Best Games, 2012

[Isaac Sauvage]

not necessarily issued in 2012... more like any high quality game found in the new year. personally i steer towards flash browser games and independent games, so that's probably what i'll be contributing:

...

here's a plumb formula racing game- slightly dumbed-down physics, but becomes nice and challenging the farther you go. neat feature #1- deciding between how much engine power, handling and nitro to allot prior to each track. neat feature #2- driving in the rain!



official link:
http://www.kongregate.com/games/turboNuke/formula-racer?acomplete=formula

full size / download link:
http://chat.kongregate.com/gamez/0010/9268/live/FormulaRacer.swf?kongregate_game_version=1302121585

...

meanwhile, "offroaders" is one of the highest quality games of its type i've played, i.e. "ivan stewart." great detail, good physics... gets quite demanding at the final levels.



official link:
http://www.kongregate.com/games/turboNuke/offroaders?acomplete=offr

full size / download link:
http://chat.kongregate.com/gamez/0013/4843/live/offroaders.swf

 

[mrschultz]

Best games I've been finding lately are old ones I never played like Empire Earth....

FYI: Good Old Games (gog.com) has 3 Pro Pinball games on sale this weekend, 3 dollars each.

Also a few months ago I found that Myst Uru was now open source, free, and still has people playing online. You can play it single player until you run into puzzles that require help.

http://mystonline.com/

 

[Shockman]

I like GOG as they put effort to have products work on newer hardware that out of the original box wouldn't anymore.

Good games are getting harder to find these days, which is OK as my interest in new games fades. It seems that 90% are ball droppers or ball shooters.

I like physics based games like World of GOO, and Angry Birds, and bridge builders. I like retro games best though.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

i have age of empires- mythologies edition for the DSXL. similar to empire earth, although it might be nice to play a full screen version.

thanks for the GOG mention- i'm eyeballing dungeon keeper on there, which i could never get running on later windows OS's. does that site do paypal?

 

[mrschultz]

thanks for the GOG mention- i'm eyeballing dungeon keeper on there, which i could never get running on later windows OS's. does that site do paypal?

Yes, that's how I pay for stuff there.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

scale of the universe 2 isn't a game, but it's a fun educational flash app. mouse scroll wheel zooms between the tiny and the enormous and all parts in-between. clicking on object yields a definition, a bit on the whimsical side. this flash program imparts that 'deep' feeling the more you play with it.



full size / download:
http://www.gameshot.org/games/games/ScaleOfUniverse20212.swf

normal link:
http://www.gameshot.org/?id=6687

...

recently i hit the jackpot in site finds, namely a place to enjoy carcassonne, settlers of catan, puerto rico and other such award winning games in browser. these are basically the modern classics of custom card games and board games.

note that you must play humans (friend or stranger), not AI opponents. for example, this is a fun way to enjoy a phone conversation with friend, chatting and lazily taking turns:
http://www.brettspielwelt.de/

the games:

side note- just discovered two of these free on android market. dominion is programmed as "androminion" and the card version of puerto rico is programmed as "condado." both with AI opponents.

 

[faralos]

some of you may have played this one on various game sites,
but try it on their home site. it plays so much better there,
and also on their site are a few other cool games!
http://www.dampgnat.com/wonderputt
This one is a beautiful game with you as a fox, and NO violence at all!
http://jayisgames.com/games/william-and-sly-2/
And this name caught my eye so of course I had to try it!
http://www.gamershood.com/16844/point-and-click/mosquito-and-cow
another gorgeous game and you must play it with headphones or earbuds to fully enjoy it!
http://jayisgames.com/games/symphony/
these are but some of my hundred or so games I love

 

[faralos]

now for the pins!
wouldn't ya' know it after I build a vp9 pin I find this one
http://www.gamemew.com/arcade-games/wall-e-pinball.html
and just when you think you beat the game, well, try this one too!
http://www.accoladegames.com/action-games/zombie-pinball.html
and ignore the crude graphics this one has depth!
http://www.85play.com/retro-arcade-games/1125/the-pinball-adventure.html
and although this one looks cute it is a tough little cookie!
http://www.gamesfree.com/game/power_pinball.html
hope you enjoy some of these

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

blockgineer 2: a very nice little puzzle game. place the directional boosters and such around the playfield so that the colored balls reach the correct destinations. not the first game of its type and not the most complex, but one of the better versions. also lets you design and share user levels.

full screen / downloadable link:
http://cache.armorgames.com/files/games/blockgineer-2-13027.swf

standard link:
http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?showtopic=17590&view=findpost&p=169322


me? i'm struggling with level 21 at the moment. feel free to top that.

 

[LeeVanCleef]

@nic: fuck you for that Offroaders link... there goes my day! As a super sprint/Ivan fan, that thing's right up my alley!
Yeah, you really need to upgrade to the computer Age of Mythology. That's one of the few games of those types I go back to every few years. Just a blast to play. Can't really recommend the Titans expansion, though. It turns the game into a race for a superweapon. Once someone gets a Titan, the game's pretty much over. There's supposed to be counterforces for it, but the Titan's so overpowered, it's pretty much a game ender, throwing strategy out the window. There's a new Age of Empires online game, but I hate playing online, so I haven't tried it. Looks like one of those games that lures you in with free play, but then you have to start shelling out money for all the cool stuff.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

haha, cool! and you just reminded me that i still need to order some games with GOG, like AoM or whatever. it seems like i spend 90% of my gaming time these days sorting through crap and only 10% enjoying something worth playing. anyway, yea... i stopped playing my beloved gunbound online game a while back because the s. korean company running it got more and more greedy and short-sighted over time. what started out as a cool "scorched earth"-inspired game got turned into a massive clusterfluff after a couple years, with all kinds of accessories and stupid gear weighing down the experience. didn't help that the artwork was anime-style inspired, either...

feel free to post any good game discoveries here!

 

[mrschultz]

Been through Dear Esther twice now, interesting stuff. Hard to call it a "game" more like a story told as you walk around, but the path you take does change the elements of the story. There's also a random element, many of the points in the walk have multiple versions of the story fragment you get at that point.

Beautiful graphics, and an interesting story, or fragment of a story. It's kind of hard to explain, it's like bits an pieces of a story that lead you to believe certain things happened a certain way, and depending on the order and which fragments you get the story you build in your head changes.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

any recommendation on which version of "dear esther" to try? i'm seeing anywhere from a free HL mod to a desodora(?) download to a $10 version on steam.

the steam version trailer looks good:
Dear Esther - Official Trailer - YouTube

 

[mrschultz]

any recommendation on which version of "dear esther" to try? i'm seeing anywhere from a free HL mod to a desodora(?) download to a $10 version on steam.

the steam version trailer looks good:
Dear Esther - Official Trailer - YouTube

I got the one on Steam.

If you want all the beautiful graphics and complete story I think you have to get the version on Steam. The free one is the original mod that was done years ago before the project got funding.

If you walk to all places on each area of the island it takes about 90 minutes to get through it. If you skip certain areas you can cut that down to an hour. And you can't run or jump, all you can do is walk or swim in different directions. Can't pick up or interact with anything. When you walk over certain spots parts of the story play. Other times there is music that is pretty good. And some of the story is what is painted on the walls of the cave (the cave is AMAZING) and areas along the paths, and some pictures and books lying around as you explore. Some of that is random as well, my second time through one book was missing.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

it sounds neat despite the issue of whether it's a game or not. i'm definitely down with entertainment, story-telling, quiet exploration. there were a couple atmospheric games i played like that a long time ago themed along 'deserted villages and castles featuring interactions with spirits'. i kind of miss those.

EDIT: dunno if you've seen the pastel flash adventures. they're not exactly the same thing, but are atmospheric, stylish, and generally satisfying to play. they range from easy 'escape the room' adventures to heavily plotted, multiple-chapter affairs. only advice i have is to play them full-sized, full-screened so you don't miss important details.


@bill,
feel free to share your progress on the offroaders game. i did acquire the top car but didn't finish (win) the last couple courses. a little competition to spur me on would not be a bad thing. :)

 

[mrschultz]

it sounds neat despite the issue of whether it's a game or not. i'm definitely down with entertainment, story-telling, quiet exploration. there were a couple atmospheric games i played like that a long time ago themed along 'deserted villages and castles featuring interactions with spirits'. i kind of miss those.

Dear Esther does have the feel of a ghost story, so you'll probably like it.

EDIT: dunno if you've seen the pastel flash adventures. they're not exactly the same thing, but are atmospheric, stylish, and generally satisfying to play. they range from easy 'escape the room' adventures to heavily plotted, multiple-chapter affairs. only advice i have is to play them full-sized, full-screened so you don't miss important details.

Haven't seen those, will have to check them out.

I've heard good things about the Blackwell adventure games, you can get all 4 on Steam for $20 now ($5 each for the first 3, then $5 off the most recent one if you buy the bundle). Might check them out next week.

@bill,
feel free to share your progress on the offroaders game. i did acquire the top car but didn't finish (win) the last couple courses. a little competition to spur me on would not be a bad thing. :)

I gave up on that offraoders game about half way through, takes me too many tries to win each track and get the next car...

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

for anyone wondering about the pastel flash adventures:
http://www.pastelgames.com/index,games,flash_games.html

warning: there are about three different art / story-telling styles. you might hate one type but love another type. just an FYI.


re: blackwell adventures,
interesting. they kind of look like those lucasarts adventures from way back when. "maniac mansion" was one of the first IIRC. only thing that feels pretty awkward is the voice-work on the youtube video i looked at. seemed pretty amateurish and annoying, or maybe i'm just a stickler.

 

[Shockman]

...
...
I gave up on that offraoders game about half way through, takes me too many tries to win each track and get the next car...

I ran into that before half way through.

Nitro is very effective and generous though. You are using that?

That's a problem with any racing game, especially like this one where you do not see the entire track in one view. Knowing the track and learning the line is the most important part in real racing, and in games with stiff competition. That's why the people, (the drivers), that know a track better than anyone, dedicate at least a day to practice every visit to the track, though they are observing conditions more than layout, lines sometimes change due to conditions.

What an excellent game has, and this one is lacking is a practice session and qualification for starting position.

Because of restarts though and self advancement, why not consider these losses as the practice session.

 

[mrschultz]

Yeah, seeing more of the track would help a lot in that game. To use the mini-map you've got to take your eyes off your car. Usually took me 5 runs to learn the track so I could time my turns and then a few more tries to get 1st place.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

it gets even more demanding on the later levels. not only do you need to have the shape of the track memorised, you need to have your whole route plotted out more-or-less precisely in order to deal with some sudden very tight squeezes, etc.

at first that really cheesed me off, then i realised that that's the epitome of many kinds of racing, which makes it closer to the real thing than other racing games which are breezier and too easy to solve. nevertheless i did lose motivation to finish at some point.

i thought the great thing about those two racing games is that they're easy to win and easy to enjoy through the middle races, but if you want to finish the whole game they turn in to real challenges.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

here's a really nice SHMUP named "starmada." the sequel to "starmageddon" if i'm spelling that right. has a very satisfying upgrade system, is kind to your progress made, neat graphics, lots of bullets flying in all directions just like you'd want, a creative smartbomb system, and interesting mini-bosses. my quibbles with the game are somewhat vanilla end-bosses and some color confusion between enemy shots and useful rewards to gather up. overall it's a definite winner, however. hope you enjoy.

download it here and be sure to play it fullscreen (F11 browser mode):
http://uploads.ungrounded.net/592000/592482_Starmada.swf

standard link:
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/592482


EDIT: apologies for not thanking people above for their contributions to the thread. fixed, now. i really enjoy sharing and receiving excellent games in a world full of mediocre games, so thank you very much!

 

[Shockman]

Speaking of mediocre games, that reminds me. Some of my games are at Softpedia and PCWorld (Poland).
http://games.softpedia.com/progMoreBy/Publisher-Phil-Shockley-23122.html
http://www.pcworld.pl/ftp/super.sprint.html

 

[LeeVanCleef]

Thanks for gathering your game links into one place, Shocky! Aren't you missing a few? I know you were working on Joust... and wasn't there a Galaga?

 

[LeeVanCleef]

@bill,
feel free to share your progress on the offroaders game. i did acquire the top car but didn't finish (win) the last couple courses. a little competition to spur me on would not be a bad thing. :)

Oh, you won't have to worry about having any competition! Just from reading about those later tracks, I can almost guarantee I won't get through them. Maybe if I was industrious enough to program my 360 gamepad, I'd stand a chance... but I'm not. And by accepting the fact that I'm a loser, baby, makes it more fun just diddling around with the first half of the tracks I've opened.

 

[Shockman]

http://sandbox.yoyogames.com/users/Shockman

This is all of them that have been released in any form. Finished, and WIPs. I put these up here at YoYo. The ones at Softpedia and PCWorld was put there by their own editors.

Joust is playable with many of the original features and 60 levels. Galaga is far from complete, it repeats the first two stages plus the first challenge stage, over and over, I think. I have a newer version at least that does that.
Space Invaders turned out well.

The main loop of Asteroids + is being rewritten, and will be updated soon. Some of the games at Softpedia are older versions.