Ohhhhh, sometimes I can't get enough of that old-school retro-styled CRT TV in the living room playing games when I'm supposed to be learning my multiplication tables goodness! An incredibly low-res Quake-inspired game is a heavy dose of nostalgia, but pile on top of that a short Lucas Arts-style adventure game and an unofficial sequel to a near-forgotten NES title, stick a Post-It note on the front, and you've got a recipe for a relaxed weekend.
Heed (Windows, 12MB, free) - A short adventure game created using the AGS engine by Ben Chandler, author of Annie Android. The unnamed protagonist is in a bit of a philosophical mood, questioning the purpose of his existence from the beginning of the game. A curious-looking fly initiates a series of events that both answers his questions and raises more. Great scenery, an intriguing plot and a delicious soundtrack make up for the easy puzzles.
Kung Fu 2 (Windows, 9.6MB, free) - Oh, here's a good one to bring back some fond memories. Remember the old Irem game for NES called Kung Fu? Yes, you remember the burlap sack sound effects, stiff controls and endless barrage of foes you couldn't wait to take down. Well, Gary Gasko has gone and created an unofficial sequel with better visuals, better sounds, and better control. Cleverly titled Kung Fu 2, this nostalgia trip features nine stages and a surprisingly accurate reproduction of the original game's mechanics. You know, only... better.
QQUAK (Windows, 1.5MB, free) - A low-res first person shooter inspired by the likes of Quake and Wolfenstein 3D. Walk around the small arena shooting pink enemies that spawn and grabbing ammo and health from the blue crates that appear. Stay alive, make your opponents stay not-alive, and you're good to go! Three maps, four weapons, and an infinite number of single-color enemies to shoot makes it surprisingly fun. I love low-res FPS games! (See 8-bit Killer for another great example.)
Post I.T. Shooter (Windows, 7.5MB, free) - Another game created for the Experimental Gameplay Project's Unexperimental Shooter theme, this little gem by Crayon Physics creator Petri Purho is made entirely out of Post-It notes. Invading aliens (made of Post-Its) wobble in from the right, shooting Post-It bullets at your Post-It ship. Fire your own Post-It weapon through the Post-It sky to turn the Post-It aliens into Post-It explosions!
Note: All games have been confirmed to run under Windows Vista and are virus-free. Mac users should try Boot Camp, Parallels, or CrossOver Games to play Windows titles, Linux users can use Wine. If you know of a great game we should feature, use the Submit link above to send it in!
Just played Heed from beginning to end. It was... interesting.
"Interesting" is an interesting word.
just finished playing heed. I really liked it and it made me think about things while i was playing it.
Yes, Heed was pretty awesome. But now that I look back on it,
are there different endings depending on what you chose for your reason to find the monastery? I chose that I wanted more out of life, and that's what the monk talked about at the end of the game.
Hmm. I think "interesting" would be an apt beginning of a description for Heed. Unfortunately, I cannot think of more, because I just saw a fly, and I'm about to follow it to see if it will help me make sense out of life.
I am fully behind describing Heed as 'interesting'.
Funny little game that.
sjdhalkjfgs:
The ending doesn't change, no.
I'm playing Heed right now... the soundtrack is giving me a headache, although I'm just at the beginning. It sounds like some kind of broken stringed instrument.
Danny: It reminded me of an old radio from the 1920s. :-)
Heed is exactly the type of game that I needed to play right now. A deep, yet simple, game that gives you something to think about. It certainly fit the bill.
We need more games like this.
I think Heed is kind of a "BS" deep game. i'm putting why in spoiler tags just in case.
you spend the first half of the game following a fly, and being told something about spirits being the past who are watching the future, which is your present, but at the second half, when you yourself turn into a fly, there is nothing about time travel. that being said, they say that the fly is a tangible representation of god? then why can't everyone see him? or for that matter, why can't GOD, the all-powerful being he is supposed to be by being GOD, make ONE tangible representation? why does he need to replace it every century to stop himself from dying? and for my last question, if you become a fly, and you-as-a-fly is the new tangible representation of god...does that mean you have just become god? what happened to the old god? was (s)he a normal person before they were god like i was? the whole thing seems set up as a deep story, but there's a lot of really sacrilegious holes... just something to think about, fellow JIG-sters...
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