Kevin Cole
patreon
Cool Stuff from the SuperTry Grab Bag Jam
🕑 Added 2023-04-22 15:01:00 +0000 UTCHey everybody,
Here are my favorite submissions from the SuperTry Grab Bag Jam in no particular order:
Spinalization by Axol Studio takes the god game format and removes the tedious micromanagement associated with the genre to focus on the *enjoyable* micromanagement associated with the genre.
Your input includes working within a budget to buy berry bushes, weapons, and children for a fledgling human race but after you've made your purchases you pull a slot machine arm and let Space Jesus take the wheel.
I've lost more than a few civilizations early on to wily wolves and bears but once you get a handle on sustaining your humans (fire good!), the game starts to feel less random and more like controlled chaos.
I'd love to see the ideas of this game taken even farther but I think what's presented here elegantly and artfully evokes the god game feeling.
Spinalization is a fun time and playable in your browser!
Skot Rockcrusher and the Secret Dwarven City by Matthew Tucciarone is a Dwarven slacker riff on SCUMM-style adventure games that I didn't know I desperately needed.
The whole game feels warm and hand crafted from the pixel art to the DOS-y Peer Gynt arrangement to the delightfully snippy Monkey Island style dialogue. There's a "one-shot tabletop game session with your friends" feeling that permeates the whole work that I am incredibly susceptible to.
I found myself cackling both when my brilliant inventory puzzle solutions worked and didn't work. Some puzzles require an extra step after the obvious solution and it felt like I had to convince the game like a reluctant DM to begrudgingly allow my harebrained scheme. True excellence.
You can combine [Finger] and [Mouse] to play Skot Rockcrusher in your browser!
The Rocketeer by Soul Engine masterfully moves between three distinct gameplay modes to tell a gentle story about taking things one day at a time.
Right off the bat The Rocketeer's first few banjo plucks and close ups are emotionally arresting. There's a real eye for presentation apparent in this one.
The RPG-like office wandering mode provides little peeks at day to day life in the post office and the status of Chauncey, the whiskery king of my heart. This is broken up by the mail sorting game mode which provides a low stakes but engaging timed coordination challenge. Finally there's an involved and emotional letter reading mode before the cycle repeats again.
Each mode engages a different part of my brain and a different thing I love about video games. I'll be thinking about this one for a while. Also I hope they make the soundtrack available on Bandcamp!
Please, please, please play The Rocketeer in your browser!
Finally Mike's Dwarf Animation by Mike "Spaghetti" Jones is a visual triumph, a feast for the senses, and just some dang good lil' guys!
Ten million out of ten, you can download them on itch or watch them go on YouTube!
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Thank you to everyone who participated in the jam! Whether you submitted, started, or just thought about something cool you could make, thank you for being a creative person in a difficult world.
And thank you for reading and for supporting SuperTry! I hope this jam gave you something cool to look at or play.
(Also we submitted a game too!)
Have a nice weekend!
KC
