Playing with convention

Another round against Eddie Gordo, sport?

If I took anything away from the recent Melbourne independent games festival Freeplay (other than a lingering hangover), it was that great things can happen when developers aren’t afraid to mess around with traditional gaming conventions.  For me one of the festival’s stand-out titles was Hazard: The Journey of Life, a philosophical first-person puzzler that created environments based upon impossible physics then used them as a metaphor for human existence.

It’s definitely worth checking out if that type of thing is your bag, but if Hazard sounds a little bit too … arty for your tastes, then maybe you’ll find something to enjoy in the following collection of indie games.  I’m an avid fan of unconventional games (and always partial to a well executed troll), and all of these titles certainly have their own unique take on what a game can be.

Now some of the games I’m about to list can reach dizzying heights of frustration, so it’s probably best that we begin with p0nd.  P0nd is a medatative relaxation game that teaches the player breathing exercises as they walk through a picturesque forest.  You could technically call it an art game, I guess, as the goals are never specifically stated and your success can only be gauged by the level of relaxation it affords you.  Just remember to breathe along with the game’s instructions for the best effect.

Another title that aims to bridge the gap between art and gameplay is Teijo Mursu’s Movie Theatre.  If you thought Heavy Rain provided an enthralling cinematic experience, then you clearly need to educate yourself on how things should really be done.  Players use only the movement of the mouse to recreate real-life cinematic action.  It’s a thing of beauty, and all created in only two days!

Is it too late for a spoiler alert?

But enough of art, and into the real games.  Let’s start easy with You Have To Burn The Rope, a flash title by Kian Bashiri.  The game pits the player against the Grinning Colossus, an unstoppable killing force that can only be defeated by a barely mentioned secret technique.  The game is beautiful in it’s simplicity, has a wonderful closing credits song and best of all: it also has achievements!

And if achievements are your thing, well you’re positively going to mess your pants when you play Achievement Unlocked, a pachyderm platformer by Armor Games.  Players explore a level and earn achievements for many challenging acts, “My Favourite Spot” and “Found Point 1″ to name just a few.  As an achievement hunter myself I appreciated this game’s tone, particularly because there really are far too many games that grant awards for the most mundane crap.  And because achievement hunters don’t actually like discovering things for themselves, the developers have also provided a helpful complete achievement list for the game … just to save boosting time.

In a similar yet somewhat more complicated vein (and produced by the same outfit) is Upgrade Complete, a game for those of you who like to tinker with your customisation options.  The core game is just a simple top-down scrolling shooter, but what makes this game so hilarious is not only do you need to upgrade your ship and weapons as you progress, you also have to upgrade the game itself with extra menus, audio and graphics updates.  It should probably be noted that amongst all the games listed in this article, this one is the most entertaining … from a traditional gameplay standard, at least.

I don't even have the words to describe this game

From a non-traditional viewpoint, however, it’s kind of hard not to lose your shit while playing Sumotori Dreams.  If you’ve ever wanted to participate in a sumo match where both contestants seem to be under the influence of horse tranquilisers (and let’s face it, who hasn’t?), then this is exactly the game for you.  Your goal is to knock the other sumo to the ground, and you can achieve this with whatever combination of twitching, spasming and stumbling you like.  And if you like what the demo has to offer then there’s even an expanded full retail version you can buy, with more levels, more opponents and even more “intelligency”!

But if you play Sumotori Dreams and think: “You know, my character just doesn’t feel mentally disabled enough”, well then you should also check out the classic Flash game QWOP.  This game (named for it’s control scheme) gives you control over the legs of an Olympic runner, which sounds deceptively simple but this game takes that control to the inner hells of micro-management.  It’s akin to a driving game that asks you to drive forward, but instead of just letting you press down the pedal makes you fire the pistons in order while manually managing the transmission gears.  It’s most definitely not fun, but it is hilarious in every possible way.  And as the game says: “Everyone is a winner”.

Meanwhile the controls in Kyle Pulver’s indie platformed Depict1 are actually very responsive, it’s just that you’ll have to battle against the game’s tutorial to discover what they are.  Depict1 is a game about trust and dis-trust in an omni-present force, who’ll instruct you through a series of half-truths and blatant lies how to progress through the game.  I’m sure everyone’s mentally constructing a Portal comparison, but this is a fantastic game and definitely worth checking out.  If anything it’s 8-bit graphics and soundtrack reminded me more Askiisoft’s Tower of Heaven, but I digress.

A certain amount of basic physics is required to play Steamshovel Harry

I’d like to finish off this list with what is easily the hardest, but most rewarding indie game on the internet.  Steamshovel Harry tasks players with juggling the laws of physics and astronomy, as you jump from asteroid to asteroid in an attempt to deflect a missile headed towards Earth.  I’m not going to lie, this game is VERY difficult, in fact some people don’t even make it past the first few seconds.  But if you grit your teeth and keep at it, you’ll soon realise that this game is pure genius.  All praise to the Spider King!

Dis-honorable Mention: I wasn’t going to list this game, because it’s more just horribly designed rather than unconventional, but if we’re talking about games that can troll you then I should probably throw out the link to Spongebob’s Boat-O-Cross.  It’s basically a Nickelodeon themed rip-off of games like Excite Bike, except it’s coded so badly that even making it over the first rock is an ordeal in itself.  This is one of those games that waves as it erratically bounces far beyond “so bad it’s good” status, and into the horrible gaming elite.