Gamma4’s rejects are still pretty fun
February 20, 2010 | Peter Rambo
Because Gamma4 got a lot of submissions, and they were only able to select a handful to present at GDC, there were a lot of games that didn’t make the cut. But that doesn’t mean those games aren’t worthy of your time. I obviously haven’t played through them all — there are more than a hundred, at least — but here are a few to use as a starting point:
I’ve already pointed out War and Peace, and I’m kind of surprised the game didn’t get accepted because it’s a pretty brilliant simplification of a very complex game, Civilization. Your one button controls what research you’re doing, studying either war or peace. The developer suggests going for peace at the beginning in order to win, something I found to work as well.
Pax Britannica takes another complex genre, real-time strategy, and reduces it. In this case, up to four players each control a big ship that slowly builds up resources. How long you hold the button determines what unit the big ship releases. The longer you hold the button, the bigger the ship, but the more resources you consume. These smaller, automated ships duel each other or fire at the other players’ ships. Last ship alive wins.
Alec Holowka’s entry is on the opposite end of the spectrum. There’s a lot of stuff going on, but you only get one button to control what’s going on. C4Ke sets four players against each other in a battle for cake, with each controlling one castle. Each player has an airship that wanders the field picking up pieces of a cake in the middle. The player controls his or her castle’s turret, which aims back and forth. The goal is to collect as much cake as possible.
Finally, The American Dream is a series of mini games that represent the progress through life and death. You can either choose what games to play or start at birth. If you start at birth, the games come at you randomly. Each game represents a different stage in life: Kids, Sex, Work, ect. You play against the clock, trying to earn as many points as you can.
Many other rejects are hosted at TIGForums. Check them out.
[via TIGForums]
