The IndieCade showcase at E3 is where all of the hip and happenin’ indie gamers congregate, including us at DIYgamer. Over the last few days, several of us have gotten a chance to get familiar with the individuals behind IndieCade, the developers involved, and the games we all love so much. There’s something fresh and innovative about each of the titles on display at the IndieCade area, and over the next week or so, I’m sure we’ll be recounting whatever we played through and linking you to it (if they are indeed playable) so you can have some fun of your own! So without much further ado, here’s Vision by Proxy from Team Rose.

The IndieCade description of the game is as follows:

“A collection of students from the Computer Media and Digital Media program at Georgia Tech, Team Rose represents the growing talent and ambition found among today’s student game developers. Rarely has so much fuss been raised about how depressing a game ought to be but at our design meetings.”

Vision by Proxy is clearly a student project — and don’t take that with a negative connotation. What I mean is that it’s not a full-scale gaming experience but rather the representation of a wonderful idea. Moreover, it’s a taste of what else the developers can come up with. As a puzzle-platformer, Vision by Proxy draws on some excellent ideas that — while they aren’t all that extremely original since games such as Color Symphony utilize a similar scheme — are quirky enough to leave an impression on the player.

As a one-eyed alien who has crash-landed on earth, gamers explore the area and interact with a few humans: a gardener, an architect, and a little girl. Walking up to any of them will allow you to steal their eye — and ultimately see the world through their perception. You activate each by hitting the SHIFT key or any of the mapped 1, 2, 3, and 4 buttons. So, for example, the gardener’s eye will help you see blossoming plants in the area, which you can climb Mario-style. The architect’s eye will help you see the world more mathematically and provide you with new platforms jump across. And finally, the little girl will have you look at a world essentially imagined by a child: a huge cute puppy instead of a tall building, rainbows in the sky, and so forth. Each eye will give you some perception as to the world around you and help you progress — eventually setting you up well enough to fix your ship.

Don’t go thinking I ruined anything for you, because what’s most interesting about Vision by Proxy is how its straightforward demeanor integrates with the amateurish but attractive art design. It’s not all that depressing as Team Rose may think…but it’s certainly peculiar that an alien is going around stealing eyes from helpless individuals. Moreover, as this is a student project and a bit of a short trip, it will leave you wanting more and wondering. Vision by Proxy could use a bit more polish in the future, but what it mainly lacks in is content. I would have liked to play through more levels because had more characters and eyes been added, the designs could go to a whole new level.

We’ll be keeping an eye out for news coming from Team Rose. But if you want to try out Vision by Proxy, be my guest. For more info on the IndieCade, check out their official website.