The Indie Web
3.8.2020 art

Photos in photos in photos. This game is coming along great!

Game developer and student Matt Stark has come up with a simple idea that is expanding day by day into a really cool, conceptually mind-bending game.

At its core, the idea is that each picture you take with your camera contains a world within it. You can then place the photograph within your view… and step right into that world!

Are there more details?
2.13.2020 itch

It hurts to play, but you'll keep on coming back.

This game appeals to me on one big and mighty level… I like a game that makes me suffer.

It will shoot a deep painful ache right into your human existence, one jump at a time.

The appropriately named Leg Breaker is a game for Mac, Linux, and Windows… a platformer, like so many before it. The catch being, in each level, you can only jump twice.

When you jump, your leg breaks. When you jump again… well, your other leg breaks. At that point, you’re left crawling upon the ground in a stumbling mess. Which you may actually want, depending on the puzzle.

Show me how it goes?
2.13.2020 vue open-source

Are you the best, that's ever been, like no one was before?

At this point in our lives Pokémon is, and will always be, one of the best-selling and most popular games in existance… but everyone’s attention fades with time. Still, a huge community of people continue to stick with the game and follow it through its many stages.

For me, I fell off in the last few years… BUT, that doesn’t make this amazing quiz, Pokémon Master, any less interesting and fun.

The idea is simple. If you’ve ever played the beloved “WHO’S THAT POKÉMON” game, well then you know all the rules. See the Pokémon. Guess the Pokémon. There’s added complexity in that, although the Pokémon isn’t shaded as a silhouette, it could literally be any Pokémon ever — not just the easy to guess ones.

And the tech?
1.18.2020 art meditative

This game is calming, super fun, & addictive all wrapped in one.

Falling sand games have been around for a long time (as early as 2005, according to the Wikipedia). They provide a canvas for artful exploration, creativity, and are just all-round relaxing fun.

SandSpiel by Max Bittker is no exception. It’s a fantastic sand simulation combining a lot of great elements from the originals, from the base sand and water, through to lava, wood, fungus, and ice.

The aim of the game is to create. Pouring water and seeds onto the ground will result in plants and flowers blooming. Drop some lava onto it and it all goes up into smoke.

People are really getting creative with this… it’s well worth your time to drop into the gallery and browse the creations!

Now, I’m a little late writing about this (it was released in late 2018), but it was too fun not to share. Max has also written up a great “making of” article, digging into the inspirations, aspirations, and more.

I love this and want more!
1.15.2020 games

Who would have thought trying to guess words in a dictionary could be fun?

I love a game with a simple premise, and Guess my Word doesn’t get any simpler.

Every day comes with a new word, and the rules are simple. You are trying to guess the word (a surprise, I know). When you guess a word you will be told whether it is alphabetically above or below the goal word.

The real fun is when you start narrowing in on the word, and suddenly you’re pressing your brain to find out what other words could possibly be between aardvark and aargh.

Don’t worry though, you’ll get it in the end. It’s actually kind of amazing how your brain begins to eek out words that you haven’t thought of in years.

Can I compete with my friends?
1.10.2020 art games generative

“Please, Touch the Artwork” brings more puzzling to abstract art.

Belgian game studio, creatively named Studio Waterzooi, have been hard at work on their first title: Please, Touch the Artwork.

Slated for release on iOS, The Google Play store, itch.io, and more.

I have to say, it looks like a wonderful combination of abstract art and a calming, zen gameplay with some puzzling twists.

Looking at the trailer, we can see that every piece of the game, right down to the minimalistic main character, has been inspired by different pieces of art.

Is it out yet?

Real time ascii rendering in a gameplay demo? Yes please.

Ascii art and imagery have been around for a long time. This silky smooth demo really shows off how nice an ascii world rendered in real-time could look.

I mean, just look at the water, it’s completely mesmerizing.

The amazing creator, MrGumix on Twitter, has a feed full of great videos and demos showing off some beautiful gameplay, as well as some great callouts to other Ascii based games.

You can play the demo, Asciicker here. It’s fairly simplistic gameplay wise, but at the same time shows off what can be a beautifully complex world. And for an added bonus, it runs fairly smoothly on your phone.

How is it so quick?