I've come up with the shortlist of Games from the last few years that really stood out to me and made me smile. They're all the work of small teams or even solo artists who are reclaiming the spirit of the game coders of old with shareware and freeware titles. Playing (and paying for) these titles actively supports the development of indie games and the coders that make them. And they're funner anyway.
Machinarium
The Little Adventure That Could
It has been a long time since I've been enamored with any consumable media the way I was with Machinarium. This game defines for me the essence of what makes Games enjoyable. I dare you not to fall in love with it. Made by Czech studio Amanita Design, Machinarium is one of those sleeper hit games destined for cult classic status. It was assembled on a tight budget, part of which was funded from the developers' personal savings. It was a labor of love, and it shows.
Ambiance is key in this point-and-click adventure. Every location is assembled with a rich, understated beauty - it's eye-poppingly gorgeous. I found myself stopping at many points in the game simply to appreciate the hand-sketched environments. The art is cute, detailed, loose and lovable. The soundtrack, created by Tomas Dvorak, is a perfect accompaniment to the game and a wonderful piece of listening by itself. Better yet, it is included as a separate mp3 bundle with a purchase of the game.
I hope Amanita keeps putting out wonderful games like this, and I hope you try Machinarium. You can play a no-commitment, in-browser flash demo here.
Desktop Dungeons
The Ultimate Time Waster
This game WILL kill you. Countless times. But it's such fantastic fun, you'll be starting another round with the sting of defeat fresh on the seat of your pants. It's a simple game with surprising depth - each dungeon is a randomly-generated grid filled with monsters to kill and loot to gather. You level up as you accrue more kills in the hope of being powerful enough to defeat the dungeon boss and unlock new content. Each dungeon takes about 10-20 minutes to complete, depending on the cautiousness of your approach. One poorly-reasoned attack is all it takes to bring you to a sticky end.The joy here is in the little details that are so often missing from games like this. Shrines are interspersed throughout the dungeons, allowing you to worship the deity of your choice and dedicate kills to them. Hilarity ensues as your patron god of the moment rewards you for your adherence to their particular ethic or punishes you for your failure to do so. Messages such as "A fine blow! May there be many more to follow!" or "Glowing Guardian is not interested in your battles against the weak" provide a running commentary of your exploits. The game keeps its tongue firmly in its cheek as you battle against tenacious goats and a character looking peculiarly like Super Meat Boy. You will have to rely on a fine balance of luck, judgment and flat-out number-crunching to get the most of out this game, but it's so accessible and simply fun that I would recommend it to most anyone. This is the game Minesweeper wanted to be when it grew up.
Oh, and it's free! Enjoy from http://www.desktopdungeons.net/.
Not Actually a Game...
... But rather a Super Nintendo emulator! Yes, that's right, you can play just about any SNES game you can imagine on your PC. The SNES remains the ultimate console for me. It was the zenith of a whole generation of Games, showing what was possible with platforming and, well, just about any other kind of pre-3d gaming experience. Some of the most classic iterations of consoling's best franchises are on here: Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Zelda: A Link To the Past, Streetfighter II, Mario Kart, Final Fantasy III... the list goes on. You'd be silly, really, not to grab a copy. Benefits to playing an emulation include customizable controls (it works out of the box with a USB Xbox 360 controller - a fine match), save states (meaning you can save anywhere) and not having to fiddle with ancient plugs and tv converters. Apparently you can even play with a friend online, though I haven't tried. Joy to the digital world of Gaming!
It's open-source and FREE! at http://www.zsnes.com/. Remember that you will also have to download individual games as .ROM files to actually play anything with this software. Just search for "{game of your choice} ROM" and enjoy.
Sleep Is Death
Not Your Usual Game
Wow, this Game is a good idea. Gosh, what a great idea. It's a really cool idea! It's an interactive storytelling game. One player acts as the narrator, while the other plays a character in the story. The narrator gets a complete toolset for making in-game environments and placing objects within them. You can either use the premade material bundled with the game or make your own from scratch. This capability extends into the playing of the game itself - if the narrator wants to insert a koala bear on a moment's notice and nothing suitable exists within their inventory, they can draw one on the spot. The game's low-fi, Nintendo-era, pixel-tastic graphics provide an easy and low-pressure canvas upon which to get this done. The game even includes a simple music generator to inject additional atmosphere into the drama.
If you're a bit nonplussed as to what this actually ends up looking like, check out this youtube replay. My guess is that the majority of SID games ever played quickly devolve into silly expletive-fests, BUT there remains great potential for pathos, poignancy and phanopoeia.
This game is the opus of Jason Rohrer, a one-man starving-artist independent Games developer. The title of the game was his supposed mantra during its development. That's reason enough to support this game, but he's even offering it on a donation basis ($1.75 minimum) which just makes it the square root of awesome-squared. Get it at http://sleepisdeath.net/
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Is there an independent or open-source game you've been hooked on lately? I'd love to try it. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments below.
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