#octcolor

[n0rtist]

Day 1: Minecraft (Mojang Studios)

Last year, I tried doing fanart of indie games every day of October. I lasted one day.

Well with today’s Smash reveal, I was inspired by this one scene with the small Enderman under some leaves. Congrats to Steve for making it in!

[n0rtist]

Day 8: Among Us (InnerSloth)

Gotta feel happy for InnerSloth here as Among Us first came out in 2018 to see a meteoric rise nearly two years later. It somehow has enough of a spin on the mafia party-style game that makes this the go-to game for so many people. It was the right game released at the wrong time, but that didn’t stop it from taking off. Truly inspiring. Doing tasks in electrical is the scariest though, no cap.

[n0rtist]

Day 4: No Straight Roads (Metronomik)

I always loved games that had multiple versions of the same song so that you can dynamically fade between them. This game takes that idea and blasts it with some of the most artsy pop-rock aesthetics I’ve ever seen. NSR is a gorgeous game with some serious bangers, an absolute gem from 2020!

[n0rtist]

Day 16: Enter the Gungeon (Dodge Roll)

These are turning into character portraits. Anyways, Enter the Gungeon is a fun bullet-hell rogue-like with an iconic ._. artstyle. With constant updates, this game’s name stuck around for quite a while and deservedly so. I’m not the most familiar with rogue-likes but the smiley faces and wacky weapons makes the game much more welcoming for outsiders like me.

[n0rtist]

Day 17: Owlboy (D-Pad Studio)

Just looking at this game again after what feels like eternity feels like a dream. Owlboy is a gorgeous game set in a world of fantasy with a charming story line. Somehow the game kind of disappeared in terms of any discussions. It reminds me of those classic animated movies like Atlantis that resurfaces as a cult classic much later on. This is definitely a hidden gem from what I remember, featuring a unique mechanic of picking up your party members to use their abilities mid-flight. I wish the best for the team behind Owlboy as they spent a very long time behind the project and I hope it all paid off and more because they definitely deserve it.

[n0rtist]

Day 12: Wandersong (Greg Lobanov)

With a novel, one’s enjoyment mostly comes from the writing. In a movie, there are sound effects and visuals which are essential to the product, but many still come in to enjoy a good story. A video game has the soundtrack, art-style, and even responsive gameplay to keep the audience satisfied. But what if that audience wanted to enjoy a good story? Now, everyone’s take on a good narrative is subjective, but I would personally recommend Wandersong for those who forgot what optimism should mean. Just when the story seems a bit too bright for me, it took a knee. There are often stories I come across that I feel like I want to introduce to my potential future child, or any child, because I feel like the whole world can use more stories about hope, optimism, free-will, and confidence.

[n0rtist]

Day 13: Psychonauts (Double Fine Productions):

Another game with amazing writing, and this time, we’re talking about humor. I am quite a fan of Double Fine’s signature dry wit that basically defined games from the turn of the millenium. Psychonauts fills its collectathon world with amazing visuals, thematic levels, and most importantly, fun dialogue. 3D platforms can often feel like a drag with bad controls, especially ones where one needs to collect dozens of items, but all the abilities let the player become more and more mobile like the circus-runaway protagonist. It’s a game that deserves its cult following, and I’m excited for its upcoming sequel.

[n0rtist]

Day 26: Undertale (Toby Fox)

Bruh how could I not. At this period in time, I don’t think I need to explain what Undertale is as when it comes to role-playing games, this game had essentially consumed the Internet. When the game came out, the cheeky dialogue, clever gameplay mechanics, and the 4th wall breaks made every tween (and some teens) fall in love with the game’s universe. The rest of the interwebs then had to deal with a wave of fan-made content, but this paragraph ain’t about fandoms, it’s about praising the work that inspired so many people in the first place. The game succeeds in its mission to provide gameplay where one doesn’t “need to destroy anyone”. I would say the writing is the strongest element of this role-playing game, which is quite a huge part of games in that genre; however, I would be remiss to not mention its amazing soundtrack. 

Even the background songs in most towns have memorable melodies that are only revisited and emphasized in later tracks. When one looks back to notice musical references, a song can seem pretty clever, but Toby Fox’s songs shove the leitmotifs into the player making it clear that the references were all carefully and intentionally made. Leitmotifs are used everywhere, especially in movies, but far too often are those references just snuck into the scene without the audience’s full awareness of the composer’s intention. The songs in Undertale truly are worthy to be immortalized as I still enjoy finding the umpteenth “Megalovania” mashup. Considering the huge cultural impact the game has made, Undertale is without a doubt an indie game that would go down in history.

[n0rtist]

Day 19: The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)

A game that truly utilizes the tools the medium provides to the fullest extent. Many stories have tried to tell branching narratives, such as the choose your own adventure books, but none had the technology that can truly deliver as much autonomy to the audience as a video game can. From humble beginnings as a Half-Life 2 mod, The Stanley Parable has had a huge success among story-based games with its painstakingly exploding branches of stories that the game designers each wrote out one-by-one. The excellent, is it British?, writing becomes the main motivator for the player while still maintaining appropriate visuals and audio. This is a classic that every story-gamer should play, not even once but maybe even a dozen times.

[n0rtist]

Day 30: Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)

I remember seeing this game’s character pop up here and there a while ago. The pixel art here is nothing short of stunning, and the enigmatic lore had made quite a few fans digging into this fantastical world. From what I remember, the gameplay and visuals were the strongest factors that make this game iconic. The studio has promised a return to this world with an upcoming title named Solar Ash lined up for 2021. I can only hope that the game gets to make as much of an impact as Hyper Light Drifter has.

[n0rtist]

Day 31: OneShot (Little Cat Feet)

This month, I’ve hastily gone over all sorts of indie games: those with iconic graphics, amazing gameplay loops, bangers of a soundtrack, etc. However, many of the games I’ve covered made a long lasting impression to me because of its writing, and this last piece is no exception.

I feel like game jam games become the foundation of a much larger, ambitious product more often than expected. OneShot had the humble beginnings of a jam game whose gimmick was that closing the game didn’t allow the player to progress as they had one shot the finish the game. This naturally led to more user-based gimmicks turning this game into the Undertale before Undertale and I’m not talking about Cave Story. This ends up being a game that incorporates breaking the 4th wall into the plot, but it is done in such a metaphorical way that the game ends up being a tale about decisions, sharing emotions, and goodwill.

Little Cat Feet really built up characters and a world that one can easily fall in love with, so much so that they didn’t need to make the popular Solstice Update. Actually, looking back at the protagonist, they definitely needed to make that update. This is another emotional one, another one where if I ever get kids and they start their teenage phase figuring out emotions and all that jazz, I wanna slap em with this bad number and see em cry. Good thing I’m not a parent hehe. Anyways, I do remember seeing the creators working on some other titles. Best of luck to them as I'm already a big fan of their work especially their superb writing.

[n0rtist]

Day 18: Smile for Me (LimboLane)

What a fun game. From the premise, the story takes off hinting at some horror tones beneath the happy facade of Dr. Habit. However, unlike being an obvious horror tale, the game becomes a wholesome generator as the player meets a whole bunch of fun characters all within this colorful artstyle. I especially love how the story was handled at the end, well the “true” end, tying up the mystery behind the horror elements of the game.

[n0rtist]

Day 25: Superliminal (Pillow Castle)

Some of the greatest gaming mechanics come from the smallest of demos. The story behind this game’s inception is quite inspiring as university students wowed the world with their tech demo: Museum of Simulation Technology. Luckily, the team was able to create a more complete and well-polished product. Although the overall reception to the added story wasn’t the best, many still praised the unique gameplay to have the potential for more. Valve’s explosively popular Portal series also came from humble college beginnings, so I’d say that there is still hope for the mechanics features in Superliminal and I can only hope to see them implemented in a way to wow the world once more.

[n0rtist]

Day 21: Hylics 2 (Mason Lindroth)

5 years after Hylics, this RPG Maker Game amassed quite some attention online with its markedly mesmerizing claymation visuals and absurd world building leading to a sequel in 2020. Now with crazier and more colorful visuals, a psychadelic slow rock soundtrack, and actual dialogue that wasn’t completely made by AI yet still fittingly absurd, Hylics 2 presents all the unique attributes of the original game and wraps it all in a massive vibe. Even though it got some attention, I still believe this sequel deserves more spotlight as Lindroth has only excelled in honing his style and presentation with this sequel.

[n0rtist]

Day 10: Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion (Lag Studios)

Here’s another look back, this time to 2014. The game appears to be a celebration of sorts of many different horror games. Thus, it became quite popular among Let’s Play channels, especially those that have covered some of the games this one references, and seems have a following due to the deep lore hidden in the simple walking gameplay.

[n0rtist]

Day 27: Thomas was Alone (Mike Bithell)

This minimalist game is known for having characters that are all represented as just rectangles. Many cite this and claim how graphics aren’t necessary in making a good game; however, I’d like to argue that this game does have good graphics. Thomas was Alone follows the minimalist style and keeps it consistent. The particles and the squash and stretch aren’t overdone and maintains the sterile world these “AI” characters live in. But with that said, this is a game where the writing does the heavy work. There must be a term that refers to the kind of imagination a reader, audience member, or player takes to recreate the words they heard or read in a comprehensible vision. Thomas was Alone’s fantastic writing and audio voice-over gives so much life to these singular polygons as the plot is reflected in the platforming gameplay by the player. The game is a cult classic that exemplifies how to weave writing with gameplay.