Oh, it’s a season thick with time wastability. The Independent Games Festival – set to pop off in March of next year in San Francisco – announced the entrants in the competition category. That means a record 306 video games by indie developers just waiting to be played. This is going to take a few weeks people.
First off, I should say that the majority of these games are either not completed, not free, or require downloading. For our purposes these are all out of the running. Only readily available browser games are being recommended. Don’t worry, I’ve done all the leg work, so just sit back and prepare to whittle away a Thursday.
WEEK 1: ENTRIES 1-50
Of the first 50 entrants (alphabetically) there were two locals in the running: Tandem Games touting BumbleTales and Perfect Dork Studios rolling out Box Macabre. Neither of these are ready for playing online, but I had a chance to check out both at the Chronicle/SXSW Game On Austin event and can vouch for both. Expect Box Macabre to go straight to Xbox Live next year.
Five of the 50 games in the running were playable without any real effort. None of which really wowed me, but it shows you something about the wide range of games being offered.
Alphabetically Afflux is first on the list. It’s a puzzle game with charm. The object is to get dandelion seeds that blow into your window into the pot so they can grow. Use fans, blocks, bars, and whatever else they offer you to ensure the seeds reach their destination safely and don’t end up disturbing any cats or, god forbid, end up wasted on the floor. The game is a standard physics puzzle game but looks very professional.
Air Attack puts the Missile Command template into an early 20th century war context and really stops right there. Move around and use your bazooka to shoot down planes. There is some strategy to defense, but I never got that far to care that much.
Another Small Favor is a sequel to, you guessed it, A Small Favor. It’s a relatively standard point-and-click game that puts you in the shoes of an alien mercenary trying to escape his past. Run around town, doing favors, solving problems, and then calling in those favors. The whole game takes about an hour, but somehow P&C games always manage to feel like running around aimlessly trying to figure out what to do next. Luckily there is a “hint” button that gives you step-by-step instructions if you need it. But what fun is that?
Then we have the air-traffic controller simulator. Honestly, it’s a bit too realistic to be fun, and I don’t want the lives of innocent flyers (even imaginary) on my conscience. It deserves a look but would only be worth the steep learning curve if you really like keeping airplanes away from each other and on schedule. I’ll pass.
If you like Bust-a-Move, then you’ll probably like Bubblooba. Unless the soundtrack makes you gouge your eardrums out. Play against another player online and see who can get their bubbles to disappear the fastest by creating groups of three or more of the same color. Just like Bust-a-Move.
So, we’ve made it all the way up to the letter “B” for Independent Games Festival nominees. Things should pick up a bit next week. I have high hopes for the letter “D,” what with words like destruction, demolition, and disintegravitron just waiting to be used.
This week’s winner though is Afflux. Not that the IGF cares what I think.
Enjoy.
This article appears in swine flu.
