GameCity 4: IndieCade returned to Nottingham for a third year to spread the love for indie games and their makers
These days it’s not uncommon to come across festivals and organisations supporting independent music, films and arts. But what about games? They deserve a platform just much as any other medium. And with host of services available, such as XNA and flash-based freeware, the indie games community is wider and possibly more accessible than ever.
Founded in 2005, IndieCade, the international festival of independent games, has been working tirelessly to assist creators and showcase indie games to the public at large. They host a number of events open to the public in the US, as well as IndieCade Europe, which has taken place at GameCity, Nottingham, since 2007.
“IndieCade Europe is an essential part of the GameCity programme, and we’re thrilled to be able to welcome the show back again this year for the exclusive European exhibition,” said Iain Simons, GameCity director.
Located directly in the centre of town, underneath a huge space age tent, the folks from IndieCade were displaying some of the latest creations to come out of the global independent games community at this year’s GameCity.
Here’s a rundown of the indie games showcase:
Nanobots
Lively Ivy (Canada)
“This charming old school point-and-click adventure game has a unique twist: a group of tiny robots (who incidentally hate each other) have to work together to solve a series of puzzles. Each one has a single, unique capability to contribute to saving the group from their creator’s nefarious thesis supervisor. But if they don’t keep each other happy, they won’t cooperate. The puzzles involve a complex combination of manoeuvres mixed with interpersonal (inter-robotic?) skills to get the cranky robots to collaborate effectively. The stated goal of this small Canadian team, lead by Erin ‘The Ivy’ Robinson, is to make a game where the story is completely integrated with the gameplay.”
Moon Stories
Daniel Benmergui (Argentina)
“A trilogy of small, poetic games designed by Argentinean developer Daniel Benmergui. Daniel has drawn from his own life experience and emotions, and as a result the games of Moon Stories are small and surprising, each one quietly evoking moods and thoughts as the players navigate the play space and rules. Each game encourages the player to explore and discover the rules and goals of the game through experimentation and play. By occluding the rules and goals, the games are able to create revelatory moments and build a strong connection between the player and the artist’s personal stories and statements.”
The Game Conference
Internet Superstars (US)
“The Game Conference is an ASCII game from Joel Gonzales depicting the experience of attending a major game development conference. Players wander the conference making connections and telling people their game idea in the hopes of getting a job in the game industry. The game is an effective satire of such conferences and the idea that just attending one is the best way of getting into the industry. The simple graphics and interface highlight the commentary being made, and the mechanics enable further commentary of the futility of the player’s action.”
Akrasia
Team Aha! / Gambit Lab (US / Singapore)
“Akrasia is an elegant and artful experiment in expressing an emotional experience through a game mechanic. Eating the rainbow-coloured pill takes you into a colourful cave, which remains that way as long as you keep taking pills. But if you take too many pills… or not enough… or go to deep in, the world becomes dark and suddenly, you are being pursued by a monster and you must find the exit. A metaphor for drug addiction, Akrasia takes players on an emotional roller-coaster without the benefit of an elaborate storyline. Akrasia is part of a growing genre of serious games that attempt to convey complex ideas through abstracted gameplay.”
Impressions: Our immediate reaction to this was one of surprise and confusion. Inverted controls make your navigation of Akrasia’s underworld tunnels an uncomfortable experience – which is exactly how you’re supposed to feel with this commentary on drug abuse. Not something you’re likely to play for long stretches, but a very bold use of interactivity to express a social taboo.
ClassicNight
Akarolls (Korea)
“ClassicNight is a lovely strategy/arcade game from JoYoung Won / Akarolls, a Korean developer, with novel gameplay and a meditative play style. You collect light for the moon, who has chosen to glow brighter than the sun. Won has found a clever blend of mechanics, and gameplay moves smoothly and gently, creating a different experience from a traditional arcade or strategy game. Collecting bits of light is constantly engaging for the player, but ClassicNight never raises your blood pressure too high, maintaining a pleasant flow state for the player.”
Impressions: ClassicNight almost had us slipping into micromanagement mode, as with Viva Piñata. Building lampposts, houses and other details to populate the world isn’t challenging, but it’s nice to observe. ClassicNight’s beautiful visual style reminded us very much of Nightmare before Christmas and MediEvil.
