Here's my list of the top games to play at
IndieCade 2012
Here's the
full list of games
The Metagame
Here's my
review
of the game, I'm glad it's going to be at Indie, I can't wait to see the debates.
The Metagame is a card game about cultural debate. The original videogame edition and the more recent culture edition are simple to learn and play with small groups of friends or with hundreds at a party or event. In the Metagame, you make comparisons between two content cards. Which tells a better story: Passage or Uncharted 2? Which is more complex: Naked Lunch or the World Trade Center? The Metagame is not a single game or a single set of rules. Like a traditional deck of cards, it’s an open game system enabling a wide variety of games for different settings and play styles. We have designed several parlor-style games (listed in the rulebook) and players have developed their own variations and shared them in the online Metagame forums.
Guacamelee!
I was happy to see this announced as well, from the same people who gave us Mutant Blobs Attacks, Drinkbox Studios might have a new hit based on Luchadore Mexican Wrestling.
Guacamelee! is a Metroid-vania style action-platformer set in a magical Mexican inspired world. The game draws its inspiration from traditional Mexican culture and folklore, and features many interesting and unique characters. Guacamelee builds upon the classic open-world Metroid-vania style of games, by adding a strong melee combat component, a new dimension switching mechanic, and cooperative same-screen multiplayer for the entire story. The game also blurs the boundaries between combat and platforming by making many of the moves useful and necessary for both of these.
Cards Against Humanity
Cards Against Humanity is a party game for horrible people.
I might have a review out by the time this is up, but this is already one of the best part games to get.
Zombie Yoga
Fight Zombies. Do Yoga.
Hit Me!
Hit Me! is a two-player hyper-interactive, physical game that tests speed, agility and the ability to take good snapshots. Utilizing wireless technology and incorporating the concept of the metagame, Hit Me! encourages face-to-face real-world interactions, not only by the players but also by the spectators. The object of the game is to hit the opponent’s button on top of the head. Once a hit is made, the hitter’s camera takes a snapshot of the victim. The hitter receives a point for the hit, and up to 2 additional points can be awarded by the Judge based on the quality of the snapshot. The snapshots, points and times are projected on a wall for spectators to observe.
Field Frogger
One player is selected as Frogger, the lovable frog that is desperate to go home (again and again and again...). That player must sit on a giant bouncing ball and hop over the highway, over the river, and successfully land within one of the five safe zones within a short period of time. Other Froggers must land in unoccupied spaces in order to win and advance to a new level of difficulty. The highway is five lanes of doom and destruction! Each lane has between 1 and 3 "cars" (played by performing-players) that try to run down Frogger by only making forward progress to a synchronized beat. If tagged, Frogger loses a life and is out of the game. Once over the highway, Frogger must cross the river by staying on the five lanes of logs and turtles (indicated by performing-players with props). Should Frogger fail to stay in the safe areas, Frogger loses a life is out of the game! The final test is for Frogger to jump into one of the five safe zones beyond the final swamp lane. Each zone can only be used once during a round - and already used zones can mean death for Frogger. Beyond round 1, Frogger will encounter snakes, otters, and crocodiles that will present new peril along the way, in addition to more cars and less logs!
Tengami
Set in Japan of ancient dark fairy tales, Tengami is an explorative adventure game full of wonder and mystery. Players explore a beautifully paper architected pop-up world that folds and unfolds at your fingertips to solve puzzles and make progress. Tengami has a striking minimalistic art style inspired by traditional Japanese arts and crafts. In keeping with the visual aesthetic, the design of Tengami eschews many traditional game elements in favour of a contemplative experience focusing on the playfulness and possibilities that a pop-up world presents.
A Closed World
Have you ever been so frustrated, so fed up with where you are, that you just want to throw it all away and run off to somewhere new? In A Closed World you play as a young person who has decided to do exactly that. This console RPG-like game puts you in the shoes of a young resident of a village just outside a forest that everyone says is a place of no return. Supposedly home to hungering demons and a beast that would destroy the village, the forest is forbidden and nobody knows what's on the other side. However, our hero's beloved -- tired of the oppressive attitude of the villagers -- decided to go there, as anywhere would be better than home. Now it's your turn to follow after. Are you willing to risk everything to find out what's on the other side?
Super Hexagon
Super Hexagon is a minimal action game by Terry Cavanagh, with music by Chipzel.
Pickpocket Junction
Pickpocket Junction is the game where you loot and commute. You’re a sticky-fingered thief riding home after a successful day of stealing from suckers. Trouble is, your pockets are bulging with loot and everyone else in your train car is a pickpocket also: how will you make it to your stop without being the next mark? Players wear specially prepared trench coats with Velcro linings and take turns stealing treasures from each other, but each treasure’s value is hidden until you pick it from your opponent’s pocket. If your pockets are full, you can stop stealing, get off the train, and walk home, but the neighborhood stinks so you might not make it back with all your lucre. Part memory, part math, part role-play, Pickpocket Junction is so much fun it ought to be criminal.
Mushroom 11
Mushroom 11 is a post-apocalyptic puzzle-platformer with unique control
mechanics. Guide a mysterious amorphic organism across brain-twisting
obstacles, overcome swarms of bizarre mutated creatures, and understand
the true nature of the devastation from which you emerged. This project
was created in one weekend as part of the NYU Global Game Jam 2012
event, and picked up the Best Game Design award
Hero Complex, considered by some one of the best fan sites for LA has forever changed. Geoff Boucher is now a Senior Writer for Entertainment Weekly, his baby Hero Complex is now in the hands of Gina McIntyre.
