Got your ears turned on? Sound Blaster plugged in? Hearing aid charged and ready to go? This edition of Weekend Download is mostly about sound. Songs and music, perhaps, or a machine voice that spits back insults as you type at it. Either way, crank up the volume and get ready to go!
Death from a 1000ft Fall (Windows/Mac/Linux, free) - A very creative use of Twine, the interactive narration creation tool. You're falling to your death one screen at a time and must try to slow your descent by making a series of choices. Change your position, choose a landing spot, check your surroundings, dig through your pockets and even take a deep breath and try to relax. The decisions you make affect how fast you fall, and they range from the believable to the absurd. Either way, it's a great diversion-sized game with over 500 pieces of artwork to check out.
Dreamcake Rescue (Windows, free) - A sound-based puzzle platform game that will take you by surprise. Dreamcake is out to rescue her boyfriend, but the only way she can get through each exit is by singing certain notes. Problem is, her skills are fairly limited. By picking up and moving creatures around, she can change her tune and coax the tree into letting her pass. Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. And then you'll keep playing and playing.
Sinister Names (Windows, free) - Possibly one of the most unusual games featured on a Weekend Download. Sinister Names is a "game" about talking to a bird. The bird asks you to type things, then you respond. The problem is the bird's voice is pretty unintelligible at first, and when he asks you to spell something, your first reaction will be "Say... what?". You'll type something anyway, of course, which sends the whole thing spiraling into a land of creepiness and confusion. Sit with it for several minutes and see what happens. It's worth it.
Death from a 1000 Ft Fall was fun, and has replay value.
Dreamcake won't open for me. When I closed the blank game window, I got an error log in the parent folder - I am running Java 7 and the site says you need to run Java 6+ so I'm not sure what the issue is.
Sinister Names is inexplicably compelling, and definitely creepy.
After you get the hang of what's expected of you, you can't help but keep trying to figure out that bird's weird words, which is difficult enough in his gravely computer generated voice but which is nearly impossible with its verbal tic. And then suddenly the bird sometimes doesn't chide your bad spelling but instead scares the bejesus outta you.
Very interesting and well done though it does get boring after a while.
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