Indie Games: 5 Days a Stranger

You know who Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw is, right? The Zero Punctuation guy? Well, before he became the well-known video game critic/cynic he made his own independent titles. One of these is 5 Days a Stranger.

Made using the Adventure Game Studio, 5 Days a Stranger is the first game in the Chzo Mythos (also known as the DeFoe series), a series of adventure games. The story revolves around Trilby, a gentleman thief who, when intending to burgle the DeFoe Manor finds himself locked in with four others. Throughout the game Trilby attempts to find out what is going on in the manor and tries to escape from the horror within.

The writing is solid and really draws you into the story. The characters feel real and Trilby is extremely endearing. Yet what helps the story is the atmosphere. For the most part the game is silent, with music only playing at dramatic points in the game. However, every now and then you will hear a creak in the house that will grab your attention and unsettle you slightly.

The game as a whole is more character driven than puzzle based. There isn’t much need to think too much when trying to proceed, however there are a few parts where you may find yourself stuff. However, if you keep track of what is written in the books and diaries that you pick up along the way then you should be fine. This creates rewarding gameplay without feeling frustrating, but nor does it feel like the game is holding your hand.

Definitely give this game a go. Even if you don’t play many adventure games you should find the game enough of a challenge whilst still being fun. For people who do play these point-and-click adventure games then you’ll still get enough of a challenge, but it’s really the story that drives the game forwards. Either way, you’ll enjoy 5 Days a Stranger no matter who you are.

Rambling Thoughts: "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

As with my The Hunger Games and Catching Fire posts, this originally appeared on The Book Club Forum and states  my thoughts on Mockingjay, the third and final book in The Hunger Games trilogy.  This was written as soon as I finished the book. 

So, I finished Mockingjay. I'll be honest, I was kinda pumped for it. I was told a lot of the issues I had with the previous book, Catching Fire would be dealt with and the thought that maybe we'd finally get some good action as well as an in depth look at this dystopia kept me going.

I'll be honest, for all I've said about the Hunger Games trilogy I think the setting is pretty good. I like me some dystopian future and I think the general vagueness helps the general setting. On top of that it's something I can honestly believe happening and taking place, with its elements of politics and science fiction. From the very start I've always imagined it to be kinda like the film Zardoz in some strange way. To some this would be a down side, but I really enjoyed Zardoz and imagining a giant floating head instead of the hoverplanes makes me chuckle.

But this world is completely squandered. Collins has the framework of a brilliant future and uses it to tell a pretty crappy story. In Mockingjay we get have the rebellion against the Capitol finally happen. This is great. We should see the war, the battles, the effect it has on the people, the Districts, the toll it takes on the main characters, the Capitol showing fear as everything they have held for so long crumbles around them.

Do we get this? No, we just get Katniss complaining and being a pawn in everyone's schemes. This being a pawn would be fine if she we coherent and consistent, but she doesn't seem to have any particular character. Her decisions often make little sense, and that's only when she is making decisions, which is still pretty rare. She's a chore to follow as a protagonist, caring more about silly things rather than things that actually matter (this should read as "All she cares about is the boys").

I could never tell you what the actual plot of the book is. There's a revolution going on, but the book has so little to do with the revolution. Most of the revolution is over by the time Katniss starts doing anything in particular and the final assault on the Capitol is dealt with so quickly it may as well not even be in there.

We also have the character deaths. Why are they there if Collins is never going to focus on them? Rue's death in the first book help so much more weight than any death in this book. People die quickly, a sentence or two is focussed on them, and then the book continues from there. Even when really important characters die it's barely focussed upon.

The one that irritated me the most was when Prim died as basically no time was spent on that and you'd have thought that this would be a big thing that they really cared about. But it doesn't particularly matter, apparently, even though it should shake Katniss to her very core. Sure, you could interpret some of the later parts as her being distraught because of what happened, but it never really felt that way to me.

Oh, and don't get me started on how rushed that ending was. It just... it just pisses me off that much.

But this is something I've been saving up from when I read this part of the book. I've bookmarked it.

"But I don't know what to tell him about the aftermath of killing a person. About how they never leave you."

At no point throughout the books has Katniss ever shown that she is haunted by killing that first person. She shot them without thinking and only mentioned later "Oh, my, I appear to have killed someone. How about that, eh? Oh well, anyway..." I mean, did Suzanne Collins even check to see if she even mentioned anything about this in previous books? This is why Katniss is such a confusing, convoluted mess of a character. She has no character and seems to be purely built out of what Collins was thinking of putting in at the time.

I really had to force my way through this book. I pushed my way through, hoping for something good to happen but nothing happened. I was excited for the action near the end, but didn't get it. I wanted something from this book, but didn't get anything. I have left this trilogy feeling pretty damn annoyed. I don't understand why people love these books so much or think they are so great. There is so much wrong with them, from a story telling perspective, a characterisation perspective or even from the actual structure of the writing (which I've decided to not comment because I don't want to go into that level of pedantry).

This is all such a shame. I was so hopeful when I started this series. I loved the start of the first book and thought the writing was excellent, but everything just fell apart from then onwards. I know people enjoy these books, but I find it hard to understand why, especially when there are so many better written books out there that haven't received the same amount of hype. Maybe it's my own loss, who knows, but I know for certain that I won't pick up anything else Suzanne Collins writes. Though I might watch those episodes of Clarissa Explains It All that she wrote on. That was a good show...

Indie Games: Narbacular Drop

You’ve played Portal, right? Of course you have! Portal is great and if you haven’t played it then you should. Buy it, download it, enjoy it, it’s great.

Why do I bring up Portal? Well, Narbacular Drop is the reason Portal exists. Developed by Nuclear Monkey Software, Narbacular Drop is a game project by a group of students at DigiPen Institute of Technology. From this the developers went on to be hired by Valve to help create Portal.

The gameplay of Narbacular Drop is fairly simple and similar to Portal. You create portals around the environment to solve puzzles and get to the end of the level. Not having a jump ability means that utilising these portals effectively is key to get to the end of a stage. And it's fun.

The gameplay is pretty solid and you can see where Portal came from. The controls are simple to use and solving puzzles is simple enough. From reading around (Wikipedia) it seems this game was to show off what the developers could do and it seems they could do a fair bit. Viewing the game from the standpoint of this being proof of applied concept you can tell a lot of work went into this and that the people who made it had a lot of skill.

There’s not a massive amount to really say about this game other than that it is essentially Portal. There is a story attached, but it is extremely basic and obviously put in only as a framing device, however it does show that the developers were creative outside of the actual gameplay.

If you really enjoyed Portal and want to see its roots then give this game a go. It’s only 6 levels long but really shows off what the developers could do. If you don’t care that much about understanding the humble beginnings of a great game then just play more Portal. It’s a more polished version of this game and fun to boot!

Indie Games: Octodad

Octodad, by The DePaul Game Experience, is one of the strangest games I’ve ever seen and I love it. You play as the eponymous Octodad, an octopus trying to appear as a human by donning a suit. You have to appear as human as octopusly possible (forgive me) to your family by doing chores and helping them out.

This would be simple enough, except because you are an octopus you can’t really walk properly or move your arms with any precision. How does this comes across in the game? Well, to walk you have to use left -click to move your left leg and right-click to move your right leg. Oh, and that’s if you are in feet mode. In hands mode you move around your arm, using left-click to pick things up and right click to move your arm more freely.

With these awful, terrible controls you have to do things like do the dishes, get a book for your daughter or score a goal with a football. These mundane tasks are made somewhat challenging by the controls and this is brilliant. As much as the controls suck this is the point of the game and with the game built around the controls sucking the entire experience is so much fun.

The humour of the game is spot on as well, using the concept well without overdoing it. This adds to the experience and just makes the game so much more worth playing. Alongside this, we also have a brilliant art style that just makes things look great and at times adds to the humour.

Download this game as soon as you can. It’s about 30 minutes long and is extremely fun to play. You might get frustrated with the controls at first but you get to know them and work them well enough. Octodadis one of those bizarre gems that needs to be more widely known and with a sequel coming out (possibly on Steam) it may get the recognition it deserves.

Flash Game Reviews: Don't Look Back

Don’t Look Back is a flash game by Terry Cavanagh of Distractionware. I played this game a few years back when it first came out and loved it. Revisiting it today has made me realise why I loved it. This game is just a brilliant piece of work.

The game tells the story of a guy going to the underworld to rescue what can only be presumed to be his wife. It’s fairly obvious this is an adaptation of the Greek myth of Orpheus travelling to the underworld to get his wife, Eurydice, who recently died. The story of the game isn’t the same as this, with the main character blasting his way through the depths of Hades rather than using beautiful music to charm the god of the underworld.

The story is well told, but this is done simplistically and in a minimalistic style. This simplistic storytelling is especially effective when reaching the end of the game, which comes around abruptly, with an empty feeling. This seems to suit the game tonally, with no ultimate conclusion, leaving the ending up to the player’s interpretation.

The actual gameplay is frustrating as hell. This is due to its Megaman style platforming, requiring precise timing and jumps. You may repeat the same screen twenty times, but you persevere, pushing forwards. On top of this, on the final stretch of the game you are not allowed to turn around, so moving forwards has to be an exact science otherwise you’ll have to play that section again.

Though frustrating, the game isn’t unforgiving. The most you really have to replay when dying is around 2 screens, which is no large feat. Also, whilst some bosses are difficult at first there is a trick to each one that is fairly easy to figure out (though the comments on Kongregate make it seem the people are incapable of understanding how to defeat the Cerberus boss).

With fun, but frustrating, gameplay and a gripping and emotional story, Don’t Look Back is a game I don’t even hesitate to recommend. It’s absolutely beautiful, with an amazing aesthetic and brilliant sound design (I have now downloaded the soundtrack). Play this game when you can. It isn’t very long, so won’t require a massive commitment, but the time you spend on it is totally worth it.

Indie Games: Pilot Light

Another Blendo Games project, Pilot Light is a point-and-click adventure that is a simple homage to the old Sierra and LucasArts games. The game follows our hero as she delivers a package across space. That’s pretty much the plot of the game and I’m OK with that. Point-and-click adventures don’t need any in-depth plot, they just need fun pointy clicky gameplay.

Indeed, the gameplay is pointy, clicky and fun. It’s a fairly basic affair, however, with you combining objects or using them on other things to get to attain your goal. Whilst it is fun it is too simplistic, with things pretty much being laid out for you with very little challenge. No crazy thinking is required, just put this in that and you win.

However, most of the fun comes from the writing. There’s no real story, but there are lots of events that take place. Whether it’s stopping someone robbing a space fuel depot or trying to get a man’s engine back from a monkey, the game has a lot of laughs and an enjoyment factor outside of the core gameplay. I found myself chuckling a fair few times, which made up, I feel, for the lack of challenge.

The art for the game is also pretty good. The rough around the edges style is cohesive with the gameplay and writing and really helps you get a feel for the world. This art style also works well with the animation, which I have to admit I really liked and would liked to have seen more of.

Something that could have improved this game, however, would have been better sound design. The only sounds are these little sound effects that only really play when you pick something up. Having some music in the background or sound effects during the cutscenes, or when doing other things, would have improved how the game felt. The lack of sound made it feel somewhat vacuous at times, which was disappointing.

Overall I’d say give this game a go. It’s pretty short, but it’s a nice little diversion if you have some time to spare. Whilst the gameplay is something to be desired, the writing will keep you going through it.

Rambling Thoughts: "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

As with my The Hunger Games post, this originally appeared on The Book Club Forum and states  my thoughts on Catching Fire, the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy.  This was written as soon as I finished the book. 

So, I just finished Catching Fire and do you know what I did when I finished it? I threw the book away. Not in a bin, but I literally threw the book away. I tossed it aside because that book was not at all to my liking. Seriously, I was bored throughout the majority of the book, but forced myself through it because I have already got the third book and I have got this far, so I may as well continue.

So, what were my issues with the book? Well, there’s a few things. Content-wise I found the book bland and dull. I spent the first two thirds of the book guessing most of the twists the books tried to set up, but they were all so obvious, and when the twist at the end of the second third came along I had already guessed it nearly 100 pages ago.

Things did pick up by the last third, but that didn’t help too much. The dynamic of having all of the characters did make things a lot more interesting, but it didn’t help too well as I definitely think Collins has a big issue with the book’s pacing. I noticed the book was rapidly coming to a close and nothing had exactly happened.

The semi-love triangle business near the start irritated me to no end and made me think Katniss was now more concerned with what the boys will be thinking. The boys are both so bland that it’s hard to care about any of them.

Oh, and I have absolutely no idea why the Capitol would put someone who causes the rumblings of revolution is the public eye so consistently. I could understand if they did it with strict regulations and complete and utter control, but they don't. How the Capitol became this powerful I will never know as they make some of the worst decisions to control their populous.

But what irked me the most about this book has to be what happened to Katniss. Oh, Katniss, you were, for the most part, a strong female lead. What happened to you?

Throughout the entire book Katniss doesn’t do anything for herself. As I said, she constantly seemed to be concerned with what the guy’s thought of her. On top of that, she doesn’t actually make any decisions, just has everyone do everything for her. I feel this may have been thematic, that she is a pawn in everyone else’s fight, but it came across as a sight-seeing tour. We weren’t following what the character is doing, just being shown what they see.

I really feel that Collins messed up big time with this book. It was dull and made me lament for the death of characterisation. Things happened, but there was no emotional weight to it. In my previous post you will notice I asked a lot of questions. Well this time I haven’t asked any non-rhetorical questions because there’s nothing to ask. It all felt like it was going through motions rather than telling the deep, insightful story it thinks it is telling.

I really hope Mockingjay does something different, because the familiarity of the last third of the book left me irritated. Give me something to care about and I might enjoy the last book, because, as you can probably tell, I didn’t enjoy Catching Fire at all.