The 2013 In Review Contest [Reviews: 94]

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The 2013 In Review Contest [Reviews: 94]

Post by SDHawk »

There's a whole bunch of games that were released in 2013 that have had no reviews or even comments written about them (Roughly 20 out of the 35 on this year's list). Let's fix that.

GOAL:

As individuals, to review every game released in 2013. (But it's still okay to contribute less than that!)

RULES:
  • * Write a review for each game!
    * Try to make each review at least 3 paragraphs long! But if you can't, that's okay!
    * Post a link to (or the review itself) in this thread!
    * Do it for every game on the list before June 30th, 2014.
    * It's okay to post reviews you wrote before this contest started! As long as it covers the latest version of the game as of 2013.
    * Except in cases of reviews you wrote before the contest started, PLEASE try to make a post in this thread for EACH review you write instead of compiling several into a single post. People primarily look at this thread to check for new reviews, and can miss them when posted primarily in other spots. Make the contest feel alive! Make it easy for people to comment on new reviews as they get made!
Check out 2011's thread and 2012's thread for an idea of how this goes.

PRIZE:

Your own satisfaction for a job well done, and a warm glow from helping other people.

Can't decide which game to choose?

Image

THEN SPIN... THE WHEEL!

FAQ:

Q: I've never written a review before / I'm bad at writing! I shouldn't enter, right?
A: WRONG. Authors aren't necessarily looking for exhaustive critiques of their games. They're looking for feedback! Having only English Major reviewers with 20-page reviews as the only piece of feedback received makes authors feel like no one else is even playing their game.

Q: I have months to write these things! Whoooo! Time to forget about this for months!
A: There are THIRTY FIVE GAMES released this year. And some of them are really long! If you want to take a decent chunk of reviews out you need to start playing NOW. So set aside your laziness, and start to reminiscence on 2013 before it's too late.

Q: Do I have to review my own games?
A: Yes! Most authors go for a "director's commentary" style for their own games, but the exact format that you review your own work in is up to you.

List of 2013 Games

ace of swords [Gizmog1] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Alice Is Trapped [Gizmog1] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Anica [crowtongue] [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Back to Basics Collection 1: Save the Princess [crowtongue] [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Bloodlust v 1.2 [Spoonweaver] [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Bob the Hamster in the Crypt of Baconthulhu [Meowskivich] [Charbile] [Gizmog1]
C. Kane [Spoonweaver] [Gizmog1] [Meatballsub] [Charbile]
Cat in Box [Spoonweaver] [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Double Pumping [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Entrepreneur: The Beginning [Spoonweaver] [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Ep1cQuest - Proem Pack [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
FoolsQuest against the All-Seeing-Eye [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Gomie's Christmas Surprise! [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Jumpman [Spoonweaver] [Charbile] [Gizmog1]
LASERTAG [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Meh 2.0 [Fenrir] [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Motrya (Chapter Two) [Meatballsub] [Spoonweaver] [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Ninja Noah's Zombie Planets [Meatballsub] [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
NPC Life [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Project Catapillar [Spoonweaver] [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Questicle [Spoonweaver] [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Return to Airia (Demo Only) [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Scare Spree [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Space Robot [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Spooky Times [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Stenmele Osmium v4 [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Stone Wings [Meatballsub] [Gizmog1] [Spoonweaver] [Charbile]
The Absolute [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
The Dungeons of Koh-Lah'B [Charbile] [Gizmog1]
TheSuperAmazingBlueBallGame [Meowskivich] [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Time and Time Again [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Timmy's Maze [Spoonweaver] [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Undeadliest [Gizmog1] [Charbile]
Unofficial 2013 Great Review Contest Random Game Chooser [Fenrir] [Charbile] [Gizmog1] [Spoonweaver]
Woryurs of Woberyun [Gizmog1] [Charbile]

Optional Games

Games that are deemed too short, too shallow, not a game/entertainment, or to have too little new content for the year. Review at your own risk. (This category can be contested)

Gizchiro's Random Collab
IhopeIfinisthis.RPG [Spoonweaver]
Monster Game - Tech Demo
Simple
Stampo! (Version 1.0)
The Fix-it Machine


Game Criteria:
  • * Was either released in 2013 or had a major update in 2013 (a major update is an update which contains significant new content rather than just bug fixes). This rule is more lenient when the game is old enough that it hasn't been in a review contest before.
    * Is not a tool or example.
    * Certain 2012 games that were updated in 2013 weren't included this year because of holding the 2012 review contest late in the year.
Updates:

Nothing yet!

HALL OF FAME (Reviewers who have completed the challenge)

Charbile: 2011
JSH357: 2011
Spoonweaver: 2011
Gizmog1: 2012

Charts n' graphs

Image Image

Can the community raise the bar?!

Reviewer Leaderboard:

Gizmog1: 35 [Completed May 28th, 2014]
Charbile: 35 [Completed May 31st, 2014]
Spoonweaver: 14
Meatballsub: 4
Meowskivitch: 2
crowtongue: 2
Fenrir: 2
Last edited by SDHawk on Sun Jun 01, 2014 12:12 pm, edited 16 times in total.
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Post by Meatballsub »

Question, would this preview count as a review? I technically made this preview days before C. Kane was released to the public. It is a little short, but let me know if it will do (or if I need to make another one).

Motrya Chapter Two Review
Ninja Noah's Zombie Planets Review
Stone Wings Review
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Post by Meowskivich »

If I do it again, it'll be in comic form...dag, is it really review time again? it feels like it was only two months ago since last time.
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Post by Meowskivich »

It may be berries, but the scent of banana fills my inner nasal area.
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Post by Meowskivich »

And since my teacher has finally got back with me, this is the last review I'll probably be doing today.
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Post by SDHawk »

Meatballsub wrote:Question, would this preview count as a review? I technically made this preview days before C. Kane was released to the public. It is a little short, but let me know if it will do (or if I need to make another one).
While it's certainly possible for a detailed near-release preview to qualify, this one is so ambiguous I don't think I can really accept it as a review.

Update: After seeing Charbile's quality of reviews, I decided to include it anyway.
Last edited by SDHawk on Mon May 26, 2014 9:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

@Meowskivich: that review was worth it just for the fan-art of the purple-monster alone :)

Although dropped gold could overwrite treasure in the old 2009 version, that should not be possible in the 2013 release. If you kill an enemy that is standing on a treasure, it should not drop any gold at all.
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Post by The Wobbler »

Meow Man you really need a better font for these comics, it looks like butt and your text is really cramped.
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Post by Meowskivich »

Bob the Hamster wrote:@Meowskivich: that review was worth it just for the fan-art of the purple-monster alone :)

Although dropped gold could overwrite treasure in the old 2009 version, that should not be possible in the 2013 release. If you kill an enemy that is standing on a treasure, it should not drop any gold at all.
I do believe it's the 2013 release, as I didn't download the 2009 when it came out. It's got a donation button on the thing, so...
But yeah, there was a battleaxe and a monster (I think one of the green squiddys) overwrote it with 1 or 3 gold.
The Wobbler wrote:Meow Man you really need a better font for these comics, it looks like butt and your text is really cramped.
It's AppleKid font and it ain't gunna change.
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Post by Spoonweaver »

Ok, I guess I'll be doing this review contest yet again. I'll have to go back and see all the games I've already reviewed but I'll cover my own games first just to clear things up for the real reviews.


So, Cat in Box. The idea for this game came during an evening out with a good friend of mine. I had brought up that I was going to start putting games on to the android and my friend suggested I make the biggest sell out game possible. We both joked about it for a while, talking about what it should be and how it should work. Later, when I was actually at my computer I decided on sort of a whim to actually make it and surprised myself how by making it so quickly.
Of course, once I finished it, I ended up going back and adding several things to it. I made different game modes, added in secret levels (you can jump past the box if you time your jump just right, which will lead to a new background and graphics) and I also added in controls specifically for android ports. At this point I was showing it around he community and Harlock basically stepped up and said he'd do all the graphics because he felt the game needed to be more "kawaii".
Needless to say, when I showed the game to my friend later he was floored. It's not everyday you get drunk, design and game and then later have that game actually get made. Though not mentioned in the read me and with no chance of seeing a dime of the small amount of money the game made on the android market place, my friend Alex did have a lot to do with the creation of this game. Thanks Alex.



Questicle is one of those games that would never be made outside of the contest it was entered into. With the idea of making a tiny game being the focus of the contest I decided to make a mini game. I've since thought about actually including this game into another of my games as a mini game, but I haven't really found the right project to include it into yet.
The item behind the game is likely pretty clear. It's basically a super simplified adventure game. There were originally a few more monsters planned for the game, but the limits of the contest lead me to remove them. So if you wish you could fight a beholder, wolf, or golem; blaim Mogri. :V
Speaking of things that might have been, this was originally just suppose to be a lights out game. However, making random 5 by 5 lights out puzzles that can actually be solved turned out to be a lot of work. If I could have found a good formula or method of coming up with random, solvable 5 by 5 lights out puzzles questicle would likely not exist.
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Post by Spoonweaver »

To add to the review listing I'd like to include the weekly game talks that feature games that are on this game review list. I'm going to consider these as my reviews for these games. There were 2 others (scare spree/stone wing) but I didn't actually review those games in the threads and overall they didn't even end up getting much attention at the time.


Motrya
Bloodlust
C. Kane
Entrepreneur
Last edited by Spoonweaver on Fri May 09, 2014 10:57 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

Meowskivich wrote: I do believe it's the 2013 release, as I didn't download the 2009 when it came out. It's got a donation button on the thing, so...
But yeah, there was a battleaxe and a monster (I think one of the green squiddys) overwrote it with 1 or 3 gold.
Hmmm.... that is really strange! I just double-checked the code, and I can't figure out how that could have possibly happened. Thank you for reporting it, I will try to reproduce it.

Code: Select all

script, monster drops treasure, ref, begin
  variable(x, y)
  x := npc x(ref)
  y := npc y(ref)
  if(is item at spot(x, y)) then(exit script)
  if(percent(monster item rate)) then(
    # create an item
    create item(x, y, get monster item(ref))
  )else(
    # create money
    create treasure(x, y, 100)
  )
end
The good news is that the battleaxe isn't that great. it is really no better than the sword. it does more damage, but it tires you out a lot faster
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Post by Gizmog »

Meowskivich wrote:
The Wobbler wrote:Meow Man you really need a better font for these comics, it looks like butt and your text is really cramped.
It's AppleKid font and it ain't gunna change.
The futility of criticism in two lines. Will some people aka meowski ever learn?
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Post by Meowskivich »

Gizmog wrote:
Meowskivich wrote:
The Wobbler wrote:Meow Man you really need a better font for these comics, it looks like butt and your text is really cramped.
It's AppleKid font and it ain't gunna change.
The futility of criticism in two lines. Will some people aka meowski ever learn?
likely not, I'm a rebel with a half-cause.
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Post by crowtongue »

ANICA

Anica is a very short dystopian sci-fi adventure game, featuring minimalist graphics and music and some interesting concepts. I was particularly fond of the music which features a decent amount of tracks that help create a cool atmosphere for the game. The graphics, while serviceable, can sometimes be a bit confusing to look at. I get that it is going for an abstract approach, but I felt that sometimes it ended up being a jumble of scribbles rather than an interesting juxtaposition of lines. This is worst at the end of the opening cutscene where the camera focuses on an inane jumble of lines. Still, I found the starting room charming, and the bar that has an image as the floor of the building works quite well. The Hertindome also has an interesting bunch of animated color squares that I thought was a nice touch.

There are no battles to speak of in Anica, so it's just finding where to go and reading the text. I won't spoil anything of the story since it's so short, but I found the writing needlessly verbose at times, and more than a couple of times there was something written so awkwardly it broke the immersion for me. The opening cutscene comes to mind where it describes the citizens of the city as "thriving to analyze."

Still that being said this was interesting enough for me to finish it and wish that it were longer. The creator of this game clearly has an interesting vision, and I would hope that they pick this back up again at some point.
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