Social awareness as a shooter, the majesty of nature as devouring helpless woodland critters, a battle for your soul against a guy with no eyes and an alien in a thong, and bow-based arena shooting with a jaunty feathered cap. No, it's not the weirdest round of Whose Line is it Anyway?, it's Link Dump Friday!
Social Dysphoria The Game - [Parental Warning: Explicit Language] Nichole Brauer uses a retro style and arcade shooter gameplay to spread a little awareness on one of the most seemingly innocuous and yet frustratingly common and hurtful things a transgender person faces... incorrect pronouns. Your job is to dodge or blast the incorrect gender pronouns being flung at you by an angry robot who doesn't think you look anything like what a man/woman is "supposed" to look like, while nabbing the correct pronouns as they fall. It's a simple game, and one that some people dealing with transgender issues may find upsetting or triggering, but, though "not intended to be taken seriously" or as an attack on cis-gendered folk, still serves as a reminder that a little social awareness never hurt anyone.
Bird of Prey - Though just a prototype, this simple Unity game about playing a mother bird trying to find and return with food for her nest of young is still plenty enjoyable. You soar around the map, finding small animals and returning to your fledglings with them... though chances are mastering the finer points of flight will take a while, since birds apparently make it look easier than it is to aim. It's bare bones at the moment, but if fully fleshed out with more areas, and perhaps seasons and/or day/night cycles, could provide a compelling experience. Unless you're like me and your gut reaction to large birds is less marvel and more squawking and flailing your arms in alarm. (See one parrot take off a guy's earlobe, never forget it.)
Mond Cards - Ryan Melmoth's... interactive art... card game... story... thingy... sure is... something. Stuck in a card battle against an eyeless creep and forced to play for your most precious possession (yourself), victory seems impossible since you don't know the rules and he's not telling. Featuring a headcrab in a pink thong and that guy from Jabba's Palace (or was it the Cantina?), it's definitely got a surreal, unique vibe and is more about the story and setting than actually winning. Like weird things? Then check this out.
Medieval Rampage 3 - It's been four years since Medieval Rampage 2, and I still haven't figured out how exactly one goes on a rampage, Lana, with a bow and arrow without getting tackled after the first shot has fired. Regardless, Christopher Gregorio's brave felt cap'd hero is back for another round of arena-based shooting against endless swarms of fantasy monsters... or play capture the flag. Or amass territory. Or just fill other players full of arrows. Whichever. It's not quite the same addictive beast it once was, but it's still fun.
I'm slightly disappointed that shooting the "wo" off of "woman" doesn't make it count as a male term. I expect shooting "tomboy" down to "tom" or "boy" wouldn't work either. I suppose it would be unfair to those playing the game as women, since they wouldn't get any similar options.
Mond Cards was... perplexing. Is there any way to actually win the games or does the same thing happen no matter which cards you pick?
In regards to Social Dysphoria The Game, I was going to say the same thing as Bill. I accidentally shot the WO a few times and then mistakenly collected the MAN.
I love the concept though I think it'd be better as a puzzle platformer, where you collect the correct pronouns and the incorrect ones are enemies. As an arcade shooter it gets boring very quickly.
As someone with transsexual friends I've seen how just being called "Sir" on the phone can really tear someone down. I hope we see more of these types of games from developers.
Um, what on earth was Mond Cards all about?
I assume it's fully scripted, and the card choices one makes have no impact, but I'm not even sure of that.
LSD + Hotline Miami + Online Poker = Monds Cards
The article doesn't suggest it can be won (He simply muses that if you could win it would change the narrative), and I suspect that it can't be won.
The rules of the game (especially the first round) suggest that if the game could be won somebody who plays it will manage to do so just by virtue of probability. Even if you assume that only one possible selection of three cards results in victory your odds are a little worse than 4%, which suggests roughly one in 25 players should win the first round completely by coincidence.
Of course, if somebody does win then it turns into a game of figuring out the rules which would actually be pretty rad and fun.
Something that I found about it.
You can 'kind of' win, just leave the window open for a bit after the third round. Then something happens.
Mond Cards needs an explicit language warning as well. Those are some frisky minions.
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