The Global Game Jam has come and gone. Did you miss it? Do you even know what you missed? Well, 1500 video games were made in one weekend. Here in Austin, D7 Studios housed the masochistic crash course in breakneck game development and GameSalad provided the tech support. Few of the games are ported to the web, but one that did stood out for me.
That one is Space Defenders. If it sounds like a classic arcade mash-up, you’re on the right track. Deftly (and quickly) combining elements of Space Invaders and Defender, the game reverses the typical roles and puts the player in control of the aliens retaliating for an attack on their planet by us humans.
The plot is appropriately ham-fisted, the controls are surprisingly intuitive, and the missiles and bullets come fast and furious. As levels are conquered, the number of invaders put in your care is bumped up, increasing your firepower and likelihood of getting tagged by an unseen pixel and subsequently obliterated. Meaning the human race wins. Again. Damn.
Click here to play a slightly debugged version of the 48-hour creation Space Defenders.
This article appears in February 4 • 2011.
