Being a connoisseur of indie games, my friends usually hit me up for some suggestions.  Since my memory’s pretty shite, I figured I’d start posting the ones I liked as I ran across them.  This here’s your basic list of the first five that popped into my head when I sat down to write.  I know I’m leaving out some awesome games, but I’ll be posting more of these lists in the future.

1. World of Goo

World of Goo (video) was developed by the fabulous 2D Boy.  If anyone remembers the game Bridge Builder, you’re halfway there.  Throw in an ominous corporation and that your structures are built out of cute little living creatures called Goo and you’re all the way there.  The levels span several worlds that each have their own style and charm.  The variety of the puzzles is just staggering.  With several different types of Goo available, I think 2D Boy really did a fantastic job of exploring the design space in interesting, humorous, and unexpected ways.  Bottom line: you should own this game already.

2. Toribash

Toribash (video) is the bastard child of a fighting game and 3d animation software.  On a turn by turn basis you adjust the tension in your character’s joints.  Arms swing, legs kick and so on.  As the round goes on and frames pass, your goal is to beat the snot out of your opponent.  Does this sound at all boring to you?  Let me paint you a picture.  In one match, I grabbed the opponent’s wrists, kicked him up into the air, flipped up underneath him, and then, twelve feet above the arena floor delivered a double-footed kick that tore him in half.  I then spiked his upper torso and head into the ground for the win.  This game has a steep learning curve, but the payoff is fantastic carnage like I described.  Tons of different game types and variations make this game ridiculously deep and a veritable black-hole time sink.  Be sure to check out the replays folder to see some fantastic examples of what is possible.

3. Mount & Blade

Mount & Blade (video) is like no other game I can think of.  It crosses an RPG with a medieval combat sim with realistic physics.  There’s an overworld map and you can trade with the folks in the town and do various missions and tasks for lords of various stripes.  That’s great, but the meat is in the battles.  You drop onto a randomly generated battleground with your troops and then fight to the death with another army.  There is jousting, all kinds of weapons both missile and melee, not to mention the castle sieges and defenses.  There is nothing quite like leading your troops up a ridge to see the enemy hordes boiling over the lip.  I’ve been following this game since its early days and I’ve got to say, it’s a completely fresh and original take on the medieval battlefield.

4. Gymnast

I clearly have a weak spot for physics games.  If they’re done well, there’s no limit on the player to impose his own style on the proceedings.  In Gymnast, (video) you flip from trapeze to bar to flexible bamboo pole using only the flexing of your body and arms to influence your center of gravity and rotational velocity.  Some of the levels are really hard, some of them are hilarious.  Like most other physics games there is a steep learning curve, but once you get it, you’ll be soaring with the greatest of ease through all kinds of wonderful stunts.  While you’re at Walaber’s site, be sure to check out some of his other games.  There are a couple of gems over there.

5. Spewer

Spewer (video) is a liquid physics based platformer created by Edmund McMillen and Eli Piilonen with a really twisted take on Nintendo’s Kirby.  Instead of sucking up your opponents to launch them at enemies or consume their powers, you are launching and eating your own…spew.  Gross, right?  Sure, but after a while you forget about the context of what you’re doing because the levels are just so well designed.  There are different pills you can swallow that will change your properties and the properties of your spew.  Plus, you can use the spew as a jet pack.  We already know how much I like jet packs.  The game can run a bit slow, but I’ve found setting the quality to low and turning off the backgrounds and sound effects helps.  It’s a shame that such a wonderful game has such crippling slow down, but if you persevere through some of the ridiculously hard levels (Harvesting, Holy Tears, and Dive, I’m looking at you) the rest are all really clever and interesting.  Plus, there’s a twist ending!  M. Night’s got nothing on Edmund.

That’s it for now

As usual, feel free to talk it up in the comments.  This recommendation thing goes both ways.  If you’ve got a favorite indie game that I didn’t list here, feel free to tell me about it.  I guarantee I’ll give it some sweet, sweet gamer love.

As promised in Part I, here are some links I’m finding helpful in my quest to descrub myself.

SHORYUKEN!  Both the site and the forum are  a daily resource.  Strategy discussion, combos, everything an aspiring high-level player needs.  Word of warning: this isn’t a site for newbs.  Don’t barge in there and ask people how to fireball.  Best thing to do is keep quiet and read and search the forums for information until you get level ground under your feet.  The Tech Talk sub-forum is my favorite because it has, among other topics, lots of information for building arcade joysticks.  Not really related to descrubbing, but building them is a fun hobby.

Playing to Win by David Sirlin is an e-book, or whatever you kids are calling them these days, that takes a look at the mindset of competitive players and what assumptions and baggage players need to shed to become them.  Whether you understand competitive gaming or just think you do, this is required reading.

There are two posts over at Teahawk’s blog with some drills for improving your game.  The first article details a blocking drill you can run to improve your defensive capabilities.  So many people new to these games only realize blocking exists when they lose to someone who can do it effectively.  The second article is concerned with a drill for improving your execution of special moves.  The fundamental idea is that just like the jab or roundhouse, the special moves are part of the building blocks of a successful player.  If you can’t fireball or dragon punch as easily as you can throw out a normal move, you should hit up these drills.

If any of you run across or have a favorite resource for competitive game training like these, feel free to drop a link in the comments.

I have a confession to make: I’m a scrub.  A scrub is term for a person who plays fighting games and brings their own set of rules (limitations) with them.  No turtling!  No fair, fireball spam! That combo is so cheesy, you suck for using it!  You disgrace your family with those cheap throws!  Here’s the deal: a computer game is a simulation of a system.  This system has rules in place (which includes any tournament rules, if they exist).  Anything else is just mental baggage that might help the scrub feel better about his losses, but won’t help him make it to the winner’s circle.

With the release of Street Fighter IV, I started digging into the game and the online community and realized how scrubbish my ways were.  I used to play a lot of Third Strike (3S for the hip kids) and although I was a decent player, a relatively good sport, a good loser, and all that, I still carried my own set of limitations with me into every match.  I thought various tactics were too cheesy, so I didn’t use them.  Even when they were working!  That’s just ridiculous if you are playing to win.

In this series of articles, I’m going to try and document my approach to banish my inner scrub.  If only so I can beat my friends into submission.

Howdouken?

First, I’ve made a commitment to compete in a local tournament.  I think that’s key.  You can play all the matches you want in your basement with your friends, but even if you do own their faces off on a regular basis, you’re probably just a big fish in a small pond.  So, like back in my Quake III tourney days, I decided to try and find a bigger pond.  The additional bonus of having a tournament on your calendar is that it gives you a date.  A target.  I’m not going to be crazy awesome by then, but at least it gives me something to prepare for.

Second, you gotta get in on the community.  Even if you think they’re a bunch of immature assholes (they’re not all like that).  When you’re talking about Street Fighter, you’re talking about shoryuken.com.  I’m mostly involved with the custom stick building forum, since that’s what I’m comfortable with, but read the rest.  There’s gold in them hills if you’re willing to dig for it.  Character match-ups, strategies, combos, and debates on all subjects are invaluable to build your knowledge.

Third, practice.  I try and get in at least a few rounds a day and I’ve started drilling my execution of moves in training mode.  If I can’t reliably throw a fireball or pull off a combo on command, I could lose a match because of it.  It’s just like any other sport.  Drill those fundamentals.

Fourth, watch pro-level matches on YouTube.  Scratch that, don’t just watch passively, actively watch these matches.  Try and put yourself in their shoes during the match.  This doesn’t mean to start calling out missed opportunities and apparent mistakes, that’s a one way ticket to scrubville.  Try and watch the match as a whole and see the motivations behind their actions.  Sometimes when a pro doesn’t throw out an obvious move, it’s for a damn good reason.  Sometimes it’s because his opponent is in his head and has baited the move and punished it before.  Really try and feel the flow of the match.  The more you can put yourself in their shoes, the better you’ll be able to feel out your competition.

Fifth, develop your Yomi.  Yomi is a seemingly psychic ability to read your opponent.  I hear the translation is something along the lines of “knowledge of the mind of your opponent.”

This guy would rule at Street Fighter!

This is a crucial skill that really can’t be taught.  I’ve started to work on it in my online matches.  The best part of this is that once you climb up in someone’s head, it’s like they aren’t even controlling their character anymore.  You’ve become a symbiotic entity.  Use that position to apply pressure, cause frustration, even bait out punishable mistakes.  This is the level the pros are on and once you get a taste of it, you realize that the game goes far beyond just being able to do special moves and combos.  This is where you are literally owning your opponent.

I’ll be back in a bit to post up some resources and links I’m finding useful in my journey out of scrubville.

Before reading it would be a good idea to give this game a good solid spin.  You can download it here.

A quick word problem. There are two trains. One train leaves the station carrying a stockpile of vintage Metroid and Castlevania cartridges. The other train leaves a second station loaded down with a bounty of Roguelikes such as NetHack and Dwarf Fortress. The trains are traveling at extreme speed towards each other on the same track. At what point should the engineers start slowing down to avert a collision?

The answer? It doesn’t matter because Derek Yu has cut the brakes.

Spelunky is a randomly-generated game in the Metroidvania style. As an Indiana Jones style character the mission is to die horribly while exploring a cave. At least that’s how I play it. The difficulty level is sky high so prepare to meet grisly deaths early and often.

Gameplay and Design

The first thing I noticed (right before I noticed the spike pit death animation) was how sensitive the controls are. They are very precise which requires either having the reflexes of a meth-addicted spider monkey or, in my case, slowing down and carefully planing each move. When holding a button a few milliseconds longer is the difference between life and a permanent death, it gives reason to pause and thoroughly contemplate the ramifications of every seemly simple action.

The permanent death mechanic that this game shares with its Roguelike forebears is what puts such pressure on the player. The additional pressure is partially valved by the short, five to ten minute, length of even a full playthrough of the game. Further, there are unlockable shortcut tunnels that persist allowing some sense of accomplishment to accompany the Sisyphean.  The biggest annoyance is if I was especially well kitted up when being skewered by an offscreen Arrow Trap. Since what items I am able to acquire in a playthrough are strongly dictated by the randomness of the levels, I can’t count on having my favorite set (climbing gloves and shotgun = death ninja) on any particular play through. This is especially frustrating when expensive items like the shotgun show up long before they are affordable.

...and this is my BOOMSTICK!

Which brings me to the next bullet point: stealing. In real life it is wrong. I get that. In games, though, I tend to be a bit of a colossal bastard. If a game allowed me to run around swiping still-warm knickers, it might just hit my top five of all time. Unfortunately, aside from the main character’s general “tomb robber” occupation, there’s only one target for larcenous intent: this guy on the right. And he packs a shotgun (a shotgun than can be stolen, I might add). Performing any act of violence (including accidentally causing a boulder to crash through his store) or attempting to leave without paying for an item sets every shopkeeper in the game to kill on sight. This is neat. Future shops will even display a wanted poster. Where this isn’t so neat is when an additional shop keep guard shows up to block the exit with an inexhaustible supply of buckshot. This is a nice risk/reward system for people who aren’t that into paying for things, but excel at killing old men who live in caves.

The dark levels are another example of a risk/reward type situation. They create a few decisions the player must make. First, fairly obviously, the level is dark as shit. This makes it difficult to descend as it’s often impossible to spot a landing that isn’t on spikes or in the gullet of a meandering Audrey II wannabe. There is a small bubble of light around the character that extends near ambient light sources, firing a gun, or when carrying a flare. Second, the character can only carry one item at a time, making hanging onto a shotgun or bit of loot that much harder. It is possible to juggle the items, but for the love of crap just let me stick that gun in my belt for a second. Third, is the reward for these levels: Golden Scarabs. These bugs generally do a lazy job of floating away, and act as a light source. If killed, the light goes out. If collected however, they are worth mad piles of cash. So despite being a general pain, these dark levels do have some balance for those ballsy enough to hunt down all the scarabs.

Overall

There are four areas and each area has it’s own tileset, enemies, level feelings, and hazards.  The random levels and depth of interaction (a fire toad will become a regular toad in water…no kidding) provide for a ton of replayability.  That’s a fantastic thing as only the most bad ass platform ninjas will be able to beat the game in a single (or even double digit) number of plays.  The cutesy pixel art, retro sound, and Mega Man level difficulty makes the whole package feel like a lost game back from the 80s to haunt us.

Conclusion

After that flaming shithouse of a movie, Crystal Skull, this game helps me work out what my therapist terms “irrational anger issues” by letting me throw an effigy Indy onto spikes all day long. If that’s not enough to rate a download, I have one magic word: jetpack. There is a jetpack in this game.

Welcome to the Dainty Rhino Productions blog. Over the months to come, this site will be filling out with articles based on my experiences working on a multi-million dollar game project as well as lone-wolfing it as an indie game developer. If you don’t care who I am, then skip the rest of this and come back in a couple weeks for the first real article. (more…)