Now that I’ve had chance to take stock and research in more depth the games I played at Rezzed, I’ve decided to pick out my ten favourites. Of all the indie games on the show, these appealed to me the most for a variety of reasons but I really must stress, it was a difficult choice and almost every game at the event was fun to play. If you’ve never been to Rezzed, I really cannot recommend it enough. There’s incredible games to play, developers on hand to chat to and the venue of Tobacco Dock is absolutely perfect for playing games, unlike most gaming venues that are overcrowded, sweaty mosh pits.
Kneedeep is a weird one. Not quite the weirdest I played at Rezzed, but it has a strange mix of being taken along for the ride, combined with dialogue based interaction. What I loved so much about it, besides my curiosity of the story, is the fact it all plays out on a stage. It's a really clever way of allowing the story to move from a variety of different locations quickly, while keeping play and travel quick and simple. At its heart, Kneedeep is Knee Deep is about the characters and its nuanced storytelling. I genuinly wanted to get to the bottom of what happened to the washed-up Hollywood actor who is found hanging at the beginning. Oh and before I forget, it looks fantastic as well.
I honestly thought I was on drugs when playing Plug and Play. I can't even begin to describe what I experienced, what it means, what I was supposed to do or what the games purpose is. I'd make the assumption that the game is designed to explore feelings of love and understanding but its conveied in such a way that the experience is entirely surreal. Having spent several minutes holding down my left mouse button to shit out a coin, I'm not sure whether I've reached a career high or low. A particular highlight of the game (film?) are the text exchanges you have with another on screen character, where you discuss back and forth about your affection and love for one another. It's frank, emtionally uncomfortable and brilliant.
Sub Level Zero is one of those games that's fun to play without Oculus Rift, but infinitely better with it. In the same vein as Descent, you control a space craft in a procedurally generated world. The aim is to survive and blast your way through the enemies you encounter. It's art style is wonderfully old school and your ship zips along at lightning speed. The fact you play the game across all directions gives an incredible sense of movement. Considering the game also has perma-death and appears relatively tight on resources (I quickly ran out of ammo) should keep players challenged for a long while. If you can play it oon Oculus Rift, I really cannot recommend it enough.
Despite breaking the game when I played it, SuperGlad is a cute adventure-platforming game from Coatsink Software. The reason why the game appealed to me so much is because I can picture my daughter and I playing it. The visuals are crisp and bright enough to attract anyones eyes (it actually reminds me of Parappa the Rapper), while the puzzles are pitches at just the right level that I know we could play it together and she'd be able to do some of them by herself. Even if you don't have children, the game is still a ton of fun.
For any game to scare the life out of me in the middle of the afternoon on an absolutely packed show floor, it has to be doing something right. Monstrum is a procedurally generated game that sees the player trapped on a boat while being hunted by two strange creatures. You need to find equipment and tools to fix your craft to be able to escape. It sounds simple but with Oculus Rift I was breaking out in a cold sweat in a matter of seconds and had to stop my play session early. I simply couldn't stand it, especially when being chased. What I loved (or loathed) so much about Monstrum is the fact that its premise is simple, it looks great and the audio is fantastic. The fact you cannot defend yourself against the creature and are forced to run (or hide) made the tension even worse. If you don't like sleeping or like to change your pants regularly, Monstrum is the game for you.
I think it's fair to say that there aren't enough quick and fun local multiplayer games. As someone who tries (but often fails) to go around to my brothers house for some beers, pizza and games, we've only a limited amount of local multiplayer games that we regularly play. I suspect however that Friendship Club will now be making a permanent place for itself on our shelf. As a four player shooter, the aim of the game is to kill the opposing players. The fact the game is set in a tiny arena with bullets firing and bouncing incredibly fast make it frantic, fun and hilarious. There's also lots of modifiers that you can add to the game to make play even more crazy. Why it's called Friendship Club I have no idea - you'll be swearing at/punching those friends in no time.
I don't think what Flix Interactive are doing with Eden Star is neccesarily groundbreaking because its very much in the same vein as countless other sandbox builders that are on the market. The key here however is that the harvesting and crafting systems are flexible, powerful and fun. Eden Star is the first world builder I've ever played where harvesting resources is exciting. The effects as you tear through trees, rock and folliage look incredible and it allows you in a very short space of time to gather some of what you need. As I also found out, the creatures that inhabit the world you're on are particularly fierce and pose a genuine threat. Having looked into its Steam community recently, it seems there's plenty of players who love it as much as I do and at only £14.99 for the Alpha, it's a steal.
Tri is one of those games that I instantly fell in love with. Besides looking beautiful, its concept is so simple that it's impossible not to adore the game. As a first person, 3D puzzle exploration adventure platformer (that's a mouthful) the player has to locate mystical statues using a variety of powers, including the ability to conjure triangles. By painting three lines anywhere, you're then able to walk on the triangles to progress to areas that were once unreachable. The puzzles themselves are relatively tricky and quick placement of triangles is key, especially if you're trying to travel vertically (harder than you think). With the need to reflect light-rays and lazers in later parts of the games, while still trying to find statues, the game sets a good challenge. Easily one of my favourite games of the show.
Cadence is a beautifully simple generative audio puzzle game that requires the player to connect nodes in order to create loops of music. While the first few puzzles start relatively easy, the game becomes much more difficult when you realise it's played across three dimensions and when various nodes serve a variety of purposes. I got stuck relatively early on and my brain simply couldn't work out how to successfully clear the level. Despite that, I really can't recommend it enough. The audio loops sound incredible and the accompanying visuals are perfect.
I'll freely admit that I'm terrible at platform games but I actually found I managed quite well on Poncho. As a sidescrolling open world puzzle platformer, Poncho breaks the mould by allowing you to travel across 3D parallax layers. What that effectively means is the game is layers, with the player having the ability to move backwards and forwards into the screen. It's incredibly clever and leads to some brilliant ways in which you're forced to navigate terrain or overcome puzzles. It takes a little getting used to, zipping back and forth across the layers, but I'm amazed it's taken this long for someone to do something more with sidescrolling adventures.
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