IGF 2008 Main Competitors Announced 14
GameSetWatch points out that the big list of entrants for the 2008 Independent Games Festival is now online. Can't tell the winners without a program, right? GSW points out some of the names to watch in this year's showdown: "Gish 2 - Gish 2 is the long awaited sequel to the IGF 05 grand prize winner Gish. In Gish 2 you take the role of physics based blob whose movement and control are physically modeled around the shape and texture of his body. When his girlfriend Brea is murdered, Gish sets out to the Isle of the Dead to make a deal with Quietus (the god of death) to bring her back to life. Noitu Love 2: Devolution - In Noitu Love 2: Devolution you're thrown into a classic action and beat-em-up scenario but with a twist to the gameplay that creates a new and fluent style of play using the mouse. Pixeljunk Racers - Simple addictive puzzle racing game based loosely on slot-car racing, with 32 types of game and up to 7 players simultaneously."
Lots of great looking games (Score:4, Informative)
On another note, I've looked through a few of the games, and some have public demos, some don't. I'm not generally interested in game hype, I prefer a hands-on experience. It's unfortunate that the ones with demos don't have extra links to a download.
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Case in point, I'm only replying to this so I can Polychromatic Funk Monkey on Slashdot [farbs.org]
DRoD (Score:2)
PS: I hate that living slime. And those nigh-invisible spiders.
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Oooh, you're gonna love the green gel, then... >:)
Why not grab the demo and give it a whirl? Download one of the recent user-made holds if you want to see all new features in action...
np: The Orb - Majestic (Mix 1) (U.F.Orb Remixes)
My list... (Score:5, Informative)
Another thing to note is that every year I seem to know less and less about the entrants. Partly this is because there are many MORE entrants (173 this year) but also because there doesn't seem to be a centralized place where I can follow indie games anymore. TIGSource is starting to be my primary reading these days, though their coverage (like GameTunnel's) tends to be a mite skewed towards a particular style of game.
Anyways, in my cursory glance through the entries, these are the ones that stood out to me. It's heavy on titles that aren't out -- it's easier to see potential in something you haven't actually experienced.
Gish 2
gish2.com/
Hard to ignore this one, but my prediction is that if it's an evolution of the original concept rather than a revolution it will be rewarded by customers but not the IGF.
World of Goo
2dboy.com/
Another game about sticky balls. Based on a much smaller experimental title that got huge critical acclaim. My guess is World of Goo FTW.
The Path
www.tale-of-tales.com/ThePath/
Horror and Little Red Riding Hood. Production values look stellar. One to watch.
Schizoid
www.torpexgames.com/
A coop gauntlet style shooter. Looks like a ton of fun.
Threadspace: Hyperbol
www.hyperbol.com/
An impressive and unique strategy hybrid. Multiplayer focused games haven't fared that well in the IGF in the past, but this one certainly makes an argument for its inclusion.
Tree of Life + Axiom Overdrive
www.reflexive.com
Reflexive has been known to put out some real pablum, but they also poured their hearts into the unique Wik & the Fable of Souls. These two titles could have promise, though to be honest, I have no idea what they are.
Altercation
www.alteraction.com
A text adventure that has a unique feel to it.
Fret Nice
www.fretnice.com/
Control a platformer with a Guitar Hero controller. Somewhere in the cobwebbed portions of my brain I remember several people speaking highly of this. Sounds interesting.
Soup du Jour
www.digital-eel.com/soup/
From Digital Eel, the makers of IGF-nom Weird Worlds. Is this something interesting or a casual-friendly portal sell-out?
Polychromatic Funk Monkey
www.farbs.org/games.html
A fun, simple puzzle game. Would be nice to see the concept expanded upon.
Immortal Defense
immortaldefense.com/
The best tower-defense game ever created. Probably not different enough from other titles of the same genre to pick up awards, but certainly notable.
Venture Arctic
www.venturearctic.com
Yes this is my game. I like it a lot. Unique gameplay, interesting topic.
Phew... what a great group of games.
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IGF, for fame not for cash (Score:2, Interesting)
There's only one interesting money award (Seumas McNally Grand Prize - $20 000), the others ($2 500) don't stand a chance compared to some other competitions awards.
Our game (Penguins Arena - http://frogames.com/penguins_arena/ [frogames.com]) won the Intel Game Demo Contest this year (http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/articles/eng/1409.htm [intel.com]), the global level of competitors was lower than the
Tough Competition with 173 Entries (Score:2)
One thing that strikes me about this year's competition is how polished many of the titles are. Indie titles are generally associated with programmer art [wikipedia.org]. But while I doubt Crysis has much to worry about, gam