I had four or five games ready for posting yesterday, but when I saw the quality of the games that The Webmaster was posting I thought it would just overload you all if I posted them, so I decided to save them for the next day; adding what I was going to post over the two days into one posting…. I thought that the games The Webmaster had posted were enough for the community.
I realize I’ve posted an inordinate number of games recently. I’ve become a little tired of searching for games every day as it seems to have taken over my life to the exclusion of even playing the games that I really like. I haven’t booted up any of the games I’ve purchased recently in several days and it’s not for the want of trying. I just get very single minded over doing what I do. I think I was secretly thinking that posting several games every day would exhaust the games available so that could just close down the project and get on with something else; but then that would be a pity because /I think it’s a great idea. I also think I’m getting away from one of the reasons I started the project in the first place and that is when faced with a long list of downloadable free stuff, I personally have a tendency just to copy the link and file it away for future use. Of course that time never comes, so inevitably the whole process becomes a waste of time. I’m sure some of you out there are already feeling that there are too many games to cope with and that you are in danger of shutting off, so posting even more games on any one day is going to be counter productive.
I suppose you could argue that not every one is going to like a lot of what’s posted, so posting several games at a time actually opens up the project to all rather than just a select few. So I’m going to compromise. I’ll generally only be posting one or at the most two games a day, with the occasional specials where I‘ll post a bonanza crop of games. As I’ve already completed the post below, I’ll make this the last of a large posting for at least a few weeks. :)
I hope reverseOrder doesn’t think I’m treading on his toes with respect to posting some of the following games. I know you’re specializing in posting student and games festival games, but these are games I’ve had in my ‘to post’ folder for quite some time. The first two I found fascinating and compelling, though game play value is probably only several minutes at a time I do think they would make brilliant mini games to fit into more substantial games. The first is called Rainy Day and another one called Bonsai, which the developer says was inspired by rainy day. (You’ll see why when you see the game).
=======================================================================
******************************Thurdays games***********************************
Rainy Day:
You have to help the paper boats get across the screen before they are deowned by the pouring rain. The game starts with a load of embrellas and hands (yes you heard correctly) falling from the sky. Initially your tree only has a few branches each with a hand attached. Each hand can pick up two more hands or one umbrella. The more umbrellas you have the more boats you can save from drowning. Occasionally a red boat will appear. If this makes it across the screen whole new load of umbrellas and hands fall from the sky. The idea is to build a canopy that totally protects the boats from sinking.
The way you pick up a new hand or umbrella is left click and keep the mouse button depress over a branch then pull the branch towards whatever you want to pick up. If you run out og hands because they are all occupied with umbrellas you can make a hand let go of a brolly so that you can pick up more hands by right clicking on the hand.
You can only get the branches to branch for so far though at which point the game appears to shiver.
It’s hard to say where the game ends, but it seems to be once you’ve managed to collect a certain number of boats.
As mentioned above, it’s probably not a game you’re going to be playing for more than a few minutes at a time (well at least not after the initial rush), but it is oddly attractive. The graphics are professionally done, the game looks cool and it’s a small download. The game works from a standalone executable and comes with no installer, so you will have to manually place the game into your games folder, or wherever you place your games, then create a shortcut to the desktop. If you like shortcuts in the start menu I’ve posted a simple tutorial on how to create a start menu shortcut in the games discussion forums..
Screenshot:
http://www.experimentalgameplay.com/cm/g/5/rainyscreen2.jpg
Download Link:
http://www.experimentalgameplay.com/game.php?g=5
=======================================================================
I seem to have had a thing for physics based games lately. Here’s another of the incredible machine s genre, called:
The Virtual Contraption:
The Virtual Contraption is somewhat reminiscent of being the Armadillo in someone else's Armadillo Run scene. (Armadillo Run is another incredible machine style game, which despite it’s amateurish looks is a very complex and excellent game, well worth the $15 I paid for it) Each level of the 2D platformer features ever more elaborate physics-based obstacles, with the joyously forgiving controls providing laid back manipulation of your floaty man-thing. Game play doesn't just revolve around navigating the obstacles, but requires interaction with them in order to properly set the scene for success.
Download Link:
=======================================================================
Darwin Hill:
Make your humanoids mate to populate your planet with creatures that have the freaky features you want.
Darwin Hill is an unusual evolution game from Kyle Gabler.; (one of the developers of World of Goo and the maker of Tower of Goo the freeware taster. (see link below)) There really isn't much to this basic A-Life simulation. All you have to do is mate strange alien creatures and watch with amusement as they start to reproduce faster than you can kill them. However I think the older kids will like it.
Download Link:
http://www.fileradar.net/files/index/4272
http://superdownloads.uol.com.br/download/139/darwin-hill/
http://baixaki.ig.com.br/download/darwin-hill.htm (click on the green button with an arrow)
If you like this simple puzzle game called Tower of Goo I highly recommend the game World of Goo which retails at $19.99. I beta tested the game and was amazed at the versatility of the basic concept. If I was told I could only take ten or so games with me World of Goo would definitely be on the list I would take.
Tower of Goo freeware download link
http://www.acid-play.com/download/tower-of-goo/
World of Goo Commercial download link
=======================================================================
Bonsai</storng>:
The following game called Bonsai is a flash game based on Rainy day above. It’s not downloadable as far as I know, so should really go in the browser thread created by HOSS, but I wanted to add it to today’s post as I think it’s an entertaining addition to Rainy Day.
http://www.experimentalgameplay.com/cm/g/472/bonsai.swf
=======================================================================
******************************Fridays games***********************************
I was going to post the previous games yesterday, but as TheWebmaster posted two excellent games, it seemed inappropriate. Anyway, I’ve seceded to post yesterdays games together with Fridays games, so you’ve got another bonanza posting today. Definitely my last until Easter though. Wizzard will be returnig to post for the whole of next week, and when I return the following week I’ll have one or two games at a time. There’s loads of excellent titles to come, so keep an eye on the forums for all the games we post.
=======================================================================
Pandemonium:
Once in a while, you come across a game that has this feeling all over it from a summer Sunday afternoon, when you're eight years old, just watched some cartoons on tv, then go and play a game without anything to worry 'bout in the world. Today is your lucky day, because Pandemonium is one of those games.
Pandemonium is a semi 3D platformer. The bright colours and awesome backgrounds make sure that the game is pure eye candy. Although the characters look squary, they're well-done for their time. As you follow the path you have to take, the whole scenery turns along, background included. You'll see things to come in the far distance from some camera angles because of this, and you can see parts you'll visit in the future in that level in the background now and then. If the visual aspect of this game is a let-down, it's because you only like text adventures. Otherwise, you're bound to love the way this game looks.The game play itself is easy enough. First you choose whether you play with a jester or a girl, then you run around stomping on enemies and collect coins. Get hundred coins and you gain a life. Next time, you'll have to collect a hundred more, so you'll need two hundred coins. Luckily, there're power ups that temporarily multiply the amount of coins you get by two, so it'll speed it up. Besides that as a power up, you can also grab an orb that'll give you an aura of light. It enables you to shoot at your enemies, or just shoot, if there are no enemies around. Get hurt and you'll lose it though. A few minor points are the amount of powers. Two powers is just not enough from time to time. Also, but this is rare, the camera gets into such an angle that you can't see what's ahead of you or it gets so dark you don't see whether you're about to walk into a pit or onto some floor.
All levels of this game are nice and long. There's an average of three parts in it. When you die, you will return to the beginning of the part you're in. If it's game over, you can still use the password it gave you to return to the beginning of the level. Sadly enough, there's no way to restart from the beginning of a part of a level, so you will have to go through it again. Not that it's such a drag, as it's still fun to play, but it might get a bit on your nerves if there's a particularly tricky part, or, like in my case, your cursor gets stuck and you automatically kill yourself, no matter what you try. Those cases are unlikely to happen though, and besides, the game gives enough variety to keep enjoying it, no matter if you get stuck or not.
Videos
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GiCjkJZ5vtU
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ziy6LPOdsQs
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7igfskcMIo
Download Link:
http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/252/Pandemonium.html
=======================================================================
Aether: (19.7Mb)
The author says:” Aether is an "Art Game" about personal childhood feelings and experiences. Please keep and open mind”
Venture into space! Exploring distant planets and solving their puzzles to change the way the world views you, become a hero! Each planet has a puzzle to solve, when you figure out what it is and solve it the planet will regain color and the screen will flash.
Tips:
• Use the W and S keys to spin all the way around in a circle (A-S-D-W-A).
• Hit P or Esc to pause.
• If you're stuck on a planet, take a break and come back to it later.
Controls:
ASDW = Move and jump.
Mouse click = Shoots out your grappling tongue to grab onto clouds, swing around to throw yourself into space, release the mouse to let go. Keep in mind with enough momentum you can swing all the way around./
Aether is an experimental "Art" game about childhood and escapism. Its a very honest and personal project I’ve been a little worried about making public because its exposes a lot of the fears i had when i was a child and puts me in a vulnerable places. But i feel like there are some out there that can appreciate something honest that has a lot of heart.
In the game you play as a boy who leaves the earth in search of life in outer space, someone he can relate to. in the process he discovers lost planets that need to be saved, solving puzzles on these planet bring life back to them and the galaxy expands.
The Game was created in 14 days.
Browser Version:
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/459147
Downloadable version:
Gamespot (you need to register first - it’s free):
http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/puzzle/aether/download_6197320.html
or
http://kotaku.com/5044770/gish-creator-enters-the-aether
=======================================================================
Flight Gear: v1.9: (225Mb)
Flight gear is a free open source flight simulator. It has been designed to be easy to add new aircraft and scenery. This latest version Flightgear 1.9 is almost a complete rewriting of the program. Improvements include better graphics and computer controlled aircraft to fly with. A full list of improvements is available on the Flightgear website. There are loads of downloadable extras to add to the basic package, including loads of extra aircraft and a large proportion o the world scenery. I’ve just downloaded most of Europe, North Africa, The Himalayas and Thailand which comes to over 6Gb of downloads and I’ve hardly touched Asia and not downloaded any of N & S America. Australia and both the Antarctic and Arctic areas. This is a must have for any flight sim fanatic. There is quite a learning curve, but I bet there are forums where you can ask questions if you come up against any problems.
http://www.flightgear.org/version.html
Extra aircraft are always being added to the list and range from large airliners to military aircraft and helicopters. (over 200)
http://www.flightgear.org/Downloads/aircraft/index.shtml
There are 20,000 real world airports with correct runway markings and approach lights.
The full scenery for the whole world would take up three DVDs so areas are downloaded individually. A graphical interface makes it easy to select the correct area to download.
A manual is supplied with Flightgear but it is still work in progress and only the basic information at the beginning is finished.
There are also versions available for Linux and Mac OSX. A full list of supported operating systems can be found here.
Download Link:
http://www.computeractive.co.uk/computeractive/downloads/2163376/flightgear
Download Link for Real World Scenery:
http://www.flightgear.org/Downloads/scenery.html
You are presented with a map of the world which has a grid overlay. Each square of the grid represents a part of the world that you can download scenery for, and each of these (apart from those with a large proportion of sea) range from 30Mb to 80Mb in size. The more mountainous regions seem to have larger files. The red squares represent no download for that area:
http://www.flightgear.org/Downloads/scenery-1.0.1.html
=======================================================================
