DIYgamer

IGF Submission Picks: ‘Shadow Shoppe’ and ‘Hell is Other People’

As the day of the next Independent Games Festival draws nearer, the finalists prepare for an incredible experience at the Game  Developers Conference in March. On the other hand, we at DIYgamer are still sifting through the list. Last year, we began a countdown to the Independent Games Festival. The way this works is easy: we simply select games at random from the lengthy (originally 306, then reduced to 301) list of IGF submissions and discuss what they’re about and how they play. For this week’s column, I played through a memory game unlike any other in Shadow Shoppe and a little shooter with a very unique twist in Hell is Other People.

Before starting this I want to emphasize that this is only meant to give you my impressions and perhaps that extra kick to try out some of the IGF submissions, whether they be these or any of the other 301. I assure you, you will discover that there is something unique about each and every game. And hey, if you’re lucky, some of them (like these) are even playable for free! All right, without further ado, here are this week’s picks.

Where is fat? I can’t find fat in this list of adjectives.

That’s because Shadow Shoppe is not centered around physical descriptions. Well, in a sense, it is: you are shown a shadow and must select whatever trait you believe describes that shadow. After going through a number of them, the game will provide you with the trait(s) you chose and you are then tasked with picking out the shadow you originally applied them to. Sounds easy? At first, maybe.

When you make it through the first couple stages of the game, however, you realize that it truly is a difficult task. For one thing, the adjectives aren’t words such as short, fat, thin, etc. (for the most part, at least) but instead are along the lines of wealthy, sloppy, frail, etc. These are characteristics and traits of somebody that aren’t easily described or attained through the physical shape of a shadow. Obviously, Singapore-MIT Gambit Game Lab’s creation shines for this one very reason: it’s an experiment and an assessment. Shadow Shoppe was created “with the intention to collect data on how people associated character traits with body shapes.” That being said, this is the easiest way to take part in an experiment. How’s that for experimental gameplay?

Play Shadow Shoppe at this location.

Hell is other people…who tend to suck sometimes.

v21’s Hell is Other People is a lovely experimental shooter. The catch is that the enemies you are fighting are ghosts of other people that have fought before you. Isn’t that just great? Each time you defeat your opponent, you will face more foes until well…your ship is almost immovable (assuming you’re good enough). For me, the concept (and the music) is eerie: I’m playing against someone else but not really. Setting my fears aside, however, the game is such a fresh concept that I’m surprised it didn’t earn a nomination.

If we can expect more stuff like Hell is Other People from v21 then we know they will certainly be back in the 2011 IGF. In the meantime, you can give the game a go right here. Oh, and it’s on Unity…gotta love that engine!

All right, that’s it for this week. See you next time and as always, happy Monday!