Two games I didn't get to blog about, what with riots (The End was launched on riot day, d'oh Channel 4!) and work and stuff. But they're both part of the slate that my team commissioned last year at Channel 4 Education, first out of the gate, if you like. I love how they've come out.
First, Sweatshop. Killer reviews, proper moral conundrums, and gorgeous graphics from Gary Lucken, famous for his pixel style except look, vectors!
By the always brilliant Littleloud, lawks luv 'em, and produced by Simon Parkin. Same team that did The Curfew (which Channel 4 should have relaunched on riots day, d'oh Channel 4!).
It's got that brilliant mix of morals & conundrums: it's fun to play at being Evil, but when you do you then feel kinda gross, so you don't want to any more. Ding.
Secondly, The End. The game about death & philosophy I commissioned from lovely Preloaded, to have a look at death and all the things around it. It's something as a society we report on a lot, and fetishise/agonise over, but we never really talk about how to handle it when it happens.
Kids (in the UK) are predominantly atheist or agnostic these days (large numbers of adults, too), and religion usually has quite a lot of ritual and support ideas around death, but the secular world, not so much. Us atheists are on our own, a bit. This game was commissioned around wanting to help out with that, a bit.
It's a platformer, and a quiz, and a 2-player card game, and a bunch of thought-provoking, open ended questions. Oh, and collectibles. Dig in. From the same team who made 1066 and Trafalgar Origins.
ha, Sweatshop looks hilarious! The cartoon characters are great. Online web games are the best. Has anyone tried that new one released from China, Pockie Ninja?
Posted by: Roger Grahm | September 17, 2011 at 12:37