Game A Day

Five minute MMORPG aims to recreate the MMORPG experience we all know and love. You’re put together in a party with six others and you must level up, PVP, and deal with lag while you aim to come out on top. 

It’s a deviously simple game that I spent the better part of an hour playing. I can only image it’s what people who play multiplayer games on dial-up must deal with, because lag is incorporated into the game.

You’re basically traversing a huge square that is the game world, attempting to player kill everyone else while avoiding getting player killed yourself. There are no mages and priests and healing rotations, so for those spastic tanks, sit down. You’re left with a sword and board and you must decide when in your lag you should sword, and when you should board.

It’s a great time waster, as you can travel around collecting treasure and owning the other people on the map, and when you manage to win one, it’s a pretty great feeling. Of course, when you die because you lagged into someone’s sword, well now you have a valid excuse, don’t you?

The name of the game is 5 minute MMORPG, but even on the game’s description it tells you that it’s not that massive. In fact, I think there’s only room for around 6 or so players on the field, and if not enough people are playing, the game will fill in the slots with computer bots. 

The design team behind the game conceived the game for the Nordic Game Jam and there are quite a few of them, so head on over to the website by clicking the download button and check the game out. It’s a great time waster and you’ll find yourself chuckling at the five minute lore.

Think of Treasure Island Online as battleship for pirates. It’s an interesting social experiment that has several people playing at the moment, so it’s sure to keep you entertained for a few hours if you enjoy suspense.

The premise for the game is quite simple. You’re marooned on an island with however many other people are playing the game, and you’re tasked with finding the square that has the treasure. The kicker is that it costs one gold to dig a square, so if you go digging like crazy, you’ll quickly find you’ve run out of money.

Finding the balance between digging to progress the game, and digging to win is the name of the game in Jesse Venbrux’s latest game. Of course, the online aspect is really what makes the game, because there’s nothing like swooping in on a progressed board to find the treasure. My current high score has been 130 coins, but I’m sure there’s someone out there who can beat that. After all, the ultimate goal of the game is to find this:

Of course, how much you find is entirely randomly generated, as well. Anywhere from 5 to 30 coins are hidden in a chest on the island, and once someone finds it, the game is reset. It was a two day effort by Jesse Venbrux, so check it out and give it a play. It’s definitely fun watching people scramble around to dig.

Dreamside Maroon is the interesting creation of four DigiPen students, and an IGF 2010 Student Showcase winner. I believe if the game had been eligible for the Visual Arts category, it would have won that as well, as its a completely beautiful game.

You play a small boy named Aster who has control of a vine which he can grow to get into the moon. Of course, it’s any little boy’s dream to get to the moon and the entire game takes place as Aster is dreaming. It’s not a very beefy download given how great the game looks, which is one of the things that surprised me about it.

The game is controlled either with the keyboard, or with a 360 controller, should you possess the wired variety. Of course, the enjoyment you get out of the game depends on whether you take the time to explore the world, or whether you rocket straight to the moon.

I went both paths and found that when I explored my world by landing next to the large lanterns, I was clued in a bit to the feelings of Aster and the world around him. This also spawned fireflies which were attracted to the lantern Aster holds and this adds a secondary objective to the game: how many fireflies will you bring to the moon with you?

As you can see, it’s possible to grow you vine in just about any direction, allowing you to collect the fireflies and reach the next lantern to collect more. My only qualm with the game is that it’s nearly impossible to control with a keyboard, so I quickly turned to my 360 controller. This was somewhat easier, but it’s not the fluid controlled experience one would hope to get.

If you’re interested in checking out Dreamside Maroon and exploring Aster’s world, hit the download button to be taken to the website. While you’re there, don’t forget to check out the team biographies as there is some great talent behind this IGF Student Showcase winner.