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Game 28: Giant Vex

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Rating: 4.4/5 (11 votes cast)

I tried and tried, but with the title of this game being what it is I just couldn’t make a game that was not this game. That being the case, you will not be getting any apologies from me – it was simply not possible to prevent this game from being itself, so I did my best to make this game the game that it wanted itself to be. So go forth and vex already.

This game’s title was provided by cp.

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Rating: 3.8/5 (6 votes cast)

This game does not even remotely resemble the turn-based tactical RPG that I suddenly realized was wildly infeasible about three hours before my deadline. Go figure.

This game’s title was provided by Nathan Wilson.

Game 26: Drawn Inward

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Rating: 4.4/5 (5 votes cast)

I knew conceptually what I wanted to do with this game, but it took me a fair amount of work to find the fun. While I had game mechanics percolating in my head, I worked on making a funky background effect for the game instead. The end result is that this is a game about a funky background effect, and also you dodge and collect stuff. So yeah.

This game’s title was provided by Nathan Wilson.

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Rating: 3.5/5 (2 votes cast)

This week’s game was a tough one to make – not the coding itself, but finding a design that felt worthy of such a groovy title. I had three or four different ideas, most of which I rejected due to either the scope of the design being too grand for a weekly game, or not having enough “gamefulness” to the idea. In the end, I went with a fairly impressionistic take on the title, a casual-ish game about flowers. Also I wrote the background music in iambic pentameter, so maybe that counts for something. Go play.

This game’s title was provided by Ben Lehman.

Game 24: add special instructions

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Rating: 4.2/5 (6 votes cast)

Well, I certainly had a cryptic title to work with this week, but I think I got something fairly decent out of it. Each level you complete adds a keyboard key to your repertoire. I deliberately diverged from my recent formula of games that are intended to be replayed for a better score; this one’s more of a lightweight game-snack than a… you know, I’m not really sure where I was going with that analogy. Anyway, have fun, and don’t forget to add special instructions. Or something.

This game’s title was provided by Chungyen Chang.

Game 23: No more spheres!

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Rating: 4.0/5 (3 votes cast)

You are the Angle of Death, come to wreak vengeance on the vile Spheres that have pervaded your world for too long now. Destroy them all, but beware of the resulting explosions. Go!

This game’s title was provided by Pierrec.

Game 22: Fifty Stars

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Rating: 4.0/5 (2 votes cast)

Short, simple and sweet. This game is dedicated to those who are independent today. Huzzah! I hereby award you Fifty Stars.

Income has been sparse lately, so I’m trying something a little unusual: people who donate to the site get to pick the titles of upcoming games. Here’s how this’ll work:

  • You make a donation through my nifty Paypal button. Use the “add special instructions” link to request a game title.
  • I will keep a chart of donations made (and corresponding titles) in the sidebar. At 11:59 PM Pacific time on Sunday, the top-ranked donation determines the title for the following week’s game, and that title gets removed from the list (moving the next one up the chart). Ties go to the earliest submission.
  • You determine the title, but I make no guarantees about how I’ll interpret it in making the game. However, chances are very good that it’ll be a substantial source of inspiration – if you want “Dragondot’s Extreme Beach Volleyball”, I’m not likely to make it a shmup.
  • This should go without saying, but: nothing spammy (“Game #N: visit www.enlarge-your-mmo-gold-in-8-weeks.com”), patently offensive (according to my own judgment), libelous, or trademark-infringing. If this happens I may, at my discretion, email you to offer you another chance to choose a title. This is something fun I’m doing to thank people for supporting my games, not a service I’m selling.
  • I will be selecting donation-titles on July 4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th. If this experiment goes well, it will continue past that point – otherwise, it’ll be back to my usual idiosyncractic naming.

Game 21: Much Worse

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Rating: 4.0/5 (1 vote cast)

Somehow you’ve gotten yourself stranded on an island surrounded by lava. Meteors are raining down upon you. All you have to defend yourself with is a limitless supply of hand grenades. Things really couldn’t get Much Worse.

Game 20: Icarace

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Rating: 4.0/5 (2 votes cast)

This is another experiment with one-button controls. In designing and tuning this game, I found myself trying to strike a balance between “fun” and “thought-provoking”. In the end, it came down to a single variable I could adjust, and I went with a middle ground between game-as-game and game-as-artistic-statement. Hopefully it still works as both; as always, I’d love to hear your opinion in the comments. If there’s enough of a consensus one way or the other I may end up adjusting the aforementioned variable just to mess with you guys. :P

This game is dedicated to the people who bother to read these posts. (Yes, you!) Go play Icarace!

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