Posts Tagged ‘complete’
The End Of Us
Role: Designer / Musician
Team: Chelsea Howe, Michael Molinari
Website: http://www.the-end-of-us.com
Dev Summary: A browser game created in Flash over 48 hours in Spring 2011
Concept: “The End of Us” was designed to evoke friendship, attachment, and affinity without overt narrative. The orange comet’s behaviors – introducing itself with a walloping hello, then running away can-you-catch-me style, circling around you for attention or chasing after the stars (what do those do, anyway? Do you just want them because Orange does?) – are intended to endear. It might not arise directly from the actions (Orange spends a non-trivial amount of time bashing into you after all) but emerges from the familiarity of friendship, good and bad, and the hollow that arises after one-to-one attention vanishes, permanently, for whatever reason.
As you grow and age and eventually start to fade alongside your friend, you come upon an asteroid belt that chips away at both of you. Your final (only?) choice in the game is who will take the fall, and who will have to suffer a solo existence after.
On The Web:
Tipoli
Mint and Periwinkle, bound and broken by love.
Role: Producer / Musician / Designer
Team: Richard Hough, Chelsea Howe, Michael Molinari
Website: http://playtipoli.com
Community: @ Playhaven.com
Trailer: @ youtube.com
Released: 4 December 2009
Company: Proper Walrus, LLC.
Publisher: Divide by Zero Games, Inc.
Dev Summary: A complete iPhone game created with Unity3D over six months in 2009
Concept: Mint is sticky, Periwinkle is bouncy. With just one button, you can swap the constantly revolving pair and send them soaring through over sixty unique, physics-based levels. Experience their wordless tale of the trials and tribulations of love, helping them survive the only way they can: Together.
Notes: This Elder Geek interview talks in depth about my personal philosophy on Tipoli and its inclusion of minimal I/O systems, minimal narrative, and other ‘enchantment’-based interactivity applications.
Reviews: In addition to being Featured by Apple under “New & Noteworthy” 2-8 February 2010 and “What’s Hot?” 9-15 February 2010, Tipoli has received many reviews from a variety of publications. Don’t forget to check the iTunes store reviews as well!
- App-sized (30 January 2010) – Five stars! “Extremely affordable, unique and elegant, Tipoli is a great example of the hidden gems among indie games. Add to that a fuzzy feeling for a pair of lovers whose story is engaging and poignant makes this game a compelling buy.”
- App.itize.us (21 January 2010) – Appitizeus is “a painstakingly curated presentation of the best produced and designed iPhone applications that are available for download via the App Store.” They featured Tipoli and said: “A sun and a moon roll and tumble through the stylized landscape. Very moody illustrated love story that reminds me of a picasso oil.”
- App Spy (January 2010) – 4: Good “For fans of simple physics games, Tipoli is definitely worth a look at. The game starts off deceptively simple to get players used to the game mechanics but the difficulty soon elevates and things become a lot more complex. So if you’re looking for a simple and enjoyable game to play, then Tipoli is a solid choice.”
- Pocket Gamer (10 January 2010) – 6: Above Average “Tipoli is an original concept for a puzzler, though it isn’t entirely successful, let down ever-so-slightly by levels that are more a chore than charming”
- Portable Gamer (January 2010) – “Tipoli is available for the iPhone and iPod Touch. At $0.99 it’s a great little game. And if you don’t conquer it right away, trust me. Just give it some time.”
- Sioux Falls Video Game News Examiner (28 December 2009) – “I found myself loving the tranquil music, oil-painting art style and the overly cutesy, yet poignant, portrayal of love. There is plenty to love about Tipoli from the complex levels to the friendly price. This game is a bargain on the iTunes App Store for what you get out of it. “
- Nine Over Ten (27 December 2009) – “Sometimes, having an unique gameplay mechanic doesn’t automatically translate into having a great game.”
- MacMost (23 December 2009) – “You control two little guys one of whom is stuck to the surface and the other who is continuously bouncing. All you do is touch to switch them. Very very simple, yet also very interesting. Give it a try.”
- Slapp-App (19 December 2009) – 5/5! “Tipoli will get you hooked, no doubt about it. This one-button physics platformer will have you going back for more and more. The challenging and diverse level design, vibrant hand drawn visuals, and cute love story all make this game a sure pick.”
- Elder-Geek (11 December 2009) – Worth Buying! “What do you get when you cross zen-like simplicity with challenging mechanics? You get a really addictive and entertaining brew that is Tipoli.”
- Fall Damage (6 December 2009) – “If you are craving something indubitably addictive and you just happen to have an iPhone at your disposal than there is truly no reason not to go and get yourself a copy of Tipoli.”
Quixote
Quixote's Real World
Role: Designer / Programmer
Team: Melissa Fuss, Chelsea Howe, Carson Kjep, Lane Lawley, Sam Roden
Website: http://quixote.manojalpa.net
Dev Summary: A complete PC game created with Gamemaker over 48 hours in Spring 2010
Concept: Quixote is a non-textual, single button game that takes only five minutes to complete. Based on the Game Jam theme of deception (and additionally ‘Rain, Spain, Plain’), the game follows Don Quixote and Sancho Panza through the Spanish countryside and, if you successfully destroy the windmills, Quixote’s own skewed reality. As Sancho Panza, you can command Quixote to charge; each successful hit to a windmill blade reinforces Quixote’s self deception, and the art of the game slowly morphs over time into the elegant and famous style of Pablo Picasso.
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Universe
Role: Designer / Programmer / Artist
Team: Sarah Brown, Chelsea Howe
Download: http://universe.manojalpa.net
Dev Summary: A complete PC, Mac, & Linux game created with Processing over one month in Spring 2009
Concept: Use the arrow keys to navigate planets, leap into space, or land on colorful moons of unique timbre. Stars represent musical notes to collect and add to your sequencer, which appears at the bottom of the screen. At the top of the screen, the current pan is shown for each timbre, which can be adjusted by landing on respective planets. If a certain timbre’s sequence is going poorly, land on a black hole to start erasing the notes in the current timbre. Lost? Use Spacebar to access the minimap.
Fuzzle Puzzle
Fuzzle Puzzle - Cornell's G4G 2009 Entry
Role: Musician / Design Tweaker
Team: Chelsea Howe, Joyce Lee, Jessie Loeb
Dev Summary: A complete PC game created with Gamemaker over 48 hours in Spring 2009
Concept: Combine the right color fuzzles as they fall in to the tank to create black fuzzles, which are instantly adopted. It takes three fuzzles to make a black fuzzle – so you better move fast before the tank fills up!
Notes: Fuzzle Puzzle was Cornell University’s entry for the 2009 Games 4 Girls contest. It tied for third place.
Comet
Comet
Role: Producer / Designer / 3D Modeler
Team: Don Holden, Chelsea Howe, Ben Humberston, Joyce Lee, Matt Whaley
Download: http://comet.manojalpa.net
Dev Summary: A complete PC game created with XNA over four months in Fall 2008
Concept: 2D Arcade “sphere shooter” balances life, offense, and defense – all controlled by the same resource. A technological menace has infested the universe. Mechanical spores, connected by an advanced neural network, travel from planet to planet absorbing and destroying crystal resources with their fog of parasitic nanoparticles. A single galaxy remains resilient, the home of a lone defender manifested from the cosmic plasma. Coma, a sentient comet guarded and fueled by the life force of the galaxy, must travel out across the branching arms of the spiral, eliminating the spores and restoring the crystals without being destroyed the toxic fog.
