Indie Illuminator – Discover Play Share

While we occasionally cover indie game favorites in this blog, today I’d love to highlight a dedicated indie game review site: Discover Play Share. The website’s tagline is “light, digestible (indie) game reviews,” and I think they execute that idea to perfection. I admire a well-organized but excruciatingly exhaustive review that extensively covers all the minutiae of a game. But I also love a simple, succinct review. That's exactly what Discover Play Share offers.

Screen cap from the Discover Play Share review section.

In each game review, you’ll generally find (quick-as-a) bullet-point lists of likes and dislikes, gameplay screenshots, a breakdown of cost and hours of amusement provided, as well as a “final word” section that provides a few insightful paragraphs on the game. At the end of the review, Discover Play Share offers a simple yes or no recommendation instead of a traditional 1-10 rating system. From what I’ve seen, most of the games reviewed are also recommended, so it’s probably a good idea to at least glance through the other parts of the review. And that’s exactly why their “light and digestible” format works so well—I think it encourages the reader to not simply rely on an inadequate numerical rating by keeping the rest of the review easy to scan through.

I also appreciate the unique, colorful layout of the website, and you can tell the designer built the site with mobile users in mind. If you have a moment, pull out your smart phone and check out the current reviews on Discover Play Share—you’ll likely find some sweet games you haven’t heard of, and who knows…you might just find one of my own reviews on there some day.

Dev Take Tuesday - Webs and Layers

Well-written characters, much like onions and ogres, have layers. When making characters for a book, film, or video game it’s easy to settle on one key motivation for that character. But a character with one or two extra layers of motivation really starts to come to life. I saw a great example of this recently in the latest reboot of everyone’s favorite neighborhood web-slinger, Spider-Man: Homecoming. The film does many things well, but it was villain Adrian Toomes (a.k.a. the Vulture) that stood out to me. Of course actor Michael Keaton deserves some of the praise for excelling in the role, but I think the Vulture was a great villain because the writers decided to add one additional layer.

Concept Art (Image found on Screen Rant)

The Vulture could easily have been a simple reboot of a previous Spider-Man movie villain: the Sandman. (I’ve also heard that villain-turned-hero Deadeye in Suicide Squad fits this bill.) Both characters talk about needing to make money for their family, and prompt some measure of sympathy from the audience as a result. While a desperate need for money is a reasonable motivation for villainy, that motivation lacks depth. It will work, and the audience will feel some sympathy, but the story likely won’t go anywhere new.

Fortunately, Spider-Man: Homecoming provides an extra layer to the Vulture. Yes, after striking out on a somewhat risky business venture, Adrian Toomes definitely needs to find a way to help provide for his family. But why not turn to a less dangerous and unpleasant job than making and selling deadly weapons to criminals? The Vulture explains that part of his motivation is fueled by his hatred for the government—they callously ruined him when they appropriated his alien salvage, and the consequence in his mind was to return that callousness. I’m sure in Adrian’s mind he’s a less idealistic Robin Hood, stealing from the heartless “big guy” to benefit others (as well as himself).

 I’m glad that Adrian’s antagonism went beyond one simple motivation. More than any other Marvel movie villain so far, the Vulture kept me thinking as I drove home from the movie theater. I think it’s important to note that these extra layers don’t always need to absolve the antagonist of any crimes—I think Adrian Toomes was a clear villain who showed little remorse for how his selfishness might affect the innocent. But his character complexity certainly added some oomph to the storytelling in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and it’s something I’ll keep in mind as I write villains in Alkanaur and any future games.

Indie Illuminator - Crashnauts

Some games make great thematic decisions, and others make great mechanical decisions. The best games do both. Locally-developed indie game Crashnauts, now available on Steam Early Access, seems to be a game built around one choice that is clever both thematically and mechanically: what if your respawn were another weapon in your arsenal?

Screenshot of Crashnauts (found on the official website)

Any shooter or arena game that isn’t a simple sudden death match will involve some sort of respawn. Most respawns just boringly drop you back into the game a few seconds after your death. But Crashnauts doesn’t drop you back on to the playing field—it hurtles you down to the playing field with crushing force. After dying, players get a targeting laser that lets them aim exactly where they’ll respawn. If they crash on top of another player, they get an instant kill.

If you enjoy fast-paced arena shooters like Quake or Unreal Tournament, or if you’ve spent way too much time (like me) playing arena fighting games such as Super Smash Brothers or Rivals of Aether, Crashnauts might be up your alley. The game is still growing in its Early Access mode, so you can check it out here if you want to add it to your Steam Wishlist or give it a try right away.

Fatespinner and the Illusion of Choice

I’m a big Hearthstone fan, and I’m excited for the digital card game’s next expansion, Knights of the Frozen Throne. With every expansion comes the exhilarating and antagonizing slow drip of released and/or leaked cards. It’s difficult and even foolhardy to try and determine any given card’s full impact before every card in the set is revealed, but that doesn’t stop many people—including me—from trying. One recently released card generated quite a bit of discussion: Fatespinner.

Fatespinner features a brand new take on the common “Deathrattle” game mechanic, which means that something happens when the summoned minion dies. In Fatespinner’s case, the player secretly chooses from one of two effects: making all minions—both you and your opponent’s—stronger or dealing damage to all minions in play. At first glance, this seems to offer a fun choice for whoever plays the minion as well as an intriguing guessing game for the opposing player. Sadly, I doubt that Fatespinner will live up to its promise.

One oft-mentioned aspect of game design is the idea of “illusion of choice.” As renowned designer Sid Meier famously stated, a game is a series of interesting decisions. If a player starts to realize that their choices don’t actually matter that much, the game loses some of its sparkle. The illusion of choice might be hollow narrative decisions that don’t actually affect the story in any way. Illusion of choice can also refer to “cinematic” game moments that remove most of the control of the player, leaving only a shell of actual interactivity. But Fatespinner reminded me of one important example of illusion of choice: when one decision is always (or nearly always) the correct choice.

When the player chooses the secret Deathrattle effect for Fatespinner, the decision really only relies on the current “board state,” the number of minions each player has. If the opponent has more minions they’ll choose to damage all minions, but if the player has more minions they will choose to strengthen all minions. In turn, most opponents will realize what the “secret” is right away because the binary decision requires extremely clear information visible to both players. This card could certainly invoke attempts at bluffing, but in practice I think the downside to a lost bluff is far too great in comparison to the benefit from making the more obvious correct choice.

I might be wrong. I hope I’m wrong. Regardless, I think it’s helpful as a designer to break down any intriguing decision in a game and examine if the choice offered is illusory in nature. If it is, I like to think about how the decision could be improved. I think that the idea of a secret Deathrattle is a wonderful game mechanic to add to Hearthstone, but I’d like to see future cards present choices that aren’t so symmetrically opposed (two decisions with completely opposite effects but in the same vein of gameplay). I believe those types of choices will make the game more interesting for both the player and the opponent. It’s also something I’ll make sure to keep in mind with any binary choices presented in our game, Alkanaur. 

Indie Illuminator – 2 Utah 4 U

Cheesy title? You bet. But I hope you’ll allow a groan-worthy title in exchange for two incredible indie illuminations in this week’s post. I’ll be attending Salt Lake Gaming Con next week as a spectator and gamer, but last year Robby and I had the opportunity to show off Alkanaur as developers. We exhibited our demo alongside several other fantastic indie dev teams in Utah, all belonging to a group called the Utah Games Guild.  I’d like to highlight two games from that group of Utah-based developers, both of which are on Steam and on sale as part of Steam’s annual summer shenanigans.

Screenshot found on We Need to Go Deeper's Steam page

The first game is We Need to Go Deeper by Deli Interactive LLC. Do you like Jules Verne? Do you love odd characters in odder outfits? Do you enjoy yelling at your friends as they fail to keep your submarine from sinking? If you do, I’d take a look at We Need to Go Deeper—currently in Early Access on Steam. The gameplay features cooperative play, procedurally-generated environments for replay value, and a fun, hand-drawn art style. 2-4 players frantically run from one task to another inside a submarine, using tools to fight off monstrous sea creatures and keep the submarine from sinking. My wife and I played a round together at last year’s SLGC and had a great time. You can pick it up for $6.49 right now with the current Steam sale.

Screenshot found on Legacy of the Elder Star's Steam page

The second game is Legacy of the Elder Star by Kickbomb Entertainment LLC. I was able to speak with both Kickbomb Entertainment’s lead designer and artist at length last summer, and they taught me a lot about the local indie games scene. But that wasn’t the first time I encountered Legacy of the Elder Star. I remember walking by a demo exhibition of this game two years ago and being blown away by the fun graphics and superb sound design. Legacy of the Elder Star is a fast-paced SHMUP (Shoot ‘em up) that features a unique, elegant control scheme: everything your character does is controlled by your mouse. If that interests you, checkout their Steam page where you can buy the game on sale until July 5^th for $2.49.

Dev Take Tuesday - Wonder Woman

My wife and I went to see Wonder Woman the week it came out, and we loved the film. I immediately knew I wanted to write a Dev Take post on the movie, but I wasn’t sure about what angle I’d go with. The more I reflect on the film, the more I’m drawn to that pivotal moment when Diana climbs out of the trench and enters No Man’s Land. The filmmakers didn’t hesitate to highlight this scene in multiple ways. (Note: I’ve only seen the movie once, so I apologize in advance if I got any details wrong.)

Image found on Entertainment Weekly

First, the film waits to incorporate Wonder Woman’s forceful, electric cello musical theme—first heard in the Batman vs Superman movie—until this moment, when Diana chooses to truly become Wonder Woman. Second, the lighting and color suddenly change as Diana lifts herself into No Man’s Land. She’s still surrounded by the muted, mostly grey color palette but the color of her uniform is bright, contrasting against the darkness and “moral grey” around her. Last, the narrative choice of her entering a place literally called “No Man’s Land” emphasizes a key theme of the movie: her outsider status as both a woman and a stranger to all of mankind.

Each of those decisions probably merits its own blog post, but the takeaway I ultimately garnered from all this is to do everything I can to boost the pivotal moments in my games and my games’ narratives. I’m sure it’s possible to oversell those moments, but I think it’s much easier to undersell them. As game designers we have a lot of tools at our disposal. We utilize many of the same tools as film, but we also add player interaction and game mechanics to our toolkit. In Alkanaur and any of my future games, I plan on using all those tools to ensure a powerful emotional response to the “No Man’s Land moments” in those games.

Indie Illuminator - Longsword Tabletop Tactics

I’ve likely put more hours into Heroscape than any other board game. And one of my favorite current hobbies—apart from game dev, of course—is painting miniatures.  Longsword Tabletop Tactics incorporates elements from both! You can check out the Kickstarter campaign here.

Gameplay gif found on Longsword's Kickstarter page

While our tactics game Alkanaur shares some design roots with Heroscape, the physical “miniatures” and hex-tiled battlegrounds of Longsword absolutely invoke that feeling of picking out a team from the available units in your collection and watching the battle unfold on the table. Each player summons units or casts spells turn by turn based on their available mana, and units move, use abilities, and attack based on a flexible action point system. Based on what I’ve seen in streams, it looks like units only have a few abilities each, but those abilities vary quite a bit.

Image found on Longsword's Kickstarter Page

Developer Zero Sum Games also includes a nifty unit-painting system that gives you a chance to adjust the hues of your armies and give them a more customized feel. It seems like a fun feature that adds to the collectible nature of the game. I’m excited to follow the development of Longsword and keep tabs on its progress. If you’re interested in the game, go ahead and check out their Kickstarter page to learn more about the game’s features, monetization strategies (they want to go free-to-play), and its crowdfunding backer rewards.