For this project I picked the four games which seem to tweak the nose of traditional boundaries in games the best, whether that means they have novel place-making or merely a very unusual take on cartography is irrelevant. Here are four games that touch the spirit of what it means to make an interesting space and experience it in an interesting way.
#1
Thomas Was Alone
Released in late 2012 Thomas Was Alone is one of the new wave of retro graphics platformer in the vein of VVVVVV. Much like the earlier Stanley Parable or the recent work from Supergiant Games Thomas Was Alone focuses on a narrative experience more than traditional gameplay mechanics, environments.
The environments in this game are focused on making sure the player can traverse them with exactly the collection of anthropomorphic shapes currently available. The story focuses on their attempt to unite and then recreate the group using the nature of information as a game. In fact each of the geometric shapes has a distinct relationship to the binary ones and zeros which make up the computational world. The square is a zero and is therefore the most stable, being able to survive in water. Laura and John are the ones and they make traversing large integers (bigger maps) possible with their abilities to respectively bounce other shapes and jump the highest. The small shapes, Chris and Thomas, are a take on what a computer might start to think about decimal points if it spontaneously generated an AI.
Place is very strongly tied to character in this game because the integers (environments) being traversed only become more complicated as the team starts to work together to physically process the numerical ‘value’ of the level. In other words the difficulty is based around how well you can coordinate your little team. The outer space of the game is also characterized as a realm of infinite Data and Thomas comes back from it with new knowledge from the internet of memes and cat videos.
Thomas Was Alone
Released in late 2012 Thomas Was Alone is one of the new wave of retro graphics platformer in the vein of VVVVVV. Much like the earlier Stanley Parable or the recent work from Supergiant Games Thomas Was Alone focuses on a narrative experience more than traditional gameplay mechanics, environments.
The environments in this game are focused on making sure the player can traverse them with exactly the collection of anthropomorphic shapes currently available. The story focuses on their attempt to unite and then recreate the group using the nature of information as a game. In fact each of the geometric shapes has a distinct relationship to the binary ones and zeros which make up the computational world. The square is a zero and is therefore the most stable, being able to survive in water. Laura and John are the ones and they make traversing large integers (bigger maps) possible with their abilities to respectively bounce other shapes and jump the highest. The small shapes, Chris and Thomas, are a take on what a computer might start to think about decimal points if it spontaneously generated an AI.
Place is very strongly tied to character in this game because the integers (environments) being traversed only become more complicated as the team starts to work together to physically process the numerical ‘value’ of the level. In other words the difficulty is based around how well you can coordinate your little team. The outer space of the game is also characterized as a realm of infinite Data and Thomas comes back from it with new knowledge from the internet of memes and cat videos.
#2
Banished
Launched last year by the one man run Shining Rock Studios Banished is a city management game more focused on survival and the management of scarce and difficult to gather resources than about building up the city of your dreams. This is not a game you are expected to do well at quickly, getting up to a relatively large city of a few hundred people will take the average player considerable amount of trial and error.
This is mostly down to management of citizen labor, a mechanic that defines a lot of the gameplay, if managed poorly villages can quickly start to run low on building resources, food, firewood, tools and clothes. Trade in the game is done without money and to get livestock and seeds which are essentials as you grow past a hundred residents. The play experience then is a mixture of managing where resources are stored and trying to prevent growth from interfering with efficiency, it’s a bit like studying an ant farm and then making strategic decisions about where to build the next connecting passages/chambers.
Banished
Launched last year by the one man run Shining Rock Studios Banished is a city management game more focused on survival and the management of scarce and difficult to gather resources than about building up the city of your dreams. This is not a game you are expected to do well at quickly, getting up to a relatively large city of a few hundred people will take the average player considerable amount of trial and error.
This is mostly down to management of citizen labor, a mechanic that defines a lot of the gameplay, if managed poorly villages can quickly start to run low on building resources, food, firewood, tools and clothes. Trade in the game is done without money and to get livestock and seeds which are essentials as you grow past a hundred residents. The play experience then is a mixture of managing where resources are stored and trying to prevent growth from interfering with efficiency, it’s a bit like studying an ant farm and then making strategic decisions about where to build the next connecting passages/chambers.
#3
Faster Than Light
A good example of a historical place gaining meaning as play progresses, Faster Than Light is a roguelike starship captain simulator based around a rock hard difficulty curve and a desire to be captain of the USS Enterprise. The game space is very linear but the customizability of your ship gives it a very good sense of place. Story and character are built up through player actions, you can name your characters and presume things about their small pixelated lives. Most spots you will warp to have some quest dialogue or interaction with another ship.
Faster Than Light
A good example of a historical place gaining meaning as play progresses, Faster Than Light is a roguelike starship captain simulator based around a rock hard difficulty curve and a desire to be captain of the USS Enterprise. The game space is very linear but the customizability of your ship gives it a very good sense of place. Story and character are built up through player actions, you can name your characters and presume things about their small pixelated lives. Most spots you will warp to have some quest dialogue or interaction with another ship.
#4
League of Legends
League, and other multiplayer online battle arenas, revolves around one very specific map with places which accrue history with each playthrough. The map in league (and the original Dota) is split into two sides with three lanes connecting the team bases in each corner of the map.
For those who have not played it the sense of these places can be so strong it can be disconcerting: bot lane, mid, top lane, the jungle, Baron Nashor. Each of these places has a specific meaning and gameplay you would expect to see around it. The game is also highly team based so knowing where things are and then being able to communicate effectively about them with teammates is essential to a good understanding of the places and systems.
-Adrian Livermore
League of Legends
League, and other multiplayer online battle arenas, revolves around one very specific map with places which accrue history with each playthrough. The map in league (and the original Dota) is split into two sides with three lanes connecting the team bases in each corner of the map.
For those who have not played it the sense of these places can be so strong it can be disconcerting: bot lane, mid, top lane, the jungle, Baron Nashor. Each of these places has a specific meaning and gameplay you would expect to see around it. The game is also highly team based so knowing where things are and then being able to communicate effectively about them with teammates is essential to a good understanding of the places and systems.
-Adrian Livermore