use time shifting abilities to assist or hinder your past and future selves. Though it might sound complex it actually works remarkably well. You hold one button to record then the game resets the sequence, but allows you to paradoxically interact with the actions of your former self. The stylish visuals are complemented by an equally impressive soundtrack. This game will have you seeking out delicious pies before you realise where all the time has gone.
Machinarium
Machinarium’s visuals are stunning. Amanita Design (also the makers of Samarost) has a gorgeous art style that could rival even big names in animation like Aardman and Tim Burton. This also may have been the most ambitious game on show, as the full game will be a huge point-and-click adventure set in a diverse metallic metropolis populated entirely by robots. You guide a little robot who’s been wrongly dumped in the scrap yard and must return to the city to save it from the devious Black Cap Brotherhood. Despite nobody being able to crack a seemingly brain-bending mine cart puzzle, the rest of what was on offer did impress. We only got the chance to view a small sample of the levels available in the final game but we’re already eager to see more.
For the folks behind IndieCade, GameCity was an opportunity to focus on giving the public greater access to these fantastic games. They had many more exciting and intriguing games on display such as Democracy 2 a political strategy-sim game, The Graveyard an experience in artistic expression and even a virtual labyrinth cube where players guided a figure through an M.C. Escher-like world by tilting an actual cube. All of the visitors we spoke to had a great time trying out these titles, and we’re just as excited to see what else IndieCade have in the works for next year.
If you’re making your own indie game or you’d just like to find out more about the world of independent video games be sure to check out indiecade.com.
Aaron Lee
[Originally published on Saturday, 22 November 2008]
Tags: gamecity, ibb and obb, indie, indiecade, machinarium
