Games I've Been Playing Recently
I like trying out "unique" experiences. I fully subscribe to the notion that a boring experience is worse than an objectively bad one, and while this doesn't mean I go out chasing hurricanes and diving off of skyscrapers, I try to look for the more experimental experiences in my day-to-day life. Minor things here and there: trying out new businesses I haven't been to before, cooking meals I've never tried before and barely know how to do now, and trying out games that look nothing like the stuff I usually play.
Not that I have too much of a choice in that last one, unfortunately; almost every book I read on game design says that you don't really get the privilege of picking and choosing if you want to truly understand how to make a good game. You need to know what makes a good game good, but also what makes a bad game bad - What ideas work, which compliment eachother, violently clash, or awkwardly tango. So, as a result - I've been playing a lot of different games. Not as much as I'd like due to my degree coming in the way, but plenty.
...I don't really have a segue here, so without further ado, here's some games I've been playing recently along with some thoughts regarding what they do and don't do well.
The game that actually made me want to write this blogpost is a game I saw an article about on Game Developer1 late last night. It had a nice visual style and promised to fill the deckbuilder-shaped hole left in my heart ever since the online mode of Ascension died off, so off of that first impression, I impulsively downloaded Balatro and started a new run. I stayed awake until midnight playing it, rebooting the game the instant I got out of bed.
There's something really, really charming about this game. While I don't see myself playing this game years into the future or deeply theorycrafting potential strategies, I enjoy how simple it is for what it does. Many other roguelikes have a serious issue with feature bloat - they cram in twenty types of status effects, one billion items and forced synergies, unique interactions, spritework, etc, to the point where it becomes a monumental task to figure out what you're even doing at first. This game is the opposite of that - it builds off of ideas that time-tested card games have proved work for millenia, and all of its mechanics are straightforward. It has addition, multiplication, and the standard deck of cards you can find in any house. You can teach this game in a minute and play it for dozens of hours, which is my mark of a well made game.
It came out four days ago and has been selling like hotcakes. Kudos to the developers.
Now on the complete opposite end of the praise scale, we have Cruelty Squad. Now I want to be completely clear - I think this also is a very unique and well-designed game. It's evident that every part of this game was intentionally crafted by the developer to bring you a very specific experience that they wanted you to partake in. Unfortunately, that experience is "cerebral hemorrhage."
This game is an assault to the senses: The sound effects sound like they were recorded in a taco bell bathroom. The models look like what PS1 models look like if you're having a really bad trip. The mechanics are made to make you regret ever picking up a mouse. The game's nihilistic messaging would make Nietzsche himself concerned for the developer's sanity. And it's all intentional.
Looking at the game's reviews it's evident that a lot of people had fun with this, and good for them. But I could only tolerate about 20 minutes before asking for a refund and taking a cold shower to clean off the grime.
Thankfully Postal: Brain Damaged seems to be "Cruelty Squad: Lite", so the insanity is tame enough that I can stomach playing it for long stretches. Unfortunately the level design seems to be a little less cohesive. Not much to say about it frankly, it's decent.
I found the game Evil Cult through the steam recommendation algorithm, and honestly I'm really glad I did. It's a lesser known game that has a lot of rough edges, but I think served as a great learning tool for me to know what I may have taken for granted while playing bigger, better games. It's a neat little strategy game where your goal is to have your evil cult take over the world and bring back the old gods. An interesting premise, to be sure, but that's pretty much all it has going for it.
Now, this game isn't outrageously bad, there's a lot to like here. However, I think the game's main failing is a lack of anything to really write home about. There's no specific moment in the game where you have to really strategize, or you feel a rush of adrenaline from having pulled victory out of the jaws of defeat. It's just... a game, that you play, and then you win. If you're learning game design like I am, I'd sincerely recommend picking this up as an exercise in critical analysis.
And the final game I'll mention here (in the interest of not making this post unbearably long) is Everhood, a cute indie RPG with a rhythm-game-based combat system, who's Undertale inspiration it could not be making any more obvious short of just having called the game "MUSICAL UNDERTALE".
I'll avoid going into too much detail regarding the plot, as this game is evidently built around a few key plot twists in its narrative which it does excellently, however the issue is that those big moments are the main things the developers were thinking about. Once the shock from those moments wears off, it feels like the game becomes a little aimless, with the game's gratuitously long ending being especially at fault here (I still can barely understand what happened nor why).
If you like rhythm games or goofy fantasy creatures, I'd recommend picking up the game. Otherwise... just go play deltarune.
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