Hell, these are a lot entries! approx ~467 MB for 27 GS games on one day.. I swear I never played so much GS games in one session. I made some notes for some selected games from my point of view as a casual gamer. I have to say, that some games impressed me and some frightened me A LOT. If your game doesn appear in my comments, don't flame me, ask me. Before I talk to much, I start with..
Angela's world and Halloween worm by Sven Paroth Two great Minigames with very unique gameplay elements (though, Halloween Worm is much more a clone than a unique game production). Angelas World was fascinating me for quiet a while, though, its too short. I know that Kihaku never intended to make a more complex game, but if this were an experimental game contest, it would be my first choice (compared to the other entries). Halloween worm is nice as well. I dunno, but I have "Luigi's Mansion" in my mind when I play that. The artwork is very limited, but very cool, sweet and nicely composed as well as the music (though, the menu doesnt fit). I would like to see more games or prototypes from you with a greater extend. I'm sure you will rock the community.
Bounci XDream 2 by Torsten Simon and team mate I knew this game before and, well, I like it - maybe the direct opponent of Utz Wollewutz in this contest. I think this game is great - when you are addicted to marble games (as I am). The developers showed an ingame editor which has a high value for such games and stuff.. but there are also a lot of critical things I have to mention. At first, this game is very awkward compared to Utz Wollewutz. The marble's behaviour is very sluggish, some level parts are very challenging - maybe to early in the game. I had some trouble with the camera as well - maybe you should make things translucent when the marble is behind an object. I just have to say that the environments are boring (even if they are "themed" and the demo contains only one theme) and that sound effects are completely missing (I just want to hear how the marble is rolling on different surfaces). I know that you ar eboth young and maybe this is your first finished game (or game prototype) ever, so dont be too frustrated about this - for this, this is a very good game (well, I said I like it, though).
Bloxx by Kai A. HillerIt would sort it into the category "experimental gameplay" - that is always good, but in this case it doesnt work as it is supposed to be. I had a lot of trouble to estimate the pace and the depth of objects and the paddle. Additionally, I felt cheated when objects crashed at those pipes. Ok, its good when I get a bonus. But when those "-10" objects or so crashed.. I got disappointed because this is is unfair. Nevertheless, this is a really nice gameplay idea. Unfortunately, the controls and the unsureness about estimating the objects and the paddle are making it nearly unplayable. Maybe this is the reason why the game-pace is a bit slow. If you could improve the crit-points here, you could even raise the pace!
Duck shoot by Roel SmitIts a simple game and I was a bit addicted. I played it for 15 minutes or such because I was fascinated about firing with a rocket launcher on paperboard-ducks
I swear, this is so funny - and so DUMB, I could'nt believe it. I dont know how you are thinking, but it works! Though, I recognized a lot of bugs and its very incomplete and even not _balanced_ (the time that passes till I get challenged is too long). Add maybe more levels, more "shootable" items and stuff.. and you could have a nice game.
Four little warriors by FiroballWell, this game is so old and so anticipated like no other GS game. Firoball should get a special price - it seems that it is finished in the near future - and a myth turns into glory. Unfortunately, I would give it "just" my 3rd vote. Well, the camera and the controls are really confusing me everytime I play it. The completeness and the style (its A5 and it rocks!) are really outstanding, but this only gloss. I feel a bit lost while playing the game. I think I am getting on Firo's nerves when I would tell him to do a tutorial level or such, but I'm sure he will appear at the midnight hour and will break my neck
I really like this game and I am happy that Firo finished this - but when it comes to the "fun" part and the playability degree for casual gamers I am sorry that its only my third choice.
KSBT by PilzekindThe reason why I mentioned it is that I have to extensively laugh as the stickman died.. really great. I thought this was an intro and was suprised that the game is over. Uhm, I read the manual - but I never was able to defeat the bullet. Well - this is a pretty good example how casual games should'nt be: the user should be able to play it without reading the manual. Try to bring your humor (and maybe the stickmen) into a new (casual) game with a bit more gameplay and.. a playable game.
Memowar by Torsten FockFirst, I was too lazy to read the help-screens. Why is the goal to remember the numbers? The goal is to punish the enemy (with higher "cards")! After recognizing this gameplay, I had a lot of fun while playing it, though, after finishing two rounds, I stopped playing. This is a "big" collaboration and you recognize by the high degree of artwork quality and effects. The visuals are great! Memowar would take my 2nd vote if I could vote a second time. The reason why I did not chose it as the winner was the fact the gameplay was not addictive enough. Sure, I have the ambition to remember as much numbers as I can to defeat the enemy, but the tactial opportunities are too low or even not existent. What I would like to see are special cards that allow me to select another or that give me a special property for the next round (a +2 bonus or such).. or a card that makes two or more cards change their places so that me and the computer are getting confused.
Pfeilweil by Christian MantheyWell, I had fun while testing this, because I never saw such a gameplay. Though, this game is very incomplete and poor in its extend, but if you push it, this has huge potential as well: everyone knows how to play it, you need your brain and the AI is somehow.. intelligent. Add more boards with much more tiles and maybe some weird specialevents that make the gameplay much more interesting. Add a multiplayer mode or such. I would like to see a big, finished version of this. This is a game that is a true casual game for coffee breaks or such. Rock on!
Pushbox by Olivier BurtonA very nice clone - I was always addicted by Sokoban. Though, your controls are really... exhausting. I dont understand why you just did'nt implemented an arrow-key solution with automatic turning. It seems that I have to push my keyboard to death just to bring one box into its slot. The environments are very nice, the lowpoly models and the textures are fitting each other. Well, when you nail it down, I have to apologize that even it is a funny game, its doomed by the poor controls - but even when the controls were perfect, I would miss some extras that would make the game the winner - because its just a (nice) clone.
Reploid by SpikeWell, I had to laugh when the intro was playing. Really... long... story.. full of clichés - and somehow appealing. Though the gameplay was frustrating me - the controls and the enemy behavior did'nt fit the battle-mechanics. The enemies are always shooting and the user has no real chance. The 3D aspect of the perspective made it more worser than it has to be - I wasnt able to estimate distances, depths and shooting directions. There are other games which take more benefit from this camera perspective - look at Space Harrier and you'll know what I mean.
Rolling stone by Maik GroßOne of the funniest GS games I ever played! The comicstyle fits the fun factor: when I became a rabbit and suddenly the camera rotated I laughed nearly a minute or two.. really funny. The UFO's and the big pigs.. wow - great ideas. From my POV this game prototype has a huge potential. I guess you are using fake outlining - move to cartoon shaders and seperate the game into zones and add more elements. There are other things I would mention, but I'll want to keep it short. The reason why I did'nt chose it was the reason that it is very repeatative, too short and too incomplete.
Utz Wollewutz by Ulf AckermannFinally, I voted for Utz Wollewutz. As I said previously, I am addicted to marble games and it is obvious, that your little sheep wants to ride on the Super Monkey Ball hype. So, it is outstanding, that made your own little game out of this with a complete different feeling. At the moment I would really like to sit on my chouch, playing the game on my Wii with the wiimote. Did you ever thought about that wii DLL to use it as control device? The graphics are really cool, everything fits together. And I really like that animation after you have jumped with Utz .. super-sweet! One thing which is bad is the menu.. too complicated - and (which is bad!!!!) I had to look into the manual to find out how you access the extra-Item-key. I would like to see a multiplayer mode within closed areas. I think this "sheep in a ball" topic would server for a 3D action adventure as well as for such a Super Monkey Ball-alike-game.
One thing I have to mention: nearly 95% of all games had a really ugly, not informative, too complex, too limited or not existent User Interface. I missed especially reconfigurable key-bindings, etc. So I didnt take this into my considerations.
I would like to see an experimental gameplay contest for the next time. I'm sure this would be great!
Cheers,
Christian
