This week we bring you a collection of different games, from point and click adventure games to idle clickers. You can take on the prologue of a full game, one created as a fan companion piece but which also works well on its own, or play a cathartic clicker, where you can control some heroes on epic adventures. We have a game playable with a single button, an isometric action RPG, and a little boat game where you can enjoy the look of the ocean. Read on…
Rocket of Whispers: Prologue by Sigono — Brian Gillett-Smith
Rocket of Whispers: Prologue is less of a “game” and more of a playable short story. Created as a fan-serving companion piece for the larger (paid for) OPUS: Rocket of Whispers, it details the backstory for one of that game’s main characters — Fei Lin. “Prologue” plays as a side-scrolling point-and-click game, with the objective of escaping from the post apocalyptic frozen cellar that Fei has awoken in. While doing this, the game regales you with various cutscenes that show you the events leading up to and surrounding the decision to put Fei into cryosleep in the first place, while at the same time portraying the confusion and bewilderment she feels at waking up years after the intended date.
Despite only being around 15 minutes long, “Prologue” is haunting and beautiful, and does a great job of promoting the main game which I now really want to play!
You can find Rocket of Whispers: Prologue on Steam.
Clicker Heroes by Fragsworth — Rob Covell
I know that some would barely consider this a game, but there’s something strangely cathartic about Clicker Heroes and many of those other idle games you can find. The premise is simple: click on enemies until they die. They won’t try to attack you, and the only thing that can go wrong is that you run out of time on a boss and have to start the round over. Enemies will eventually become too tough to defeat in the time limit, even if you have the steeliest of fingers, so you’ll need to spend your ‘hard-earned’ gold on strengthening yourself and hiring heroes to automatically cause damage for you.
A lot of the time you can leave the game to play itself before coming back and seeing how far you’ve progressed through the thousands of levels. There’s practically nothing to this, but it has that compelling aspect of RPGs: making damage numbers get bigger. I’m almost embarrassed to say that this is one of my most played games on Steam in terms of hours. Almost embarrassed…
You can find Clicker Heroes on Armor Games.
Captain Catnap’s Witchhunt by Pixel Paladin — Dann Sullivan
Captain Catnap’s Witchhunt is an isometric action RPG which captures the feeling of early adventure games, even in its early stages.
You adventure around the planet which Captain Catnap has crash landed on, seeking out the Witch who has stolen the battery that you need to escape. As the project was made for the Indie Game Making Contest 2018, which ran through November of this year, it’s not fully feature complete. However, there are several temples and boss fights in the current build already. As well as a selection of weapons, each — as with metroidvania games — unlocking access to further elements of the map.
At the moment Captain Catnap is a little bit light in certain areas. The enemy selection is exceptionally limited, and there isn’t much guidance towards the first objective to establish the style of game. A greater variety of enemies, and a few more traps in the place of the currently overly-dense basic enemies and the developer, Pixel Paladin, will be onto a good thing.
All of that said, Captain Catnap’s Witchhunt is still definitely worth the 10-15 minutes it asks for. It delivers on many of those early Zelda, and adventure game, tropes.
You can find Captain Catnap’s Witchhunt on Itch.io.
[Edit: As it turns out, the developer removed this game from Itch.io and the internet]
Super Chevalier by Rature — David T. Bosquez
A little over three weeks ago, I started keeping tabs on a game jam that was called the “1-Button Jam 2018” out of my own interest in a current topic among peers about accessibility in games.
This happened to be what the jam was all about. I was curious about how other developers would go about implementing such elements into their games. To my surprise, quite a few others found the concept interesting as well, and 119 people followed the jam. Out of those, 44 entries are available to play right now. The one I was most impressed with is Super Chevalier.
With only one button, you navigate your hero through increasingly difficult platform levels while dodging traps, solving puzzles, and slaying enemies. The game is very easy to grasp, and with multiple mechanics that are added incrementally throughout, it adds something new to change things up as you progress.
I highly recommend anyone give this free game a shot, and if you’re interested, keep an eye out for the follow-up jam, the “2-button Jam 2018” starting on the December 9th, or just check it out after the end of the jam on the 16th!
You can find Super Chevalier on Itch.io.
Becalm by Colorfiction — Jupiter Hadley
Sometimes, instead of playing a game that requires me to solve puzzles or use strategy, I much rather just let some beautiful place consume my mind. Occasionally, I look for something that may border on the widly perceived definition of ‘game’, and instead will allow me to wander and take in a world so different from the one that I am currently residing in.
Becalm is a walking simulator, minus the walking. Instead of moving, you are put on a boat, with a random destination each time you boot up the game.
The boat knows where it is going and where it is taking you, even if you are unsure. The sea around you is ever changing — rocks or mountains in the distance, fish breaking through the surface, a pink sky showing you a sunset as you continue to bob along the water. You can look around and take pictures as you move through this soft, colorful world. This world isn’t hyper realistic, and something like the Northern Lights sometimes bring more color and mystery to the sky. The world continues to look bright, interesting, and just beautiful. And, sometimes, it is just good to let it consume you and hold you in this peaceful, stunning place. The game then closes once you have reached your destination, delivering you back to the world you started in.
You can find Becalm on Itch.io.
Disclaimer: Jupiter Hadley, one of the website owners, is an Adept Game Wizard for Armor Games. You can read more information on our disclaimers here.
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