Lacks both subtlety and fun.

I got through a little over 3 years in the game. Is there a point where it ends or does it continue until I die?

@Macdiver: There is an ultimate goal: Try and get back to friendly territory, where a pretty big twist awaits you...

It's worth playing farther, wait until you get the Nazooka (napalm bazooka) weapon.

Strangely addictive.

I got through part of year 4 and had to stop once bombs started dropping. It's good, but frustrating when it seems like you can go through a whole year without seeing an armor drop.

I downloaded this game a few weeks ago right before I lost internet connection for a few days...this got me through those rough times.

Fantastic game, tons of excellent touches, and I must say, struggling to the second part of the game was worth it because it gets a million times cooler (plus you unlock part 2 so you don't have to start from the beginning of part 1 every time, thank god).

I don't often recommend games to friends since many of mine aren't big gamers (certainly not "indie" gamers), but this one I passed along because of the general simplicity (it's easy to get the hang of, not easy to master) and excellent style (great music choices, graphics, sense of humor), and it got a good reception.

One issue I have is that most weapons, while cool, are fairly useless if you want to live long. The best strategy I've found is to wait for enemy backs to turn and get the drop with the pistol or just fall past them. The pistol's too good to bother with the others. Shotgun, for example, is a waste, as is the early sniper rifle since usually the only enemies you can see without being shot at are below you, through a solid object. Rocket launcher/pistol combo can't really be topped, and the rocket only because it's like C4 on steroids. Making the extra weapons stronger might encourage variety, though that does sort of happen in the second part.

But it's truly a sweet game, and I for one hope it gets more updates or a sequel.

"There's not much to it other than that, but there are lots of nice touches."

Depending on one's temperment, there's a bit more to it than just that.

"There's not much to it other than that, but there are lots of nice touches."

There's a lot more to it, I hope he submitted this to the IGF. It's great to see designers making games like this one. The gaming audience on the other hand, even the indie followers, don't see past the platformer and old school graphics, there's not much more to them than that.

If you understood what Blueberry Garden is all about, you'll understand this game too. Well done.

Guys, we can sit around and deliberate about whether or not there is 'more' to this game or not, but the fact is that most people who play it will see that it is a war game that is against war, understand the irony and then think no more. Of course, it's easy to then go on to say there is way more to the experience than that (and some people will, like yourselves), but the question is just because you guys can see more than others can, does that make them wrong?

For example xeno, you say 'If you understood what Blueberry Garden is all about'. Is BB really about anything in particular? Because from all the reviews and opinions I have read, lots of different people have lots of different opinions regarding it. So who is correct? Is ANYONE correct? Or is it what you make of the experience?

If you got 'more' out of We Want YOU then that's great, but others won't - does that make you more 'correct' than them? It's all opinion in the end :)

Got to part 2. While particularly amused by the new character I got shot by a sniper without armour. Oops.

Then I found you can start again half through

I dig the antiwar message, but I think the developers need to hone their craft before they can make something like this work.

This feels amateurish. Performance is sluggish on my machine despite the simplistic graphics and gameplay. Also, the music would cut out and then start up again randomly. Sound effects were similarly glitchy. The procedurally generated levels lack interest and the play mechanics are boring. There's little reason to have different weapons when the same strategy applies for all of them (wait for the enemy to turn away, then get behind him and shoot).

As for the antiwar message, it isn't so much integrated into the mechanics of the game as pasted on top -- literally, in the case of those news headlines.

I don't mean to sound overly negative. It's good as an early effort and I'm sure the developers have learned alot by finishing a game. Good for them, because how many wanna-be game developers never finish anything? That said, I don't think the game's flaws are excused by "artistic intention" or whatever. I hope the developers will work on raising the standards of their craftsmanship.

Let me guess, this game deletes random files from your hard drive.

@Bob: We encountered similiar music and stuttering problems during testing, it happens when the game isn't installed properly. Did you extract all the files, or just the exe?

I encourage everyone to try and survive to the second stage before judging the game, mechanics or story. The mechanics of surviving that long are what makes the game, as the posted "Play This Thing" review noted.

It's easy to play the game for a few minutes and think the message is simply "war is bad". However, although this is a game with a message its not really an anti-war message. Dig a little deeper under the surface...

i liked the game. it was fun to play, challenging, and had a decent message. though i did feel the message could be presented a little better it still did the job.

some of the music was really good. the game even has a fullscreen button (F4) which is missing in a lot of indie games.

i really like how the sniper rifle is implemented though its usefulness is sometimes questionable.

i recorded a quick pacifist run where i survived for 9 years
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BC1KiJCNSg

"Walter, he has emotional problems!"

"You mean, besides pacifism."

Have you heard of Vietnam? You are entering a world of pain.

@Mike: while the laizze faire, mass audience critical stance has its own sheath of plausible deniability and in most cases is valid, in this case the thing to pay attention to is how the meaning reveals itself. The more you choose to play, the more the game trains you to see the deeper layers of meaning. This time-release mechanism is what makes meaningful games interesting in a manner distinct from, say, DuChamp´s urinal or a weird art movie.

Donny, you are out of your element!

I really liked this game. I Thought it had potential.

holy shit, the twist is awesome, i loved it when you are over 12 years in and suddenly there are points and everything

Played it, thought not too much of it. Played again, then again, then again...noticed little details such as the gun being switched, the knife appearing when close, the subtleties of messages and its relevance of the past, present and future, if things do not change...then, bam, 2nd part happens and I am hooked. Is there an end in the 2nd half? Fantastic. Spreading game like wild fire on my end.