Article: My Ten IGF 2010 Picks
Before I begin listing some of my personal favorites from this year's IGF competition, I should point out that the first round judging period is already over and my opinions stated here won't be an influence to any of the other IGF judges. I don't know which games made it into the finals. This article isn't supposed to be a prediction of any sort, and maybe none of them will make it as finalists either.
I do a bit of judging work for the IGF, and every year I try to play as many games as I possibly can from both main and student IGF competitions (as long as Windows builds were made available). Besides Brian Crecente, I don't know if anyone had posted about their personal IGF favorites, so I'm doing a list of ten games from the competition that I kind of like more than the rest. If any of these games make it to the finals, you too will get to play them at GDC next March.
I might write about the student entries, but I'm not really sure about that yet. And yes, a lot of good games were left out of this list. Which IGF entries this year were you most looking forward to?
1. Cogs (Lazy 8 Studios)
I doubt many people played the game because, well, Cogs is about sliding tiles around. Not a description that would get people clicking the download button immediately. But consider this: there's nothing better than catching the legendary Alexey Pajitnov (creator of Tetris) playing and enjoying your game at E3. (IGF page)
2. Limbo (Playdead)
Think of it as Heart of Darkness meets Ico. I'm not a big fan of games that employ silhouettes for graphics, but there is enough to play in the submitted build that shows the team is serious about not disappointing any of their fans who had waited two years for news about Limbo. (IGF page)
3. Owlboy (D-Pad Studio)
I know. Looks absolutely gorgeous, right? Doesn't seem to be much progress on the development front for Owlboy at the moment, but GDC couldn still turn things around for them. Here's hoping. (IGF page)
4. Resonance (xii games)
If I remember correctly, the AGS games submitted to the IGF this year are: Puzzle Bots, The Blackwell Convergence, Resonance, Boryokudan Rue and Ulitsa Dimitrova. Surprisingly enough, they're all pretty good. (IGF page)
5. Space Phallus (Charlie's Games)
One word: Nuovo. (IGF page)
6. Star Guard (Sparky)
I've tried to speed run this platform game as a personal challenge more times than I cared to count. For that reason alone it surely deserves a place on this list. (IGF page)
7. Super Meat Boy (Edmund McMillen, Tommy Refenes)
Let's just call Meat Boy the official mascot of indie games and move on to the next one, shall we? (IGF page)
8. Trauma (Krystian Majewski)
Mike posted about this some time back, and I was kind of skeptical about games that uses photos for in-game graphics, but after spending some time playing it I can say that it will surprise a few people if given a chance. I'm glad I did. (IGF page)
9. Vessel (Strange Loop Games)
I made this list just so I could write about Vessel. No clue as to why the development team did not release any media yet, but playing their IGF submission sure gave me the same goosebumps that Braid did. There are some really creative puzzles and challenges in this game. If only they could get David Hellman to work on the art! (IGF page)
10. VVVVVV (Terry Cavanagh)
VVVVVVery good indeed. (IGF page)
Also, I want to give one special mention to:
About a Blob (DrinkBox Studios Inc.)
Now, being an old-timer myself, I'm not exactly fond of cartoony-style graphics in games. And I wouldn't want to be caught playing something that was made for 'audiences of all ages'. But About a Blob actually has fun gameplay underneath all that cute exterior.
If you imagine Gish as an easier game with a more colourful setting, then you have a pretty good idea of how About a Blob plays. (IGF page)
Comments
There are two things that come to mind when I think of Vessel.
The first one is that I would probably not have played Vessel if it hadn't been on my assigned IGF list. The second one is that - despite cursing at the game's rough edges - it's one of the games I remember strongest after playing a lot of IGF games.
I just hope they do something dramatic to the artwork, and get rid of some control issues (WASD+Mouse is not necessary to be able to aim in the game).
Posted by: jeb | December 16, 2009 8:25 PM
Limbo lives? That's unexpected news..
Posted by: MisterX | December 16, 2009 8:42 PM
I remember hearing about Limbo, like, a really long time ago. I forgot its name at least two years back.
So it's great to see that familiar silhouette awesomeness back again. I'm just sad that And Yet It Moves beat them to what looks like it may be the gameplay, because the aesthetic is great.
Posted by: David | December 16, 2009 9:23 PM
no space spy?
Posted by: fuzz | December 16, 2009 11:47 PM
I'm screwed!
Posted by: konjak | December 17, 2009 3:21 AM
You guys are awesome for including VVVVVV on your list. If there's any justice in the world Terry will win this IGF, VVVVVV is the most fun I've had with a game in a really long time. And it couldn't happen to a nicer guy either.
Posted by: TheDustin | December 17, 2009 7:33 AM
Oh btw Tim, did you try Rocketbirds? If not, I recommend you to give it a go.
Posted by: jeb | December 17, 2009 8:30 AM
My next game definitely needs to be a platformer, instead of something really different that is hard to draw an audience for (seemingly). =(
Posted by: Jonathan DeLong | December 17, 2009 8:50 AM
I don't know if that's a good direction though, since it's quite obvious the platformer genre is already at a point of saturation.
And Cogs is a... puzzle game, I think? ;)
Posted by: Tim | December 17, 2009 9:00 AM
Perhaps, but people like and are comfortable with what they know, and everyone knows platformers ;).
Posted by: Jonathan DeLong | December 17, 2009 9:37 AM
That's true. Although I made it a point to pick games that aren't just vanilla-type "collect the coin" platformers.
If we distill everything down to a science, Braid is essentially a platformer too. :)
Posted by: Tim | December 17, 2009 9:43 AM
No doubt, no doubt. But Braid just has that certain charm (and looking really sweet helps too :P). If you can make a fun platformer, you can still be successful with it. Anyway, I'm so anxious to see the finalists for the IGF this year. These 2+ weeks of waiting are going to kill me! (even though I doubt we will make it in)
Posted by: Jonathan DeLong | December 17, 2009 10:11 AM
It's good to see Limbo is back in production. I've been seeing screenshots of that game for years now...
Posted by: jrjellybeans | December 17, 2009 5:34 PM
I really wish Vessel would run at a decent rate on my computer :(
Posted by: raigan | December 17, 2009 6:21 PM
what are you guys talking about 78641 and space spy are going to win it all
Posted by: strong | December 17, 2009 8:56 PM
Nuts and dick aren't really nuovo to video game...
This list is so sad for the talented artists that never get covered.
300 games and we nearly only talk about the one that already win in some ways.
Posted by: Doug | December 18, 2009 9:46 AM
Lovin Vessel.
Posted by: Mik | January 8, 2010 3:41 AM