Here I was alone on my spaceship. Minding my own business. Basking in the bliss of eternal solitude, when all of a sudden I noticed a distress signal coming from a nearby ship ‘The Alabaster’. I took one look down at my control panel and decided “not today my friend”. I turned off incoming transmissions and slowly continued on, not knowing where I was going or what I was doing. Free from responsibility and game mechanics…
…of course the game had other ideas. …
Every now and then I come across a game that surprises me in a good way. Usually these games are ones that I’ve had a brief glance at, said “Ooh, that looks cool” and then eventually got round to playing even if that has been months down the line. Odyssey is certainly in that category but this time rather than ‘getting round to it eventually’ I was lucky enough to get hands on with the demo so that I could let you all know just how interesting a game it really is. …
A dark night, a random phone call, and trousers that allow you to jump like a genetically enhanced grasshopper with its feet on fire – Gunpoint certainly starts with a bang. It follows up with a few more bangs and suddenly you are being hired for all sorts of stealth/jumping/trenchcoat tomfoolery, most of which involves falling out of windows and pestering guards with electrified light switches.
Oh, and it’s a bit good.
As proven by the recent release of Bioshock Infinite, video games can be on the odd occasion very clever. They can provide a story that is thought provoking and needs discussion in order to be fully explained. No One Has To Die, a free-to-play browser-based flash game, is much like Infinite in many respects. It makes you think on different levels and in my case needed some discussion to be fully understood. It is also very clever with the execution of its story and keeps you on your toes right up to the end.
No One Has To Die focuses around the break out of a fire in office block. You, the visitor to the offices have stumbled into control of the security system and have to decide who survives. As the story progresses and each character dies you learn more about what’s going on from the surviving members. Problem is, you won’t find out the full story until you have explored every eventuality. The explanation of the story at each stage is text-based and whilst not written to maximum potential is well-considered. Choosing who survives to the next stage is done by completion of a grid based puzzle. As the fire spreads one block at a time you need to turn on sprinklers, lock doors and move your characters in order for your chosen people to live or die accordingly.
No One Has To Die is more thought provoking in twenty minutes than many games are in twenty hours. The way it drip feeds you bits of information as you complete each story line is brilliant and the conclusion whilst not delivered in the best manner is satisfying. Working this out in my head and discussing it with friends easily took up the same amount of time as I spent playing it which is more than I can say for many, many other games I have played. I can’t explain much more without giving away any plot spoilers, but if you can find a spare twenty minutes or so in which to play this, I guarantee you won’t regret it.
No One Has To Die can be played free in your browser here.
Toki Tori 2 has quietly been in development for quite some time now and with good reason. Two Tribes made the decision that this would be the first game in a decade that would be entirely without the pressures of having a publisher. Instead of being dogged down by release dates Two Tribes took “as long as necessary to really make it shine”.
Toki Tori 2 is a puzzle adventure game for Wii U. The game gives players two moves, the whistle and the stomp, with which they can manipulate the behavior of the creatures that inhabit the game world. Its design gives players the freedom to figure everything out for themselves and have fun in the process. Instead of telling players what to do and where to go, we think facilitating exploration and experimentation makes for a far more rewarding experience. We don’t use tutorials or text screens, there is
no text at all in the game. Who reads that anyway? The game’s Metroidvania style open world opens up because players learn more about the world and its creatures, not because we hand out more moves or items. This means inquisitive players can go anywhere right from the start while less experienced players can simply follow the game’s flow and build up their arsenal of knowledge on their own terms.
If you’re itching to play the good news is that Two Tribes are heading to PAX east (Boston, March 22nd-24th) and will be demoing Toki Tori 2 for the Wii U. Keep and eye out for the Indie Mega Booth number 679 and no doubt, a massive yellow chick.
In 2007, there was a little free game released very quietly on a few of the sites I frequented, and it was referred to as Logi-Gun. Fresh from the mad-cap Portal, I was immediately drawn to the concept – puzzles, thinking, and novelty guns that weren’t for killing. A blurry screenshot did it little justice, so I downloaded, started playing, and lost four hours of my life without even noticing.
Fast forward to the present day. A mail arrives in my inbox, talking of a new indie puzzle game involving guns. It was called LogiGun. The name seemed so familiar… …
The Toki Tori series of games may look all cute and fluffy on the outside, but the bottom line is that Two Tribes have created a challenging and creative platform puzzler for all ages. The recent and popular remake of the originals for the Steam and iPhone audience and the inclusion in January’s Humble Bundle for Andriod has helped boost the profile of Toki Tori. So much so that Two Tribes are currently in development of a entirely new set of puzzles and mechanics for a completely new game. …
The sound of a man being punched in the face is a slightly wet smack, like a used flannel dropping to the floor.
Summer is a time for feeling guilty about not venturing into the sunshine whilst you catch up on some of your gaming backlog. Well, unless the weather outside is British. …