Evening Reading

February 11, 2011 5:00 PM

1239

Not to keep endlessly jabbering about Stacking, but it's really impressed me in a lot of ways -- most of which weren't immediately obvious to me from the get-go. Having played through the main storyline once, I'm going back to find alternate puzzle solutions and collectibles -- and having a blast doing it.

It's probably one of the best new attempts to revitalize the spirit of old-school adventure games, and does so by taking traditional conventions and streamlining them for the better. Early adventure gaming often times forced the player to resort to picking up everything that wasn't nailed down (regardless of its apparent usefulness), and combine those items with each other in a way that was increasingly random, depending on how "stuck" you were on a puzzle.

Stacking doesn't eliminate this prospect altogether, but streamlines it so that you might not even recognize its old-school underpinnings. Instead of an inventory, the player uses the different dolls that he's stacked (and their abilities, sometimes even in tandem with each other) to solve the game's conundrums. There's still experimentation required in the puzzle-solving, but it feels much more elegant.

There are probably a lot of other tried-and-true gameplay conventions ripe for a face-lift. What do you think?

And here's some Friday news, in case you missed it:

Jeff Mattas

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roushimsx

 reply
February 11, 2011 5:01 PM

Top 25 Xbox Live Indie Games
- http://www.complex.com/video-games/2011/02/underground-kings-the-25-best-xbox-live-games/

Got some points to spend? The XBLIG channel is an awesome source of inexpensive but good entertainment! :D
- SilverSnake
  
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  February 11, 2011 5:02 PM
  
  ffs, top 25 and one game per page?
  
  /sigh
  - roushimsx
    
     reply
    February 11, 2011 5:03 PM
    
    I hate the layout, too :(
    
    But there's a lot of good games mentioned there!
  - spiderfill
    
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    February 11, 2011 5:05 PM
    
    25 views bitches
  - eugthinks
    
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    February 11, 2011 5:08 PM
    
    I'm making a list as I read it so I can post here, but they made it harder by making it so you can't select text in the article (such as the title of the game). :P
    - roushimsx
      
       reply
      February 11, 2011 5:14 PM
      
      I had a window open to xbox.com and was buying the stuff that looked neat that I hadn't heard of before. I'm now out of points. :(
      - eugthinks
        
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        February 11, 2011 5:17 PM
        
        I have 4000 and change, will it be enough??? D:
        
        roushimsx
        
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        February 11, 2011 5:31 PM
        
        Hell yea. You could get almost all of the rad stuff on XBLIG for that much
    - eugthinks
      
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      February 11, 2011 5:16 PM
      
      LIST:
      
      25. I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!1
      24. Miasma: Citizens of Free Thought
      23. Murky Horizon
      22. Abaddon: Retribution
      21. Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess
      20. PLATFORMANCE: Castle Pain
      19. Commander - World 1
      18. B.U.T.T.O.N.
      17. Gravitron360
      16. Ancient Trader
      15. Aphelion - Episode 2: Wings of Omega
      14. Clover: A Curious Tale
      13. ?????? (Protect Me Knight)
      12. Curse of the Crescent Isle
      11. Flotilla
      10. Arkedo Series - 03 PIXEL!
      9. Astroman
      8. Soulcaster
      7. Score Rush
      6. Aban Hawkins & The 1000 SPIKES
      5. Cthulu Saves the World
      4. Epic Dungeon
      3. Treasure Treasure: Fortress Forage: Extra Edition
      2. Decimation X3
      1. Hypership Out of Control!
      - Fenring42
        
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        February 11, 2011 5:19 PM
        
        I'm just going to highlight Flotilla. It's made by a shacker, is completely awesome, and I am ranked at 62nd worldwide. GO BUY IT.
      - roushimsx
        
         reply
        February 11, 2011 5:21 PM
        
        Soulcaster simply can't get enough love. That game is so fucking fun. It's not really long..I think my first playthrough only took about 90 minutes or so, but it's really, really fucking good.
        
        Protect Me Knight is pretty fun, but also kind of short.
        
        Didn't play Aphelion Ep 2 yet because the grindyness of Ep 1 totally burned me out. You spend a lot of time grinding levels and you can't respec your guy if you build wrong. Oh, and it's not that difficult to completely fuck yourself over. I don't think you can carry your characters over into Ep 2, either.
        
        I'd never checked out Treasure Treasure before, so I just nabbed that, Platformance, and Curse of the Crescent Isle (both of which i'd never heard of before, i think). Now I'm out of points and can't afford Astroman. I remember when Astroman hit...I almost bought it, but I wasn't sure if it was yet another shitty platformer or what. Now I need to acquire another 240pts (which I should have within 2wks from Bing Rewards).
      - AgentPothead
        
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        February 11, 2011 5:32 PM
        
        Awesome, I already have a bunch of these.
      - Majuju
        
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        February 11, 2011 5:33 PM
        
        missing Miner Dig Deep!
        
        roushimsx
        
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        February 11, 2011 5:36 PM
        
        Fucking love that game!
        
        Ride-My-Rocket
        
         reply
        February 12, 2011 12:02 AM
        
        ^^^^
  - atom519
    
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    February 11, 2011 5:21 PM
    
    Fucking hate that.
- shirif
  
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  February 11, 2011 5:34 PM
  
  Not clicking 25 times, sorry :/
  I will say this however, the Prince of Persia remake is awesome-sauce.
  - shirif
    
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    February 11, 2011 5:52 PM
    
    Oh, it`s the Indie channel :(
- Chod
  
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  February 11, 2011 5:38 PM
  
  Awesome I was looking for some new games the other day.