So, as part of my rating of games after the Ludum Dare crunch, I will be posting about the games I've played in no particular order, and writing a bit about each, and this here is the first installment:
UNSS Pasteur - MrPhil
This game is a combination of the general "find planets in space" and "cure the disease", which on its own doesnt sound like much, but after playing I realised that this is one of those games that I will just have to sink my time into untill I can win. While some found it too difficult, and others too easy it actually in my mind strikes a fairly decent balance if you consider that the world is randomly generated every round. This one of the entries you should definitely give a go.
Spacebrick and the Window to the Stars - Toeofdoom
When I first played a prototype of this game I had no clue as to what I was meant to do, I moved around and eventually died, unsure what I was meant to do. My second attempt went better, and all I can say is that when we have aliens attacking us with advanced weaponry some time in the future we should resort to the same kind of defense and offense as is seen in this game. Anyone that plays it can seriously see the benefits of the idea. On a more serious note, while the discovery is fairly linear in the game, you will probably find most of the fun to be had is in clobbering your enemies.
Fat guy's treasure hunt - id0001
If you asked what you could compare this game to, I would have to say it is a simpler tomb raider style concept where thankfully you dont have gun toting maniacs after you, but unfortunately you are always doomed to get further lost in this tomb and eventually die, but while you're at it you might as well grab some treasure right? The innovation in this game is in that with your limited view you dont see every change going on in the area around you (oh, did I forget to mention that the walls move around? yeah, that) so if you're like me you will end up going around in circles literally till you die. The problem with this game is that if you're like me you will most probably end up moving after the second or third game having "seen it all", but this game shouldnt stop where it is, and I would love to play the expanded version (if there ever will be one) when it comes out. If you're ever stuck on whether or not to change something simple in your game to make it more awesome you should play this to remind yourself that it's sometimes the simple things that make your game amazing.
Frolicking Furballs Safari Resort - Sos
Of this bunch of 10 games, this has to be labeled as my "just because", and thats because Im going to tell you to play it "just because" its pretty awesome. Pretty much everything about this game is arbitrary, but because of this it is great. This game definitely hit the sweet spot when I played it as not only did it sound and look great, but despite its lack of a clearcut objectives or story it managed to steal a vast chunk of my time. Now before I give away too much I will leave this review with a recommendation that you try this game.
False Hope - daandruff
This game is another that I would like to see the development of continue. While at first I was just frustrated by the fact that I couldnt clearly see what i had to do, after the initial toe stubbing (in game) I realised what the point was, and then realised the potential this game has. If I had to tell you what I wanted to see added to this game it owuld have to be a minesweeper style proximity system, and along with it many more obstacles hidden away that are more lethal. The reason I say this is that when you uncover a block there is a chance that it is a bomb for you to use, or something that hurts you, and after playing several rounds of just rushing through the level I didnt even have to consider that there were dangers lurking in the unknown for me to discover. That being said, this game could grow in so many other ways and become very popular if development continues and more people write about it!
Good Ship Exploration - Cosmologicon
Ive always wanted to be an entrepreneur, I think many people feel that way, but unfortunately on Earth it is a lot of hard work, so why not look to doing so in space? That is what Good Ship Exploration is. The monetary system is complex enough for you to have to manage your money, and simple enough for anyone to learn. The complexity for me in this game came from the controls, but in all honesty this game would work great on a console. All it needs is more things to do (like buying property, ie. interstellar burger shops anyone?), risks to take, and perhaps some ship health mechanic where there are asteroid showers and other lovely things that mean you have to repair your ship and it would become a game that could compete with things like Sim Tower where you dont manage things low-level but rather on a broader scope.
mindeeper - cce
I have to be completely honest with you, I didnt (and still dont) really get how this game relates to the theme, but it is awesome none the less. A shmup where your enemies are squids (possibly octopi (?)) has its own appeals (dont ask me what they are though). I quite enjoyed the sounds and the graphics, as well as the fact that I had to shoot squids, but more then that I cant really say much. Perhaps this game will pop up somewhere in a later version where I get the point better but for now Im quite happy with the fun to be had from mindless violence towards anything other than yourself.
Trip - ThatSnail
First off, if you are sensitive to flashing images or jittering images you should give this a skip. Second if your avatar having no momentum puts you off this probably isnt for you either. Otherwise this has to be noted as a very solid platformer. I didnt qutie follow the story due to difficulty reading the story inserts (if thats what everything is like when you're tripping I dont want to get "trippy" :P), but I had fun learning the different things that the avatar could do. At times I had to stop myself and chill out a bit because a jump wasnt going well (because I forgot there was no momentum) but this doesnt detract from the game enough to "wreck" it so to speak. Finally as a last note, I think every platformer should have wall-jumping after playing this.
10 Minute Galaxy - machinas
I like this game, I really do. Just wanted to put it out there for starters. Despite the fact that games like this dont really treat me well (I can never get the right balance between moving and refueling to survive long) I ended up playing quite a few rounds of this in an attempt to try and get as far as I could (dont judge me, it took me 2 months to finish a single level of Desktop Dungeons and I love that too!) and in the end Ive had to shelve it to play another day because otherwise I will never finish going through the Ludum Dare entries like I want to. For the lovers of the 10-minute-<something> genres this game is right up your alley, and you had better give it a go. Thats all I have to comment on this at this time.
Combiner's Dungeon - CoveBit
This game could probably be put in the 10-minute-<something> category awswell. When I first played it I didnt realise that the things I was running from were my diabolic minions that were there to do my bidding, and then when I found my enemies I realised they didnt dig, so they had been waiting for me to uncover them. I was expecting a little more digging on the part of my enemies (any digging at all, if not just to connect up with one of my tunnels at some point), but I found a lot of enjoyment being a very scared supervillian that tunneled like mad to escape his allies. I'll probably write about this game again if the enemies get a bit more life in them and dont instagib me as I try to let them into my maze full of monsters to take them out.
And that my friends and followers is the first 10, I hope you give the games a go and let the authors know what you thought.