Lost in Ruins

Ruins, a free indie game by Jake Elliott of Cardboard Computer, is about many things---music, life, aging, relationships, dreams, art---all told through the perspective of a dog chasing rabbits in a dream. Best described as an "art game," Ruins is all about branching dialogue; the "story" shapes itself depending on how you respond in conversations. Respond with tired cynicism and the story becomes pessimistic; talk about things in your environment and the game explores those metaphors. You'll uncover different pieces of dialogue, depending on what you do, which makes the premise very intriguing as you start to figure out what's going on. All in all, Ruins is a delightful experience that you should consider checking out. More of my critique after the jump.

Console Commands: The Gateway Drug

The developer's console is a great tool that allows you to play around with game mechanics. You can activate cheats like "god mode," manipulate settings in the environment like gravity, adjust your stats, or even fix broken content like a glitched NPC. It's fun just because it empowers you to control the game more. However, it still amounts to cheating in most cases, and isn't something that's really recommended on a first playthrough unless it's really essential. Because once you start using it for one, specific purpose, you can't stop yourself from fiddling with everything else.

New Periodical: Great Games You Never Played

There are a lot of great games out there. You've probably played many of them. But there are a lot of great games that you probably didn't play, likely because you never heard of them or because they just weren't that popular. These games didn't sell well because the concept was too weird, or because of poor marketing, or because they were overshadowed by a mega-hit from an industry giant. But some of these games were truly excellent gaming experiences.

So this periodical will be something of a retrospective, digging up obscure games that deserve some attention, and describing what makes them worth playing. In most cases, these games offer unique gameplay that you just can't find in the popular mainstream hits. The games won't be too obscure, mind you---some games we never played for a good reason. These will be the good ones that you might want to consider actually playing, even today. Every so often I'll write about new game, so keep your eyes open.

suteF is Pretty dooG

suteF is a free indie puzzle game that has a lot going for it. It's dark and weird, and the puzzles are very well designed. You play as a little blue man whose main objective is to reach the static-screened monitor in most of the levels, which must be done by flipping switches, pushing boxes, jumping onto ledges, and by utilizing gravity-inverters, screen wrap-around effects, and your grappling hook. All while avoiding certain death from laser beams and other nefarious obstacles. 

The puzzles are generally clever and challenging. The solutions aren't always obvious, which makes it satisfying to beat a stage and progress to the next one. Gravity-inversion isn't one of the most original concepts in a game, but the other unique elements of suteF keep it feeling fresh. On top of everything else, the atmosphere and general premise is enough to be intriguing with retaining some subtlety. It's worth a playthrough, certainly. You can get it here. 

Video Games in TV: Stargate SG-1

"Some TV shows just don't get it." Part of a periodical series: Video Games in TV.

This season eight episode "Avatar" is yet another one of those all-too-common "trapped in a virtual reality video game" deals, but with a unique "Groundhog Day" twist. As Teal'c tries to stop a bridge security threat to beat the game, the game adjusts by adding new twists. Teal'c inevitably fails, restarting the game each time armed with new knowledge of what lies ahead, but the game is always one step ahead of him.

"Avatar" is a very self-contradicting episode. It doesn't do much to offend me as a gamer, but it doesn't make a lot of sense. The premise of the game, how it works, and how they finally beat the system are all too contrived to feel plausible for what is supposed to be a virtual reality training simulator.

Good Indie Games Need a Good Hook

The hook is possibly the most important part of any game, because that's what determines if a player will continue playing past the introduction. The hook is supposed to intrigue the player with the premise, give him a sense of goals and directions, and set the stage for things to come. Above all, the pointy end of the hook is supposed to be the lure that compels you to keep playing this game, when you could be doing something else.

All games need to have a good hook, but I've found that it's especially true for these free indie games just because there are so many of them out there, and you haven't invested any money to justify your time with them. For examples of good hooks and further explanation, continue reading the full article after the jump.

Saving the Company is Hard Work

Saving the Company is a free indie flash game on Kongregate. The company is going under. You have one objective: save the company. Your objective is simple: break into a castle filled with random traps for no reason whatsoever and steal the treasure in the last room after defeating the boss and bring it back to save the company and stuff like that. These are the actual words of your character, who seems like he just wanted an excuse to play a video game. Sadly, you are not Boba Fett.

The gameplay is essentially a platformer/puzzler. You enter a castle and go through a series of rooms, each with some task to complete before progressing to the next room. Some of these are more traditional platforming tasks (avoid the spikes, avoid the lava, stay out of the dark spots), while others are a little more puzzley. The puzzles tend to be a riddle of sorts, some of which are fairly meta and require you to do things with your computer interface, instead of the game, specifically. So it's a fun, free way to spend a few minutes of your time. Play it here.