Hangovers, guns, and retro roguelike games. Sounds like a typical Saturday night in the 80s. This weekend, however, we're celebrating the good ole days casual gaming style, which results in less money spent, fewer blackouts, and absolutely no inexplicable bruises.
Rainbow Web II (Windows/Mac, 24MB, demo) - A colorful and uniquely varied puzzle game that does a great job making you forget what genre you're supposed to be experiencing. Not only do you have to line up colored orbs (which can only be swapped with other orbs connected via web), you also have to spell words, find hidden objects, and complete a sliding puzzle or two. It's an extremely varied game, especially for a match three puzzle title, all set in a beautiful fantasy world with a gorgeous storybook presentation.
Gun Mute (Windows/Mac/Linux, <1MB, free) - Set in a futuristic wild west, Gun Mute is a great piece of interactive fiction that strips away a few of the genres conventions without sacrificing story or gameplay. You can only move forwards or backwards, and you don't have to worry about gathering tons of items and using them in odd ways. But puzzles are still there, they're still tricky, and you'll do a lot of shooting, which is... unusual for a text adventure.
The Hangover (Windows, 1.3MB, free) - Inspired by games such as Passage, The Hangover takes you through each stage of recovering from, shall we say, overindulgence in certain grain-based beverages. Perhaps not as deep or meaningful as, say, The Marriage, but is an interesting experiment nonetheless. Comes with a seizure warning for a very good reason.
Powder (Windows/Mac/Linux, ~1MB, free) - A tiny, graphical roguelike that would feel right at home on the Game Boy Color. Descend into the depths of the dungeon, fighting monsters and gathering loot, until you reach the foul daemon known as Baezl'bub. Slay the beast in heroic combat, then ascend twenty five levels to the surface with his black heart.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: The Hangover is not a game.
LOL.
In other words, don't try this at home?
When reviewing demos, could you mention how the demo is limited? I don't bother with time-limited games (I think that includes everything from Big Fish), but content-limited demos (like Puzzle Quest) are great.
Ow, my ears. Ow, my eyes! Where did you find something like The Hangover? That was really painful, but I guess that was the point.
Powder is awesome great find
I wish my hangovers were as exciting as that. The ability to spin 360 degrees in the air and no headache? Sign me up.
Sweet! I'd always ignored the WDs because I figured none of the games would run under Linux. And extra sweet, because I love IF :)
(I keep meaning to go back through the archives and see if any of the more interesting games will run properly under Wine.. but honestly, it's often not worth the hassle.)
I would strongly recommend that people play Gun Mute, especially if you don't usually play IF games. It's great fun and the puzzles make you think, but none require any of the ridiculous leaps of logic often found in IF, such as combining the crab with the broom. Also, it launches as an executable, so you don't need to get any other software for it.
I want to play a game where you combine a crab with a broom. Does it exist, or are you a big tease?
I am especially enjoying Powder. It seems a bit less punishing than Nethack, and the graphics are adorable.
I have a few questions!
1. Where would be the prefered place to post an 'This is now officially my fave gamehead site'comment
2. Could there be a genre slot for the increasing prevelant 'brain training' type of game? I dont see it as fitting into puzzles or arcade comfortably
3. Am I a loony or does this background look like a closeup of a green jumper/dishcloth?
4. Im putting a brew on who wants a cuppa?
Gun Mute was surprisingly unique and refreshing. Thanks for posting it. Here, I even made a walkthrough for you guys (which shouldn't be necessary, really, since it's a rather short game - but anyways, maybe you're like me and didn't get the perfect score on your first try).
Note: a lot of the looking around and examining things in the walkthrough below is optional, or merely to pass time (used instead of typing "wait"). And yes, in most fights timing IS essential. When in doubt, always seek cover and try to observe your opponents attack pattern. Also, many enemies cannot be shot at directly - examine your surroundings thoroughly to find things to shoot instead.
Radiation Plains:
look at plainswoman
examine spear
point at spear
look at fluid
wave at plainswoman
drink the pot of strange liquid
onward
Rocky Hill:
onward
Corral:
look at sue
look at hank
draw
shoot sue
shoot hank
reload
holster
onward
Saloon Front:
duck!
draw
stand
shoot gene
reload
holster
onward
Saloon:
look at rowdy juanita
look at ceiling
draw
shoot chandelier
holster
examine juanita
examine program crystal
remove program crystal
kiss juanita
onward
Train Station:
look at gatling gun fiona
cover
draw
examine turret
stand
shoot hose
reload
holster
onward
Church of Wrathzor:
duck!
draw
look at windows
stand
shoot window
reload
holster
onward
Graveyard:
duck!
draw
look at mickey
stand
shoot eye
reload
holster
onward
Derelict Reactor:
draw
look at glow-in-the-dark earl
duck
look at catwalk
look at girder
look at roots
stand
shoot bolts
shoot canister
shoot pipeline
duck!
stand
shoot pipeline
shoot pipeline
reload
onward
Polluted Slums:
forward
look at atomic april
shoot jar
shoot symbol
shoot jar
shoot jar
shoot brain
reload
holster
onward
Undertaker's:
look at solemn gertrude
look at coffins
wait
wait
wait
wait
wait
wait
wait
nod
Back Street:
look at raoul
draw
take cover behind sickly tree
take cover behind wooden fence
take cover behind restaurant table
take cover behind cart
take cover behind market stall
holster
onward
Town Centre:
look at sheriff clayton
look at elias
look at execution bot
look at lever
look at rope
look at sky
nod
nod
wait
wait
wait
draw
shoot rope
shoot lever
shoot sheriff
shoot sheriff
shoot sheriff
shoot sheriff
reload
holster
onward
Under the Gallows:
look at elias
kiss elias
Lifeless Park:
look at gun-run raoul
look at gatling gun fiona
look at solemn gertrude
look at elias
onward
Rowdy Juanita's Saloon:
look at rowdy juanita
drink wasteland wine
nod OR shake head
*** THE END ***
Congrats, you should now have all (20/20) points!
There's also a slight exploitable bug:
When using "give gun to ..." at your first encounter (with Sue and Hank), you draw your gun without anyone noticing it. If you then continue to shoot the two, they will continue talking (but still register as dead).
Typing 'xyzzy' in Gun Mute is pretty funny. Just don't do it unless you want to die.
For anyone interested, Rainbow Web 2 is also available for Mac OSX from SugarGames.com.
I submitted Powder. I've been totally addicted to it since I found it a few weeks ago. It has incredibly rich and balanced gameplay, having been developed over 5 years and over 100 releases. It has a much smoother sense of progression than nethack, I find. Indeed, as Snowy put it, it's much less punishing. There will still be times where you'll get teleported into a room of enemies too powerful for you, or fall into a pit of spikes and die, but precautions seem generally more effective, and the learning curve is more comfortable.
Is anyone else having trouble getting The Hangover to run at all? I'm using Vista, and double-clicking on the executable produces no visible results. (I suppose I should try compatibility settings or something.)
Vorpal:
In Gun Mute, I got my final, 20th point by
shaking my head, even though the game didn't seem to specifically alert me to it when I got the point. According to my full score list, the point was awarded "for forgiveness", and failing to shake my head would only result in a final score of 19/20, with the point for forgiveness being left off my list.
I didn't follow the walkthrough though, so it's possible you did something slightly differently than me.
Tayrin, regarding Gun Mute:
No, you are correct, you definitely have to
"shake head" at the end of the game in order to get the full score; I made a mistake there. Thanks for pointing it out. My full score list (with head shaking and all) reads:
1 point for drinking the plainswoman's potion,
7 points for killing members of the sheriff's posse,
1 point for trapping Juanita beneath the chandelier,
1 point for de-programming Juanita,
1 point for kissing Juanita,
1 point for scaring off Gatling Gun Fiona,
1 point for getting measured for your coffin,
1 point for easing Solemn Gertrude's mind,
1 point for surviving Gun-Run Raoul's onslaught,
2 points for saving Elias,
1 point for killing the sheriff,
1 point for kissing Elias,
1 point for forgiveness.
Update