Swivvel

Time for a new game release.

This game is called Swivvel and it's a match-3 style game with a twist - literally.

Press space to rotate puzzle pieces and score when you match three of the same color. It gets faster as you level up.

Click here to play Swivvel

What Makes Final Fantasy XIII a Great Game?

I've just finished Final Fantasy 13 - the first FF I've played - and I want to share some thoughts on the game.

What makes Final Fantasy a great game?

1 Lightning

I just love Lightning's character. She's tough and she's cool, like a female Clint Eastwood. Sometimes morally ambiguous ("a target's a target"), she does soften somewhat throughout the game. A soldier by profession, a loner by nature, Lightning turns her back on the army to go on a one-woman suicide mission to save her sister. Somewhat reluctantly, she picks up an entourage along the way.

Game designers, please give us more characters like Lightning.

Lightning

2 Anarchistic Themes

Like many Japanese games, the storyline is hard to follow at times and too confusing to summarize here. The underlying theme, though, is clear: The Government lies to the people and abuses them; most people swallow the lies, but a few enlightened anti-authority types refuse to toe the line. Another theme is the Government's use of an invented 'enemy' to control the masses through fear, as espoused by Neo-con favorite Leo Strauss (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Strauss).

Just take a look at our fine anarchist heroes:

"No rules, authority or obligations"

3 Value

I put 70 hours in to beat the game. While many Western games are this long, it is unusual to find a Western game with this quality graphics and artwork of that length (the game takes 3 discs on the 360). Western-made games with the best quality graphics are often less than 10 hours to play through. How the Japanese manage it, I don't know.

Have a look at this eye-candy:

"I made a promise and I'll see it through"

That's a wrap, folks, and that's why Final Fantasy 13 is a great game. Buy it!

Chobo: Trapped in a Tetris Game

So I had this premise for a game where the character is trapped inside a round of Tetris, and I made this into a Flash game.

Okay, well the game is similar to Tetris. I had to play around with the mechanics to get it to work nicely and I threw in a few enemies and power-ups.

I invite you to play the result:

Click here to play Chobo

Mamas, let your babies grow up to be gamers

A lot of my friends have kids now and I've been trying to explain to them that gaming is a healthy and beneficial activity, a comment which is often met with some skepticism.

People seem to have three main objections to allowing their kids to game:

1 "There's too much violence in games"


Sure. The same way there's too much violence in movies. Games have an extensive ratings system that has probably been prone to less controversy over the years than the movie ratings system. As a parent, when you buy a game, if it's not clear from the packaging whether the game is suitable for kids, the store clerk should be able to help you. Or simply do some research online. Isn't it worth ten minutes of research for a game that will keep your kids happy and engaged for dozens of hours (compared to a DVD which is over in one and a half hours)? On top of all that, gaming consoles come with family settings.

2 "Isn't gaming an antisocial activity?"


Sure. The same way that reading a book is antisocial. Except that books don't have multiplayer. Many games have a co-op mode where a player plays alongside a friend, or multiplayer, where a player plays with a whole group of friends. Besides that, being a gamer means, like with any hobby, your child will be able to connect and make friends with fellow gamers at school and other places.

Always remember that video games are an evolution of sports and board games. Early video games were less social due to the constraints of technology that we have now overcome.


3 "Isn't gaming unhealthy?"


No way. Console games are extremely sophisticated and it takes time to learn how to play them well. This means that your brain is in learning mode for a lot of the gameplay. For children, this enhances the fact that learning is a pleasurable experience. (Something schools try to make them 'unlearn'.) Games teach perseverance, strategic thinking and many other positive skills.



So Mamas, please let your babies grow up to be gamers - it's good for them.

Reality is Broken

I've started on Jane McGonigal's excellent book, 'Reality is Broken', and I just wanted to share an excerpt:

"Gamers want to know: Where, in the real world, is that gamer sense of being fully alive, focused, and engaged in every moment? Where is the gamer feeling of power, heroic purpose, and community? Where are the bursts of exhilarating and creative game accomplishment? Where is the heart-expanding thrill of success and team victory? While gamers may experience these pleasures occasionally in their real lives, they experience them almost constantly when they’re playing their favorite games.

The real world just doesn’t offer these things up as easily. Reality isn’t engineered to maximize our potential. Reality wasn’t designed from the bottom up to make us happy. And so, there is a growing perception in the gaming community: Reality, compared to games, is broken."

FLUX - The perpetual state

I've finished a new game for FlashByNight.com called 'FLUX'.

http://www.flashbynight.com/flux

In this game, you move green blocks around the board in order to conquer the red blocks. You do this by converting blank blocks to green before they can be converted to red.

It's a simple, 'experimental' game based on the concept that 'everything is connected':

'All phenomena, link together in a mutually conditioning network' (Buddha)

All creatures are involved in the life of all others, consequently every species... all nature is in a perpetual state of flux. - John Dewey

Screenshots:

Space Invasion 1981

Here is FlashByNight's first game of 2011.

www.flashbynight.com/spaceinvasion

Space Invasion 1981 is a modern retro take on those old handheld games that you might remember if you were around in those days. Waves of pesky space aliens come at you in a 'stepping down' motion reminiscent of Space Invaders. But they also form patterns and dive bomb you like in Galaga.

Space Invasion 1981 starts out pretty easy and gets harder and harder as you go along, eventually turning into a 'bullet hell'. But never fear, you get power-ups to help you win the day. A good player can get 'in the zone' and finish the 30 levels in about 30-40 minutes.

Finish all 30 levels and you'll enter the ultimate challenge - the 'infinity level'. How long can you last?

There are 3 monthly top score slots as well as an all-time hi score slot.