Sooo, late happy new year everybody! That 2012 may bring many good games to you! For the blog, I thought it would be funny to tell you about the games that had a significant influence in the design of our awesome new game. I can’t tell much about the game we’re making yet, but maybe you can deduce more information by reading this post! 😉

 
 

The binding of Isaac!


The Binding of Isaac is a great game. It’s a rogue-like game with only a few levels, which are all really hard. It’s dark and sadistic setting is not made for everyone, but the art is very effective. What’s the most awesome about Isaac, is that it keeps the few levels it has interesting for hours and hours. It does so by using a moderate amount of random generated content, but mainly by allowing the player to unlock new powers in each run. You can find powers through the levels, and initially, just about 50% of all the powers available are unlocked. With every playthrough, as you unlock achievements, the game unlocks new powers. Since each run is relatively short, You won’t see much of the array of powers available in one run. Every run feels different, and each achievement unlocked (for beating the game 8 times for example) adds new possibilities.
If you like rogue like games, have a dark sense of humor, enjoy a good challenge, and like to play the same game for hours, I heartily recommend the Binding of Isaac!
Played it about 60 hours according to Steam.
 
 

Shadow of the Colossus!


Shadow of the Colossus is a widely acclaimed game. The game oozes soul: You really feel alone as you ride the hills and deserts of the game. Every time you take down one of the game’s few colossi, you really feel like you’ve beaten impossible odds. This game also has a magnificent theme and style. Every colossi is more impressive than the other, and the feeling of being a small ant in a large world has never been done so well. This of course, has a more aesthetic influence on our game. 🙂
It’s been recently re-released together with ICO, another masterpiece. If you enjoy an immersive adventure with a great atmosphere, look no further!
 
 

Football Manager (2011 & 2012)!


Every time I start about (real!)Football Manager, everyone sighs and looks away. Game-dev students have never really grown to love world’s most played game ever, which is remarkably ironic. But that’s a story for another time. Football Manager is a great game in many ways. It has had many iterations, and you can see it in the quality of the game. One of the best things in my opinion is the way random generated content is balanced, and how compelling the development of a youth player is. I never cared too much for my sims, but i’m always on the edge of my seat when the subject is one of my young football talents. The number of valid options and the careful dissection of football in the game are things that have changed my mind about football forever.
If you enjoy managing or turn based strategic games in general, and feel bold about trying something new and traditional, and really want to see a careful piece of game-crafting, I recommend this series. Be warned though, the game is so big that you will be easily overrun by the amount of data and options presented to you. It’s so much and random generated content is so well, that I’m still being surprised by the game every hour.
According to steam, I played Football Manager 2011 for 647 hours, and Football Manager 2012 for 106 hours (didn’t have the time yet ;P). Wow. O_O