As Anna anthropy read the segment of her book that talked about what to base your game one she just started listing things. No guidelines, no specific thing to begin with but anything and everything is and could be interesting if done properly. You can basically create a game based upon anything in your life. Any experience you have had, you have heard of or of an experience you would want or not want. These are what games can be based upon, there is no set guidelines that determine if a game will be successful. There is no guide to games. What people may call a guide is not a guide to create games but a guide of what their game is about. I find it weird that big corporations wont allow their game designers not to be able to create games on the side. Sure I can see that it would be a conflict of interest. However without an outlet to release their frustration or to experiment on could lead them to become frustrated and not be able to perform at their peak performance. As Anna anthropy said games that don’t follow the norm are ostracized and considered weird and strange. I do agree with this point but at the same time all these games that we have now are weird ideas. The Mass Effect series is based upon companionship and exploring the galaxy trying to stop your enemy, Saren, as you go you gain companions to help you stop him and you can have a relationship with 2 possible people in the game. Mass effect is based upon a basic idea and that idea is to become the hero and gather allies to stop the bad guys. But it doesn’t end there. You learn about the people in your team and you start to connect with them on a more emotional level. Are you going to help Garrus find the Dr. that mistreated his patients? Or are you just going to ignore it? Are you going to be good or bad? One of the most interesting point in that game is when you are on a planet named Virmire and you must either kill your squad mate or talk him down. What do you do? Are you going to save him or kill him? This affects the entire game play of the next two games, Mass effect 2 & 3. Your decisions are carried over to the other games. This is a new idea that I haven’t seen before. In the 1990’s Rare Ware attempted to do the same concept but ultimately they couldn’t do it and the game they attempted to use it on? Banjo and Kazooie. The Mass Effect trilogy used a previously forgotten/ignored idea and created a new type of videogame aspect. However because of its unique game transfer feature I wouldn’t be surprised if other trilogy games used this mechanism to transfer the players’ character. They are that player. They have spent the time to mold this character that is in the player’s image

Playing New Games....

The two games i played over the weekend I played 'Mighty Jill Off', "Jill off with one hand' and 'Calamity Jane'. I found playing Mighty Jill Off pretty fun and interesting as a game. From the start it was about a lesbien relationship coupled with a latex boot fetish and BDSM. As you played the game you had to overcome complex and mind challenging puzzles that will push you too your limits! Actually it was a semi challenging game game that had a slight movement issue i found. I found it was a little sensitive to getting close to the fire that made you die. My best time on "Mighty Jill off" was about 2:45 or 3:00 minutes. While playing "Jill off with one hand" i found it a little weird at first but then i just accepted it and played the game. You play as jill again but this time instead of reaching your queen by jumping and moving through her tower. now you are tied up and you have to avoid getting impaled by spikes and disemboweled heads flying toward you. There is no more levels and no other complicated jumping, floating and spiders to mess with you. Instead you are in one single room just jumping. i liked Mighty Jill Off better because there were more level development. I believe my best time on 'Jill off with one hand" was about 40 seconds. As i played Calamity Jane i found this game interesting as well but also challenging. I never actually finished the game but i got really close to it. i also had a slight handicap because i played on my laptop and used the trackpad. aiming and shooting with a trackpad is actually much harder than i would actually believe. As i played and completed the first 10 enemies i came up to the scene where you meet the women in the desert. i didn't know who she was but...ok then. As i progressed through the game we met again and again and my character and this random women talked and talked. I never finished the game because i accidentally closed the window...yeah stupid mistake on my part. From reading a review of Anna Anthropy's book "Rise of the videogame Zinesters" she is calling for the video game industry to start creating more vide games that represent a more wide variety of human experiences. Just like her Games "Mighty Jill off", "Jill off with one hand" and "Calamity Jane". "Mighty Jill Off" is about a lesbien relationship mixed with master and slave tendencies and a slight boot fetish. "Jill off with one hand" is about the submissive slave jill entertaining her master known as "The Queen". However unlike Mighty jill off there are no more levels just jill tied up and jumping up and down. While "Calamity Jane" is about a wild west lone shooter who is searching for love(?). Each of these games i have mentioned deal with different human experiences. Master and slave relationships are quite different from the normal games on the market today like, "Mass effect 3" or "Saints Row: The Third" or even "Modern warfare 3" (there is a lot of 3's in those titles, noticed that?) Also with a lot of these indie games there is not a 2nd let alone a 3rd entry into the series. It begins and ends and ties everything into a neat little bow....or in jill's case a nice comfy straight jacket.

how to play; The GAME!

For my test run everybody liked my game but they said that the rules should be a bit simplier. Also as we played i had to explain my game to them but as they started to get the hang of it they started to get into it and they started to have fun. we only had enough time to play one hand but it was enough time to understand the game and get and get them excited to play again. At the very end of playing they understood the rules and had a good time playing the game. There were not really any big things they would change.

Also going on a tangent, making this game was hard work. i mean i spent a good amount of time thinking of these rules. I originally based it off of playing poker. I also originally thought of making this a partnership game so that the number of points would be greater but then also would the target cap.

A 'Passage' through time...?

For my first game review i will know be reviewing a game about life, death and the inevitable realisation that everyone will die.

First of all lets talk about the design of the game.

Passage is an interesting game that is for a single player only that only lets you see a limited area of the map, more specifically only what is in front of you and what is behind you. As you begin there is no set goal, you just walk forward and see what this game has to offer you. For the game Passage you are limited to
There are no resources in the game passage except for some random chests that you find as you explore the world. The information about this game is hidden as it tells you nothing about it, what it means, or how to play. You just have to explore and find out everything as you play. There is no sequencing in this game but the closest thing would have to be real time. The game only lasts 5 minutes but in the game weeks, months and years pass by like a speeding bullet. The theme of the game is life. through out the game you move forward and every so often you dont notice but you get older.

Secondly we are now going to analyze the experience of Play

The game in the beginning was kind of dull until you start noticing that your character starts to change. This was not only the first thing you started to notice but also that after a certain point your significant other (if you chose to pick one up) dies and you start to twalk slower and slower until you finally succumb to the effects of time. When i began to play i picked up a wife and started to explore the map as much as i could. There were some areas that you could not go to with your significant other so it required you to play again and explore the areas only a 'single' person could go and visit. Who knows whats at the bottom of the screen if you go solo. A basket ball court, shopping mall, a strip club who knows? Finally after about 4 minutes my wife died and my sprite was much older than when he began. Soon he started to move slower and slower until my character dies.

Videogames & You!

Games as I know them are very similar. There is a specific set of rules which you must follow in order to fully enjoy and be "integrated" in to the world which the game creates. As you delve deeper and deeper into the "world of games" you start to become the person or persons in the game and then your personality and all of your quirks disappear as you take on the role of someone else. You are no longer a student or professor you become the monopoly man with the top hat and all (mustache included). You become a warrior with an axe or a witch/wizard hybrid able to cast spells and curse people. Normal games are just like video games, except they have a certain appeal of '3D' effects. When you play games you lose yourself and all track of time. This I believe, is due to the sudden onset of a disease I like to call "procrastination" more commonly known as "fuck-it-itis".