Hello and welcome to Technology Tuesday, that day of the week where I tell you about some independent developed games I can't seem to stop playing, and then tell you why.
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| I would say I don't really have a comment for this picture.. but this is technically a comment. |
Some people, such as myself, have found that sometimes, a game doesn't need sparkly, shiny graphics to be fun to play. People like those probably read this blog. I hope. If you do though, then I have got a list of five absolutely fantastic indie games that disregard the need for graphics and supplant it with great gameplay that you will likely love.
The games I'm about to list are some somewhat strange and occasionally fairly crazy games I've found over the years, much in thanks due to my near religious viewing of the YouTube Channels I mentioned here. These games, in almost all cases, look incredibly terrible, with one literally using ACSII as it's graphics believe it not. (To be honest, that's one case where the lack of graphics was a bit too much.) Thankfully, they are also some of the most fun games I have ever played, and for some strange reason, continue to play again and again, which is something I'm not entirely used to.
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| ASCII graphics never looked this good. Actually, scratch that, thank god for mods. |
Dwarf Fortress. Infamously difficult, Infamously fun. Dwarf Fortress is the life's work of one man, Tarn Adams, with assistance from his brother Zach Adams. (Quite literally, the guy decided one day that he was done with day jobs and started working on this full time.) Dwarf Fortress is known for a couple things, largely it's insistence upon a motto that has become increasingly popular over the years. "Losing is fun." Boy is it, Dwarf Fortress is FREAKING difficult, and helped none by it's draconian interface. For a graphical representation of this, refer to the below:
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| Don't actually know who this belongs to :O If you do, let me know in the comments. |
To be concise about it, Dwarf Fortress is unabashedly difficult, and for the most part unplayable without the aid of the Wiki. But keep at it, and you can have a TON of fun with the abomination. Though I might mention that I use the Lazy Newb Pack and Phoebus Graphics set to make it (slightly) easier to play. *Goes to go have fun while losing* It's worth mentioning that you can't actually "win" Dwarf Fortress, you just survive for as long as possible.
For a brilliant story that took place in what they call a "bloodline game" of Dwarf Fortress, I highly recommend you check out the tale of "Boatmurdered". PG18
2. Rimworld
The work of Tynaan Silvester and the Ludeon Studios team, Rimworld is fun little game that was at least in part inspired by... yup, you guessed it, Dwarf Fortress. Unwinable, (barring some of the recent updates), Rimworld places you in charge of a group of people on a planet after crashing from space; and tasks you with building a colony in which your people may survive on the inhospitable planet filled with denizens ranging from backwards tribal warriors to cybernetic, explosive lobbing robots, and old western type travelers in between. The setting is largely themed after an old and, somewhat sadly, short series called Firefly.
The Good: Rimworld is far simpler than Dwarf Fortress, The graphics are distinctly easier to read and the interface can actually be interfaced with.
The Bad: Rimworld is far simpler than Dwarf Fortress, The graphics are distinctly easier to read and the interface can actually be interfaced with.
I'm mostly kidding by the way. Compared to Dwarf Fortress, Rimworld feels like that little brother that just can't quite live up to the big brothers name, despite improving on some things. Except that's a bullshit, subjective way to look at it. Objectively, (As in, not comparing it to Dwarf Fortress like a prat), Rimworld is actually a very fun and interesting little indie game with a great potential to grow and become even better, and it's Firefly-esque charm makes it something that is hard to completely leave alone, especially since it is still seeing constant updating. Do keep in mind though, "Losing is fun."
Ever wanted to know what exactly it would be like to survive a Zombie Apocalypse? Project Zomboid is about as accurate and realistic portrayal as you're likely to get. Well made, well presented and still receiving updates, Project Zomboid is perhaps one of the most powerful games on this list. From the get go, it's made clear that "losing is fun". There is no way to win at Project Zomboid; you're only objective is to try and live for as long as possible while combating near everything you would expect to have to deal with in a true Zombie Apocalypse. Looting to survive, dealing with depression, escaping hordes of zombies and building a safe home for yourself for as long as possible. The depth of Project Zomboid is such that it can almost be called a simulation game, and yet, its somehow strangely interesting and fun to play.
It's hard to describe what it is about Project Zomboid that makes it "fun". It can be argued that it's not actually fun; a statement I could agree with if I consider my first playthrough. I didn't finish that playthrough. The enormity of being the sole survivor in a world full of vicious creatures that want to eat you, and trying to figure out how to survive such an occurrence is one that strangely sets in personally, despite it only being a game. I actually found myself becoming depressed at the prospect and closed the game. (How's that for an emotional experience.) For some strange reason, I went back and tried again, and for some reason, surviving and succeeding, even slightly, is an oddly rewarding experience in the dire world that IndieStone has created. Well worth taking a look at in my opinion.
4. Factorio
You know when you're watching a machine make things and you stand there for hours just watching it operate. (No? Hmm. Guess that's mostly just me.) If you do, then you are likely to find this lovely game of interest. Factorio is an interesting little indie game about building a factory. Sound boring? Some would say yes. (I might have as well if I didn't think it was so FREAKING AWESOME.) Here's the thing, you build a factory on an alien planet in order to automate the process of producing resources, researching new technologies and fighting off the native aliens which obviously don't like all the pollution your factory is causing. For people who enjoy thinking and coming up with creative ways to make an efficient design or solve problems, this game is GOLD. I've sunk well over 100+ hours into it, and I still go back to it frequently. If you're not sold on the idea, here is a YouTube 'Let's Play" by OfficialStuffPlus which I can near guarantee will sell you on this game. Unless you're... you know... sane...er... than some of us.
5. Xenonauts
Holy cow, a game that you can actually win... (Teehee) Made by Goldhawk Interactive, Xenonauts is a brilliant game about defending the world from an alien invasion. Sound familiar? Probably because Xenonauts is the "spiritual successor" of the original XCOM which was made in 1994. (The year before my birth *X-Files theme song starts playing*) The original XCOM gathered a cult following back then and spawned tons of sequels as well as various spiritual successors and unofficial remakes. XCOM was then rebooted with XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Enemy Within, it's expansion pack, following which, Xenonauts came out. Why? Well, the reboot is a fantastic game in it's own right, definitely worth playing in my opinion, however, for many, including stupid people like me, XCOM was not a very difficult game, nor did it entirely take after the original XCOM. As such, those individuals such as myself wanted something that held closer to the original, far more difficult and intense experience that the original delivered, and thus spawned Xenonauts from a succesful Kickstarter/Indiegogo campaign.
This game... is shit hard. Like seriously. Your men die a lot, your ships get shot down a lot, and I have not finished it once yet on normal. Being an XCOM: Enemy Within veteran, it's something like a slap awake as to just how easy games are made these days, but I still find the atmosphere of it absolutely thrilling, and look forward to many more hours of play.
In any case, hopefully you've found something of interest here, or maybe just found the way I write (type?) entertaining. Either way, consider leaving a comment in the section below and maybe even share this with some friends if they're bored. If you really liked it and would like to see more, perhaps consider following me on Twitter or Liking my Facebook page with the associated buttons on the sidebar to your right.
Regardless of what you do, I hope you have/had and AWESOME day, and I will see you tomorrow.
Goeie nag mense.
