Indie Games of The Year 2024

[00:00:11] Welcome, welcome, one and all. It is not just any other Indie Impressions episode. It is none other than the Indie Games of the Year Celebration 2024, or as I will be calling out throughout the entirety of this very lengthy episode, the I-Goaties.

[00:00:34] Get used to that victory tune. That is the Cuphead victory tune, and that will be played after all the winners are announced.

[00:00:43] But folks, it has been another incredible year for Indie Video Games. There have been so many games to talk about, so many games I was not able to talk about in any capacity,

[00:00:57] and so many games that I got to play. Some games I didn't get to finish, but in some games I barely even got to start.

[00:01:02] So I'll recognize those in a second, but it is fairly indisputable to say that 2024 is another one for the history books.

[00:01:11] I could not even begin to tell you how many Indie Games came out this year.

[00:01:16] The last number I looked at was about 15,000 games total had released on Steam.

[00:01:21] I want to believe that was as of the end of November 2024.

[00:01:26] The vast majority of those, of course, are Indie Games.

[00:01:31] And that's just one source.

[00:01:33] And so you're not looking at things that maybe are exclusive to other sites or consoles or just things that were just released into the,

[00:01:41] I don't know, Game Jam games that were polished and that just put up on itch.io or something along those lines.

[00:01:45] So many, many, many, many Indie Games.

[00:01:49] And as we talk about the Indie Games that we want to celebrate here on the iGoaties,

[00:01:56] I mean, there's just a lot to do.

[00:01:58] And just to talk a little bit about the state of the Indie Game is that this number,

[00:02:05] this number of how many games are released on Steam, how many games are released total every year,

[00:02:08] it is doing nothing but growing.

[00:02:11] And holy cow.

[00:02:14] It's just, let's see, how do you handle that?

[00:02:17] How do you handle that massive number, that huge influx,

[00:02:21] an increasing number of games that are released every year,

[00:02:24] especially in a medium that is so widely varied?

[00:02:27] Like you can play a game and you can finish it in like 15, 20 minutes.

[00:02:31] So I'm thinking milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk.

[00:02:35] That, for example, is a game that I did an Indie Impressions episode on.

[00:02:39] And believe it or not, the episode itself, me talking about that game,

[00:02:43] took longer than my playtime to complete the game.

[00:02:48] But a game can also take you 100 hours.

[00:02:51] It could take you multiple hours, like multiple hundreds of hours.

[00:02:54] It could take you thousands of hours because you're not really supposed to beat it.

[00:02:58] And so you have 15,000 games and you have any sort of variety of time length that it takes to beat them.

[00:03:05] There's just no way to cover them all.

[00:03:07] And what I want to say kind of about the state of the Indie Game is that

[00:03:12] I am pleased to report that Indie Games, I think now more than ever, are getting more coverage.

[00:03:19] Whether that be just content creators, YouTubers, streamers who are dedicated to doing nothing but play Indie Games

[00:03:25] and kind of interact with communities that are interested in Indie Games.

[00:03:29] I think it's a relatively big milestone to celebrate.

[00:03:32] That 6.1 Indie, for example, this media collective coalition of independent developers

[00:03:40] is putting on the Indie Game Awards in that their nominations and their list of nominees are just getting a lot of praise.

[00:03:50] A lot of really, really wonderful games are being recognized in here.

[00:03:53] And I do think that that is worth mentioning because I think we are seeing sort of a shift in attention

[00:03:59] that Indie Games get.

[00:04:02] And Indie's, I don't know, it's wild.

[00:04:07] I've talked about this before.

[00:04:08] If we were to look at that 15,000 number, and I'll just kind of refer back to that even though it's an imperfect number.

[00:04:13] And we were to make a pie chart of, you know, what percentage of that pie is Indie Games versus AA versus AAA Games.

[00:04:21] And what we're seeing in the industry is this shift where the AA space is getting squeezed tighter and tighter and tighter.

[00:04:31] And the AAA space is starting to fill up with really safe games.

[00:04:36] So what I mean by that is like remakes, reboots, and sequels tends to take up that space.

[00:04:42] And so we are seeing kind of this drain, I would say, of originality in those.

[00:04:48] Well, I shouldn't say the double-said space, but in the AAA space, absolutely, because games are so expensive and risky to make.

[00:04:55] But if we were to look at that pie chart, and I'm just going to throw out some numbers, just guesses here, right?

[00:04:59] The AAA space probably, I don't know, let's give them 5% of that pie.

[00:05:05] And the AA space has got to be 2% of that pie.

[00:05:10] And I would argue that the remaining 93% of that pie is Indies.

[00:05:15] If we were to break down that 15,000, you know, number that I keep referring back to about games released on Steam.

[00:05:23] And of course, I would say that like media and content creator coverage is almost inverted to that.

[00:05:30] Like I would probably say that 93% of it is covering AAA, right?

[00:05:35] And I mean, think about this.

[00:05:36] And when you browse like a YouTube homepage, how many different Fortnite content creators are there?

[00:05:42] Or Call of Duty, like Warzone, or FIFA.

[00:05:47] Those massive like AAA games, they take up a bulk of the coverage, whether that be content creation or media, right?

[00:05:53] And so I think that the Indie Game Awards is this really awesome moment of like, okay, we're going to start highlighting really indie games.

[00:06:01] But I'm going to be frank.

[00:06:03] If, and again, these numbers are totally made up, they're anecdotal, but we're using them just to make a point here.

[00:06:09] If like 93% of all games are Indies that release, do we believe that the Indie Game Awards is providing ample coverage to that 93% of 15,000 games released?

[00:06:26] And this isn't so much a criticism as just me wanting to highlight the impossibility of covering indie games.

[00:06:33] And what I think we're starting to see, and I love, this is going to sound like I'm really ragging on the Indie Game Awards.

[00:06:38] I'm actually really excited for them.

[00:06:40] And I think it's really crucial and important that they exist, right?

[00:06:43] Because they help legitimize like this massive population of games, gamers and game studios and game publishers and kind of this other side of the industry.

[00:06:54] But I do think it's interesting to note, right, that the games that are listed on there are games that typically ones that have garnered some sort of respectable following on social media,

[00:07:04] just in terms of sales and just general visibility within the gaming atmosphere.

[00:07:10] Some games on there haven't, which I think is wonderful, right?

[00:07:14] But I'm thinking of like the games that like the hundreds and thousands of games that release on itch.io, for example, right?

[00:07:22] Like these games are very good games.

[00:07:25] I've played some of them and I've really enjoyed them, right?

[00:07:27] But there's really no place to recognize them rather than like, oh, I don't know, game jams, something along those lines.

[00:07:34] And I think that kind of begs the question when I or when others, you know, we create these Game of the Year conversations,

[00:07:40] when we create these ceremonies where we want to celebrate games, what is it that we're actually celebrating?

[00:07:47] We're actually celebrating the games within our sphere, right?

[00:07:51] And I bring that up because there's just an impossibility to cover all the games.

[00:07:56] I would love to see.

[00:07:58] And of course, the iGoathe is something that I make.

[00:08:00] I make those, you know, I make the decisions.

[00:08:02] I've created the categories.

[00:08:03] I've played the games.

[00:08:04] And so this is all just according to my taste of the games that I love and I've played,

[00:08:10] which ones I think are recognized or should be recognized, right, for outstanding merit.

[00:08:16] Right.

[00:08:17] But the point I'm getting at here is I think the Indie Game Awards is drawing attention

[00:08:23] and it's functioning as a lightning rod for a very specific gaming sphere.

[00:08:27] And that this sort of belief that there should be a game of the year celebration

[00:08:31] that covers the entirety of the video game industry is impossible.

[00:08:37] It's a pipe dream.

[00:08:38] And so I'm going to sound like a Jeff Keighley apologist here, but as much as we rag on the

[00:08:44] Game Awards, and I think rightfully so.

[00:08:46] I think it's a big shame that we kind of see a bunch.

[00:08:52] I feel like I feel like those categories need a lot of work.

[00:08:56] They need a lot of clarification.

[00:08:58] And anyway, the Game Awards has many issues, I would say, with its categories and kind of

[00:09:03] what it does.

[00:09:04] But at the same time, I look at something like the Game Awards and I think, yeah, but they're

[00:09:09] kind of designed to build hype around the AAA side of the industry.

[00:09:14] And the AAA side of the industry absolutely deserves to have its own type of celebration.

[00:09:19] That is its specific sphere in the industry.

[00:09:22] And I think the Game Awards serves that fairly well.

[00:09:25] I think it does a pretty good job, right?

[00:09:26] When it comes to being like what it was trying to be, which is like the ultimate game of the

[00:09:33] year or like Games Awards ceremony celebration, recognizing the gaming industry across those

[00:09:38] 15,000 games being represented?

[00:09:41] Absolutely not.

[00:09:42] You need others to kind of help carry the weight there.

[00:09:45] And so Indie Game Awards, I think, are doing something remarkable in doing that.

[00:09:49] Saying, hey, we need to call attention to these games.

[00:09:51] And I think the games that are largely kind of nominated there are games I would rank are

[00:09:57] like, they range, I would say, from lesser known to well-known indie games, right?

[00:10:04] But definitely not dug out of the nooks and crannies of the internet.

[00:10:08] And a part of me is like, well, I don't know.

[00:10:11] Of those 15,000 games, how many of those are even, how many of them are vying for some sort

[00:10:16] of, I don't know, celebration or ceremony to recognize them?

[00:10:21] And I think a bunch of those games aren't.

[00:10:25] That's not simply what they're trying to do.

[00:10:27] And so at the same time, like something like the Indie Game Awards, I'm not going to critique

[00:10:31] it if it only covers, I don't know, let's say, let's say like 2,000 of the 15,000 games

[00:10:38] cross through the jury's panels for voting and picking what games are in there, right?

[00:10:45] Maybe that's good enough.

[00:10:46] And maybe we shouldn't be super worried about like, well, what about the 15,000 games in

[00:10:50] total?

[00:10:51] Folks, I'm getting a bit rambly here, but this is kind of the state of the Indie Game

[00:10:54] that I want to recognize is that Indie Games are still huge and they're still a massive

[00:10:59] part of this industry when it comes to the sheer number of Indie Games that are being released.

[00:11:03] When it comes to the number of money that kind of passes through the Indie Games industry

[00:11:09] economy, I think still quite a lot of money is actually being passed around there.

[00:11:13] You look at the big publishers of smaller games, which would be like Devolver Digital, Raw Fury,

[00:11:20] in rest in peace, please, Annapurna Interactive.

[00:11:23] Hopefully they become resurrected as something else, right?

[00:11:26] But when you look at like publishers of that size, they're massive.

[00:11:30] They're dealing in millions and millions of dollars, folks.

[00:11:32] Maybe.

[00:11:33] I don't know.

[00:11:33] I haven't looked at it.

[00:11:34] But is any one of those companies worth a billion bucks?

[00:11:37] I don't know, but it could.

[00:11:38] I think very easily could get there.

[00:11:40] The video game industry is extremely lucrative, right?

[00:11:42] There are lots of publishers, and I think for them, these sort of ceremonies really do matter

[00:11:48] because it draws more eyeballs to what it is that they're doing.

[00:11:52] It is super cool to see self-published games get a lot of recognition.

[00:11:57] So, for example, A Thousand Times Resist, really wonderful, beautiful game, or Arco, right?

[00:12:03] Or Bellatro, for example.

[00:12:05] My wife and I were talking about this.

[00:12:06] I was like, oh my gosh, Bellatro is like, I think I saw it had ranked in the top 10 best-selling

[00:12:11] games on mobile when it came out.

[00:12:13] And my wife was like, and they self-published that, right?

[00:12:16] So, they're pocketing that, right?

[00:12:17] And like, that feels good.

[00:12:18] You want to celebrate that.

[00:12:20] And something that I love about the Indie Game Awards, for example, is when you look

[00:12:24] at their solo developer category, man, I just kind of think that.

[00:12:28] I'm like, oh my gosh.

[00:12:29] I mean, obviously, Animal Well had a publisher, right?

[00:12:33] But at the same time, partner's like, oh man, we want these people to be successful.

[00:12:38] We want them to be financially successful and to be able to make more games, right?

[00:12:43] The devs behind A Thousand X Resist, actually, which did have a publisher.

[00:12:49] Let me retract that.

[00:12:50] Fellow Traveler published them.

[00:12:54] I mean, they were getting way more sales after people started talking about the game

[00:12:58] and end-of-the-year conversations.

[00:13:00] And so, what I love about the Indie Game Awards is it really does sort of boost that

[00:13:04] visibility to these games that are lesser known, that really deserve it, right?

[00:13:08] And so, that's kind of the point of why I do the iGoaties, in part because I play so

[00:13:13] many games.

[00:13:13] I want to talk about them, but also in part because I want to draw attention to games and

[00:13:17] experiences that I had that were really wonderful and beautiful.

[00:13:21] So, here we go.

[00:13:22] Let's kind of talk some numbers real quick about the iGoaties 2024.

[00:13:28] 2024.

[00:13:29] So, from this year, from 2024, I played a total of 49 different indie games, which is insane.

[00:13:40] And if you're asking yourself, how does this man find the time?

[00:13:45] It's because of you Patreon supporters.

[00:13:49] You folks, I mean, I say it every episode and maybe it kind of rings hollow because I

[00:13:53] repeat it so much.

[00:13:54] But you all are the ones who make this possible.

[00:13:58] You're the one who make it so that I can play so many indie games and talk about so

[00:14:02] many indie games.

[00:14:03] So, I played 49 from this year alone.

[00:14:06] I beat 37 of those, right?

[00:14:08] So, don't think I walked away, you know, playing nearly and beating 50 indie games this year.

[00:14:13] I just simply didn't, right?

[00:14:15] And so, yeah, Patreon subs, it's you.

[00:14:18] Thank you so much.

[00:14:19] Thank you so much for subscribing to the Indie Pass tier or any of the tiers that include

[00:14:23] indie impressions because you make stuff like this possible.

[00:14:26] And I am super, I am super grateful for that support.

[00:14:30] If you're listening to this and you're like, oh, what are indie impressions?

[00:14:33] Well, for three bucks a month, you can get three episodes on different indie games plus

[00:14:38] a monthly newsletter from me through our Patreon.

[00:14:41] And if you do that, you help support things like the iGoaties.

[00:14:44] So, thank you so much, right?

[00:14:47] Now, I'm going to talk, of course, about my favorite games that I played and I beat from

[00:14:52] this year.

[00:14:53] However, I do want to recognize that there were, because a bunch of you are going to listen

[00:14:57] to this and you, I'm sorry, your favorite indie game from this year is not going to be mentioned.

[00:15:01] Like I said, there's just way too many.

[00:15:03] And so, I kind of want to rattle off this list of indie games that I was really well intended

[00:15:08] to get around to playing.

[00:15:09] Some of these I actually own, but I just haven't been able to crack open because of time.

[00:15:13] But, so this is a list of games that I really wanted to play and include for this, but I

[00:15:18] just simply did not get to.

[00:15:20] Or I barely played any of it, not enough that really felt like would constitute it being

[00:15:27] fair for it to be included.

[00:15:29] And, okay, so here we have, we have Skald Against the Black Priory, Moon Mystery, Botany

[00:15:36] Manor, Crow Country.

[00:15:38] I only played the demo of that one.

[00:16:01] So those are the games from 2024 that I had every intention to include, kind of to add

[00:16:06] on this list of 49 games that I did play, but I simply did not.

[00:16:09] So if you did not hear anything regarding those games, I'm sorry.

[00:16:13] They're still wonderful games.

[00:16:14] This is just my celebration of the indies that I played and does not detract or take away

[00:16:20] from the games that you loved, right?

[00:16:22] However, please feel free to leave a comment if they're one of these games here and it was

[00:16:26] one of your favorite games from this year.

[00:16:27] Let me know why.

[00:16:28] I mean, a bunch of these games I will get to in 2025.

[00:16:32] Now, this is a relatively new kind of segment to the Igoaties, but I wanted to point out

[00:16:38] a few games that I played from 2023 that had I played them last year, they probably would

[00:16:44] have been nominated in one or multiple categories for celebration in 2023.

[00:16:49] Those games were Thunder Ray, Pseudo Regalia, Moon Ring, Slay the Princess, Before the Green

[00:16:54] Moon, and Blasphemous 2.

[00:16:57] If you're curious, the total number of indie games that I played is 71.

[00:17:02] I played 71 different indie games in the year 2024.

[00:17:06] 49 of those were from this year, 2024.

[00:17:11] All right, folks.

[00:17:13] That's all fun and that's all dandy, right?

[00:17:16] But let's get into it.

[00:17:17] Let's talk about the game of the year, the games of the year, I should say.

[00:17:24] There's so many in here that I loved and I really, really enjoyed playing.

[00:17:29] And so what we're going to do from here on out is I'm going to go through the different

[00:17:33] categories.

[00:17:34] Of course, this is indie impressions.

[00:17:36] This is a subsidiary, if you will, of the of the period of bonus podcast.

[00:17:42] We are obsessed with categories.

[00:17:45] Therefore, we will include categories, right?

[00:17:48] And so there are a bunch of different categories or I think nine or 10 of them.

[00:17:53] I'm losing track of time because I keep adding to them.

[00:17:56] The newest category this year is best animations.

[00:17:59] Here are the ground rules for these categories and kind of for the game nominations here.

[00:18:04] Number one, no games in early access.

[00:18:06] So these ones are just not included.

[00:18:09] I would prefer to play the 1.0 version of them before I include them in a game of the

[00:18:14] year celebration.

[00:18:15] Rule number two, no DLC slash expansions.

[00:18:19] I want to judge a 1.0 vanilla game to include that in here.

[00:18:24] This year that meant ruling out Eastward Octopia DLC, which probably would have been nominated

[00:18:30] or maybe even won like the best art direction in the pixel voxel category.

[00:18:36] And it was one of the best farming sims I've played in a long time.

[00:18:39] So it would have been nominated for most innovative probably as well.

[00:18:43] Three, re-releases only count if they received substantial updates such as adding new content

[00:18:48] and came to new platforms.

[00:18:50] And no games qualified this year for that.

[00:18:53] Last year, Bleak Sword DX was the one that qualified and won several or was nominated in

[00:18:59] several categories.

[00:19:00] I think it took home like one or two awards.

[00:19:02] All right.

[00:19:03] And then rule number four, the cutoff date was December 3rd, meaning that it would only consider

[00:19:09] games that released on December 3rd or more.

[00:19:13] And so to add to that list kind of of games from 2024 that I didn't play, this means that

[00:19:19] Edge of Allegoria, Symphonia, and Mithrecht were all not just going to make the cut, right?

[00:19:24] And they were not going to be included.

[00:19:26] They will be eligible for the 2025 iGoades.

[00:19:30] And then the final rule here is to keep games to six categories.

[00:19:34] Any category based...

[00:19:35] So like, this is actually something I took from the Game Awards.

[00:19:40] This is what they do.

[00:19:41] But I fudge this quite a lot.

[00:19:44] And so like, what I ended up doing...

[00:19:47] So this is the third year of the iGoades.

[00:19:49] In the first year, I just had best art direction and I tried to keep it to six.

[00:19:52] And it was just really difficult to do.

[00:19:55] And so what I did for the second year of the iGoades, iGoades 2023, is I separated the best

[00:20:01] art direction into pixel slash voxel and then other art directions.

[00:20:06] Because I have a preference towards pixel art.

[00:20:09] And so this was a way of me of being able to recognize other forms of pixel...

[00:20:14] Or excuse me, other forms of art in indie games.

[00:20:17] Even though indie games are like really associated with pixel art and aesthetics, I needed to keep

[00:20:21] those separated to kind of be more fair to other art directions.

[00:20:26] This year, what I did, because it was getting really funky, is I just included a new category.

[00:20:33] Best animations, right?

[00:20:35] And here, this is a way of like...

[00:20:38] I mean, art style is one thing and it's gorgeous.

[00:20:40] But I don't know.

[00:20:41] I feel like in this last year, I've really just come to appreciate the way that these different

[00:20:45] artists make these different sprites move and evoke specific feelings.

[00:20:50] And so that is included in here as a brand new category.

[00:20:54] When it comes to keeping categories to six games, I broke the rule two years in a row for

[00:21:00] most innovative category because indies are remarkably beautiful in that way.

[00:21:05] They're always trying to push what genres can do and what they mean and how they should be

[00:21:10] played.

[00:21:10] And so that one is over six nominees.

[00:21:15] But folks, let's get into it.

[00:21:18] Let's start talking about the games and less about the about of the games.

[00:21:23] And so we shall begin the I got these 2024 with the categories of best art direction.

[00:21:34] And just as a reminder, there are two subcategories in the best art direction.

[00:21:39] There is pixel slash voxel.

[00:21:42] And then there is the other category.

[00:21:45] And to give you a kind of a reminder of what this means, this is how I define the best art

[00:21:52] direction when I am picking games for the I goties.

[00:21:56] Now, they have the art direction has a strong, cohesive art style with identifiable personality.

[00:22:04] So part of this means a kind of a measuring stick I use for this is if I saw a screenshot of this game

[00:22:10] at a context, would I be able to identify it?

[00:22:15] Would it be able to stand out and grab my attention without it being like a highly curated promotional

[00:22:21] screenshot from the game?

[00:22:23] The next kind of part of this criteria is it balances our artistic vision with clear visual cues.

[00:22:30] If you're a longtime listener of the Indy Impressions, you know that I obsess over this.

[00:22:33] I want to see something beautiful, but I also want to be able to see what I'm supposed to do,

[00:22:37] what I'm supposed to interact with.

[00:22:39] And oftentimes I feel like visual clarity is at odds with art direction.

[00:22:42] And so I want to recognize when game animators and game artists are able to make those things

[00:22:49] cohesive and legible, right?

[00:22:51] And then the final part here is showcases exceptional slash unique animations.

[00:22:56] Well, this has its own category, right?

[00:22:58] But what I kind of want to see in best art direction is animations with a lot of flair.

[00:23:02] Want to see it look really good.

[00:23:05] All right.

[00:23:06] So here we go.

[00:23:07] Under the pixel slash voxel list of nominees for best art direction, we have Sheepy, A Short Adventure,

[00:23:13] Rusty's Retirement, Animal Well, Magical Delicacy, Arco, and finally, Bloom Town, A Different Story.

[00:23:23] Wow.

[00:23:24] I could say a lot about these games.

[00:23:25] I feel like each and every one of them kind of makes the pixel.

[00:23:30] I don't know.

[00:23:31] Some of what I love about these games here, and I'll talk about them kind of one after another.

[00:23:37] Some are able to make the pixel look seamless and smooth.

[00:23:40] And some really emphasize kind of the chunkiness of the tiny square to its artistic advantage, right?

[00:23:47] And so, for example, like Sheepy, A Short Adventure, and Magical Delicacy, Bloom Town, A Different Story.

[00:23:54] Like those three games in particular, I feel like are able to create something out of tiny squares that should not be composed of tiny squares.

[00:24:02] Like to me, it's almost like it's not pointillism, right?

[00:24:06] But it's something where it's like, it's so cohesive and smooth and beautiful.

[00:24:11] It's maybe the opposite of pointillism, right?

[00:24:13] In a way.

[00:24:15] Those three games, I absolutely love looking at them.

[00:24:18] Sheepy, I think, just has this wonderful color palette.

[00:24:20] And talk about visual clarity.

[00:24:22] Sheepy is a game that makes it pretty dang easy to see where you're supposed to go,

[00:24:26] but really hiding the quote-unquote yellow paint for you to get there.

[00:24:31] Rusty's Retirement, I'll be honest, this is 100% biased.

[00:24:33] Because I love, I love Haiku the Robot.

[00:24:36] And this is from the same dev, and it's in the same universe.

[00:24:39] So it's using kind of the same sprites and pixels style.

[00:24:41] But I just got to say that Rusty's Retirement, for example, Mr. Morris Games,

[00:24:46] has got one of the best eyes when it comes to picking out and selecting different colors to mean different things.

[00:24:55] And yeah, Rusty's Retirement is just an absolute joy to look at.

[00:24:58] There's dozens and dozens and dozens, for example, of different vegetable,

[00:25:02] like crop sprites, and they all look really wonderful and tasty.

[00:25:06] And it's just, man, what I love about Rusty's Retirement is like,

[00:25:09] you have it up on your desktop, and it only takes up like a fourth of your screen or whatever.

[00:25:13] And just, I would find myself looking, just like glancing over there,

[00:25:17] and just kind of looking at everything.

[00:25:18] Just how it looks, how the robots look, right?

[00:25:20] They absolutely have identifiable personality in all that they do.

[00:25:25] Animal Well.

[00:25:26] Holy cow, folks.

[00:25:28] Like Animal Well to me was just, it's amazing how the kind of art direction replicated like a CRT screen.

[00:25:39] And just, I don't know, I got lost in those pixels, man.

[00:25:44] Like this is an example of like, it's the pixels chunkiness that really took precedent

[00:25:49] and it really allowed for really harrowing eyes in the animals, for example, right?

[00:25:54] Like the dogs in particular and their teeth.

[00:25:57] But it just looked so fluid and so good.

[00:26:01] I'm seeing like, yeah, I don't know.

[00:26:05] I'm kind of getting lost for words here.

[00:26:07] It's just a really beautiful game.

[00:26:09] It really kind of elicits this spooky, ethereal, yet inviting in some way,

[00:26:17] like creepy caverns as you're going along.

[00:26:20] But also visual clarity.

[00:26:22] This game is a master class, I would say, in leading your player along

[00:26:28] without using any form of visible yellow paint.

[00:26:31] So beautiful Animal Well.

[00:26:33] Next one, Magical Delicacy.

[00:26:35] Skowl here like did something remarkable.

[00:26:38] Again, so I mentioned this like, this is anti-pointellism, opposite of pointellism,

[00:26:44] where the pixels all flow together so seamlessly that it doesn't even,

[00:26:49] I mean, it is pixelated, but at the same time,

[00:26:51] it doesn't seem to follow any of the conventions of pixel art.

[00:26:54] So like really old school pixel art, everything sort of fit in like a specific tile.

[00:26:59] Whereas I feel like everything in Magical Delicacy broke those rules

[00:27:02] and everything was freeform in how it was created and designed,

[00:27:06] which to me is just mind-blowing.

[00:27:09] Just mind-blowing.

[00:27:10] The characters, the character sprites as they're running along and stuff,

[00:27:14] just absolutely gorgeous to look at.

[00:27:17] But just when I look at Magical Delicacy, I see a lot of technical skill.

[00:27:22] Being able to manage like this art direction with a sort of like,

[00:27:26] we're not going to have everything adhere to a tile.

[00:27:28] Or maybe the tiles are just of an unusual size to the point where somebody like me couldn't tell

[00:27:33] that everything fits within a specific tile or not, right?

[00:27:38] Just wonderful.

[00:27:39] Let's see.

[00:27:40] Fifth on this list, we have Arco.

[00:27:42] I loved Arco, but Arco's art direction really stands out in these vistas.

[00:27:46] These zoomed out vistas.

[00:27:48] And the crazy thing about Arco is that like,

[00:27:50] because you're so zoomed out and all the character sprites are so tiny,

[00:27:53] they are like, I don't know.

[00:27:57] They've got to be less than a dozen pixels,

[00:27:59] like on each person it feels like.

[00:28:01] And they just kind of teeter back and forth.

[00:28:03] They don't have like true animations, I feel like in that way.

[00:28:08] But the vistas, the cities, just the landscapes,

[00:28:12] the devastation of the landscape.

[00:28:15] Like that's why it's really nominated here is because of those portrait shots

[00:28:20] of just this beautiful Latin American landscape that shows off its variety,

[00:28:26] but also shows off this embedded history in it.

[00:28:30] Just gorgeous.

[00:28:31] And then last, what we have here is Bloomtown, a different story.

[00:28:36] I played this one kind of late.

[00:28:37] So this one might have like recency bias,

[00:28:40] but this was just beautiful, man.

[00:28:41] This is such a gorgeous looking game.

[00:28:44] I love the colors.

[00:28:45] I love the character sprites.

[00:28:47] This is another one.

[00:28:48] And so Lazy Bear Games, who also did Graveyard Keeper,

[00:28:51] was a part of this.

[00:28:51] So no surprise that there's this massive attention to detail in everything, right?

[00:28:57] The desk that you use, for example, in Emily's bedroom is just full of stuff.

[00:29:03] And it's so easily identifiable what these things are.

[00:29:07] A lot of times I feel like with pixel art,

[00:29:09] your imagination does some of the heavy lifting

[00:29:11] when you're trying to identify what things are.

[00:29:14] But in this game, your imagination doesn't have to do anything, right?

[00:29:17] Because everything is so highly detailed.

[00:29:20] The attention to detail in Bloomtown, a different story,

[00:29:23] and its pixel art, and its sprites, and its assets,

[00:29:26] it's just astounding.

[00:29:28] I just look at that, and I feel like,

[00:29:30] how many thousands of hours was somebody in there placing all these pixels

[00:29:34] and rearranging them very specifically for them to mean something?

[00:29:40] All right, folks.

[00:29:41] So that is the rundown of the pixel voxel subcategory of best art direction.

[00:29:45] We're 30 minutes in, and we have barely got going.

[00:29:48] And so, folks, the winner this year,

[00:29:52] I go to use 2024 of the best art direction in the pixel slash voxel category

[00:30:01] is Magical Delicacy.

[00:30:08] Magical Delicacy was just a sheer joy to look at.

[00:30:11] I love looking at the night sky in particular,

[00:30:14] which is there's a specific part of the game where you go to the top of it.

[00:30:18] Just this beautiful, beautiful night sky, beautiful moon.

[00:30:21] I love looking at all the different herbs and ingredients that you would cook,

[00:30:26] the different pictures of the different foods that you would make,

[00:30:29] the people.

[00:30:30] I just, they have so much personality,

[00:30:32] and I just love the way that they were proportioned, right?

[00:30:36] I feel like pixel art, like I'm saying,

[00:30:38] because of the way that tiles are,

[00:30:41] have been used historically, right, like in pixel art.

[00:30:44] I feel like a lot of pixel art can be kind of compressed

[00:30:48] when it comes to proportion,

[00:30:49] but I just felt like here is just beautiful looking, right?

[00:30:52] And there's a lot of anthropomorphized,

[00:30:53] you know, different species that have animal characteristics in this game.

[00:30:57] And it all just looks really fantastic.

[00:30:59] And so the winner this year,

[00:31:01] best art direction pixel voxel category is Magical Delicacy.

[00:31:06] Next up is the other subcategory,

[00:31:09] and it is literally called Other.

[00:31:11] Because, folks, we could, I don't know,

[00:31:14] like best art direction could have seven subcategories,

[00:31:17] but I ain't got the time or the brainpower to do it.

[00:31:21] So we're just talking about best art direction.

[00:31:24] This is for Other, okay?

[00:31:28] And so what I have here on the list are the following.

[00:31:31] I have Ultros, Harold Halibut, Phoenix Springs,

[00:31:34] Haunty, Neva, and The Plucky Squire.

[00:31:38] Six wonderful games,

[00:31:40] all extremely beautiful to look at.

[00:31:43] Ultros manages to make a kaleidoscope,

[00:31:46] like an art direction.

[00:31:49] I don't know how on earth they're able to have so much detail,

[00:31:53] especially with the plant life.

[00:31:54] This really strange hybrid of something that feels really organic,

[00:31:59] but is actually in a spaceship in the middle of the cold, deep, dark,

[00:32:03] you know, corners of space.

[00:32:05] Ultros looks just amazing.

[00:32:08] Just this insane color palette.

[00:32:09] This is something that I feel like it is extremely difficult to get away with,

[00:32:13] but they do it and they have different areas because this is a metroidvania

[00:32:16] that really highlight different color palettes and colors.

[00:32:20] And Ultros is just a sheer joy to look at.

[00:32:23] Next up,

[00:32:24] we have Harold Halibut,

[00:32:25] which folks,

[00:32:26] this game was in the making for like something like nine years.

[00:32:29] It's this hybrid stop motion,

[00:32:31] you know,

[00:32:32] online,

[00:32:33] um,

[00:32:34] or not online,

[00:32:34] but just like computer created,

[00:32:37] designed art direction.

[00:32:38] It looks just amazing.

[00:32:40] The whole thing.

[00:32:41] I mean,

[00:32:42] again,

[00:32:43] the incredible attention to detail,

[00:32:45] the painstaking hours of labor to make,

[00:32:48] you know,

[00:32:49] Harold Halibut's facial expressions as he's having a conversation.

[00:32:52] And what I just loved about Harold Halibut is that it has,

[00:32:56] and I really don't want to spoil this.

[00:32:57] I just highly recommend you play it.

[00:32:59] Yes.

[00:32:59] It's a slow walking sim fetch quest,

[00:33:02] whatever.

[00:33:02] Right.

[00:33:03] But it has some of the best spectacle and the most original spectacle when it,

[00:33:10] in some of its cut scenes.

[00:33:11] And it's really those moments I think alone,

[00:33:15] um,

[00:33:15] allow it to be on here,

[00:33:16] but I just love how this,

[00:33:17] this game takes place underwater and it manages to feel really wet despite it

[00:33:23] being like stop motion,

[00:33:24] which I feel like isn't maybe necessarily known for that.

[00:33:27] Or I feel like stop motion,

[00:33:29] like water tends to be really tricky to work with.

[00:33:31] Like think about your Wallace and Gromits or,

[00:33:34] um,

[00:33:34] Juan Pablo Saramaya.

[00:33:36] If you guys know that shout,

[00:33:37] um,

[00:33:38] it's difficult to do water and stop motion,

[00:33:40] but Harold Halibut does it beautifully.

[00:33:42] Next up is Phoenix Springs.

[00:33:45] Maybe you've listened to my episode on this with Emily from snow mall,

[00:33:48] no small games.

[00:33:49] And yeah,

[00:33:50] I've got some issues with the game,

[00:33:51] but the way that it looks it's cut scenes.

[00:33:54] Holy cow.

[00:33:55] It is a remarkable that a game that focuses so much on yellow,

[00:33:59] green,

[00:33:59] and red together can look so good when I feel like those colors don't really mix

[00:34:05] all,

[00:34:06] all that well.

[00:34:06] Sorry,

[00:34:07] my Rastafarian friends here.

[00:34:09] Um,

[00:34:09] but like just gorgeous,

[00:34:12] again,

[00:34:12] gorgeous cut scenes,

[00:34:14] uh,

[00:34:14] great vistas.

[00:34:15] I mean,

[00:34:16] there's this comic book sense sort of vibe to it,

[00:34:20] but when the cut scenes happen,

[00:34:22] it feels like so much more than paper and just a beautiful game.

[00:34:26] Next up is Haunty.

[00:34:28] Now the thing about Haunty is that Haunty also has amazing vistas,

[00:34:32] right?

[00:34:32] Like,

[00:34:32] so it has a super unique art style that I don't really see it anywhere else.

[00:34:37] It almost feels like ink art,

[00:34:39] right?

[00:34:40] It almost feels like paper,

[00:34:41] like cutout art as well too,

[00:34:43] but it's really not.

[00:34:45] And I just love how Haunty just is able to create this,

[00:34:51] this really specific environment,

[00:34:53] like this really specific purgatory environment because it's so heavily uses the

[00:34:58] color black.

[00:34:59] Um,

[00:35:00] but at the same time it breathes a whole lot of life into the fact that these

[00:35:04] people are kind of stuck in this purgatory.

[00:35:07] So there's a lot of tension in this art direction that works super well.

[00:35:10] Um,

[00:35:11] Haunty has one of my absolute favorite boss fight sequences when it comes to

[00:35:15] art direction as well too.

[00:35:17] The second half of Haunty in particular,

[00:35:20] um,

[00:35:21] or really when you start with the roller coasters just blows your mind.

[00:35:24] It makes me wonder,

[00:35:25] wait a second,

[00:35:26] this game feels 2d,

[00:35:28] but how much all of this has to be 3d,

[00:35:31] right?

[00:35:31] The way that they kind of really mess with your perspective and some of these

[00:35:34] shots and these cut scenes,

[00:35:35] it's just gorgeous.

[00:35:36] Next up is Neva.

[00:35:38] Neva very much does feel like a paper cut out.

[00:35:42] Be on the lookout.

[00:35:43] An episode with Eric,

[00:35:44] uh,

[00:35:44] from pages of play is coming on that in January.

[00:35:48] Neva is just,

[00:35:49] oh,

[00:35:50] gorgeous winter.

[00:35:51] The winter,

[00:35:52] because the game is divided up by seasons,

[00:35:53] right?

[00:35:54] The winter season has this especially beautiful mirroring effect that is just

[00:36:00] outrageous.

[00:36:01] And Neva,

[00:36:03] there's so much emotion and beauty in what happens in Neva.

[00:36:07] And,

[00:36:07] you know,

[00:36:08] we'll talk about this in more detail in January when the episode comes out.

[00:36:11] So stay tuned for that one.

[00:36:13] And then finally,

[00:36:14] the plucky squire.

[00:36:15] Listen,

[00:36:15] that cartoony storybook art is just beautiful.

[00:36:19] I'm not one that draws,

[00:36:20] but I saw that game and it inspired me to be like,

[00:36:24] man,

[00:36:24] I want to draw like that,

[00:36:26] dude.

[00:36:26] I want to be able to,

[00:36:27] cause it's like these beautiful,

[00:36:29] well-developed characters that I feel like you would find colored in ink,

[00:36:33] like on a napkin and left for some,

[00:36:35] somebody like,

[00:36:36] like imagine,

[00:36:37] um,

[00:36:38] like if you work in service at all and you are a server at a restaurant and you

[00:36:42] have a,

[00:36:43] you know,

[00:36:43] maybe not a super memorable experience with like one of your clients there,

[00:36:46] but you,

[00:36:47] they draw you this cartoon.

[00:36:49] And it says like,

[00:36:50] Hey,

[00:36:50] thanks for being a great,

[00:36:51] you know,

[00:36:51] waiter or whatever.

[00:36:52] Like,

[00:36:53] I feel like that's what that art style has in the plucky squire.

[00:36:57] It has warmth.

[00:36:58] It has friendship.

[00:36:59] It has cartooniness,

[00:37:00] but it's just so alive and bubbly.

[00:37:02] It's,

[00:37:02] it's one of these art directions that could just turn your day around and then it

[00:37:06] jumps into 3d.

[00:37:07] And I really liked the 3d as well too.

[00:37:10] It blew my mind that they were able to retain so much that I found admirable

[00:37:14] about the 2d art style in the 3d as well.

[00:37:18] Okay.

[00:37:19] Folks,

[00:37:19] we went a lot faster that time through.

[00:37:21] That'll kind of be the clip when we go through most of these categories in

[00:37:24] the I go to 2024,

[00:37:26] but there can only be one winner and the winner of best art direction.

[00:37:31] Other category is Harold Halibut.

[00:37:43] I don't know if you were expecting that.

[00:37:45] I always wonder if you guys know which one is my favorite or which one I pick

[00:37:48] based on how I talk about all the games,

[00:37:50] but Harold Halibut,

[00:37:52] um,

[00:37:53] man,

[00:37:54] you see the labor of love that kind of went into all these characters that went

[00:37:58] into their facial expressions and went into how Harold interacts with them,

[00:38:01] their conversations and the set pieces that they're in.

[00:38:05] And it's just this really beautifully realized world of living in a stagnant

[00:38:10] space craft stuck underwater.

[00:38:13] But the,

[00:38:14] when you get further into the game and the real spectacles hit the real

[00:38:18] psychedelic moments as well,

[00:38:20] too,

[00:38:20] it is just astounding what they're able to create.

[00:38:23] And I really feel like Harold Halibut,

[00:38:25] um,

[00:38:26] the studio there was able to utilize their medium to their advantage,

[00:38:29] like really beautifully.

[00:38:31] So when it comes to some of these sequences later in the game,

[00:38:34] which I'm being vague about,

[00:38:35] cause I really want you to just play the game.

[00:38:37] So that is the winner.

[00:38:39] Harold Halibut is a winner of best art direction subcategory other moving right

[00:38:44] along.

[00:38:45] Let's get into the best animations category.

[00:38:48] Um,

[00:38:49] again,

[00:38:50] just to reiterate,

[00:38:51] this is a brand new category and this is really because the best art

[00:38:54] direction category is just getting,

[00:38:56] it's just been getting swamped with a lot of different things,

[00:39:00] um,

[00:39:00] and a lot of different games to discuss.

[00:39:02] Um,

[00:39:03] so here we go.

[00:39:04] Best animations.

[00:39:05] This is new.

[00:39:05] This is the three criteria that I have that kind of define what makes for the

[00:39:09] best animations in an indie video game.

[00:39:12] The first one is fluid movements during action.

[00:39:16] And kind of what I mean by this is like,

[00:39:19] um,

[00:39:20] you need to be able to see like what the heck is happening.

[00:39:23] Right.

[00:39:24] Um,

[00:39:24] but also,

[00:39:25] especially with games that rely on timing.

[00:39:27] And so one,

[00:39:28] um,

[00:39:29] that actually isn't nominated here,

[00:39:30] but will,

[00:39:31] that comes to mind is bow path of the teal Lotus.

[00:39:33] Like you just,

[00:39:34] because a game relies so much on moment to moment gameplay,

[00:39:37] you need to be able to see,

[00:39:38] um,

[00:39:39] what's happening during the action,

[00:39:41] especially for timing.

[00:39:42] And what I mean by fluid movements,

[00:39:44] it's just like,

[00:39:45] this doesn't have to be combat action,

[00:39:47] but even just like different animations,

[00:39:49] like walk cycles,

[00:39:50] things like that.

[00:39:51] It's just fluid.

[00:39:52] Like it's not choppy.

[00:39:53] It looks,

[00:39:54] uh,

[00:39:54] well proportioned or defined to whatever character is doing the animation and

[00:39:58] why,

[00:39:59] um,

[00:39:59] even some things like as simple as like,

[00:40:02] um,

[00:40:03] and I'll mention this game cause it didn't come out this year,

[00:40:05] but like see a star.

[00:40:06] It's like seeing how the water moves or just looking at the

[00:40:10] characters climbing up and down,

[00:40:11] uh,

[00:40:12] mountains and cliff sides.

[00:40:13] Um,

[00:40:14] the way that the wind will cause like a rippling effect in a flag or a

[00:40:18] sail or something along those lines.

[00:40:20] That's kind of what I'm talking about here.

[00:40:22] The next one legible action slash visual clarity balanced with

[00:40:27] flare who this is where things get really tricky.

[00:40:30] Cause,

[00:40:31] and this is a,

[00:40:32] maybe it does not specific to combat action,

[00:40:35] but it's much more important than combat action.

[00:40:37] Um,

[00:40:38] gotta be able to see what's going on,

[00:40:39] but it's gotta look cool as,

[00:40:40] as it's happening too.

[00:40:42] Right.

[00:40:42] And then finally moving assets slash characters maintain distinct

[00:40:46] personality while moving.

[00:40:48] And what I kind of mean by this is,

[00:40:50] um,

[00:40:51] if you have a game where there are different characters or you go

[00:40:53] through different,

[00:40:54] uh,

[00:40:55] play like characters that you're playing as,

[00:40:57] right.

[00:40:57] You have several different protagonists or a specific lineup.

[00:41:00] Um,

[00:41:00] you can still see their personality just through the animation.

[00:41:05] Um,

[00:41:06] and I know that's kind of asking a lot,

[00:41:08] uh,

[00:41:10] of,

[00:41:10] of developers of animators,

[00:41:12] um,

[00:41:12] to kind of come up with something unique and individualized for

[00:41:15] different,

[00:41:15] um,

[00:41:16] playable characters.

[00:41:17] But to me,

[00:41:18] that kind of makes for the best animations because you're allowing

[00:41:20] the art direction to really flow into every single moving asset

[00:41:25] within the game.

[00:41:26] And not just,

[00:41:27] um,

[00:41:27] when it comes to distinct style or,

[00:41:30] or like color palette.

[00:41:31] So those are the three criteria that I have for best animations.

[00:41:34] Here are the nominees.

[00:41:37] We have Neva,

[00:41:39] Bloomtown,

[00:41:40] a different story,

[00:41:41] Haunty,

[00:41:42] Harold Halibut,

[00:41:43] Pepper Grinder,

[00:41:44] and then finally Indica.

[00:41:47] All right.

[00:41:49] Talking about these a little bit.

[00:41:50] Um,

[00:41:50] I've,

[00:41:51] Neva is just so gorgeous.

[00:41:53] I love the jump.

[00:41:55] I love the double jump,

[00:41:56] the dash when you're slashing with a sword,

[00:41:58] like it has kind of the elegance.

[00:42:00] I feel like of a fencer,

[00:42:02] like the combat does,

[00:42:03] but at the same time,

[00:42:04] it has the grit of the violence that you are enacting as you're kind of

[00:42:07] playing that game.

[00:42:08] And so I think as you're moving as Alba throughout the entire game,

[00:42:13] just absolutely gorgeous,

[00:42:14] um,

[00:42:15] and very easy to read in all those circumstances.

[00:42:18] But I would also like to point out and,

[00:42:20] um,

[00:42:21] you'll have to listen to this pages or this,

[00:42:23] uh,

[00:42:23] episode I do with Eric from pages of play in January.

[00:42:26] He talks about this specifically,

[00:42:27] but Neva kind of as a young wolf pup,

[00:42:30] um,

[00:42:31] just the,

[00:42:32] just the personality and the emotion that is in there as,

[00:42:36] Neva,

[00:42:37] the pup does things wrong or is tentative or is hesitating.

[00:42:40] Um,

[00:42:41] you see so much character and personality sort of told through body gesture.

[00:42:44] And maybe this would be a better way of kind of describing the criteria that I'm looking for,

[00:42:47] like,

[00:42:49] um,

[00:42:49] you know,

[00:42:50] they say that,

[00:42:50] I don't know,

[00:42:51] 70% of communication is told through body language.

[00:42:53] And I think the best animations are doing that as well too.

[00:42:57] So Neva is a beautiful example of that.

[00:43:00] Bloom town,

[00:43:01] a different story.

[00:43:02] Well,

[00:43:02] let me tell you,

[00:43:03] I've already talked about this a bit with best direction,

[00:43:05] but holy cow,

[00:43:08] um,

[00:43:08] just an astonishing amount of frames.

[00:43:11] I feel like go into some of these movements and I talk about this in the Indian impressions episode.

[00:43:15] I really go in on this,

[00:43:16] but just to reiterate,

[00:43:17] like,

[00:43:18] I felt bad fast forwarding through some of these animations.

[00:43:20] So for example,

[00:43:21] when you go to the oven and you're going to cook something,

[00:43:24] right?

[00:43:25] Like there's this whole like song and dance of you,

[00:43:27] like preparing and getting down on your knee and pulling open the oven door and putting something in and then shutting it and then standing there and waiting.

[00:43:33] And then you reopen it and pull everything back out again.

[00:43:35] And it takes probably like 10 to 10 or so seconds,

[00:43:38] which is extremely long time.

[00:43:41] I feel like for an animation.

[00:43:43] And so,

[00:43:44] but to have that just all over the place in bloom town,

[00:43:47] um,

[00:43:48] a different story to me,

[00:43:49] just really,

[00:43:51] really blows my mind.

[00:43:52] And the,

[00:43:53] but the payoff is there.

[00:43:54] Like it is,

[00:43:54] it's huge.

[00:43:56] So big fan of that one.

[00:43:57] And that is why it is nominated.

[00:43:59] I also have Haunty on here.

[00:44:01] So I did talk about this when,

[00:44:03] uh,

[00:44:04] other art direction,

[00:44:05] but Haunty has some really wonderful,

[00:44:08] like,

[00:44:09] I don't know how to describe maybe the walking of the,

[00:44:11] the main protagonist,

[00:44:13] but it's kind of like this scoot thing,

[00:44:15] like the head Bob,

[00:44:16] there's a lot of,

[00:44:16] and,

[00:44:17] uh,

[00:44:17] like ripples in the hood.

[00:44:19] And there's just a lot of movement that kind of coheres really well with what the different characters are doing.

[00:44:25] So yeah,

[00:44:26] Haunty,

[00:44:27] another one there.

[00:44:28] Um,

[00:44:28] again,

[00:44:29] I have Harold Halibut.

[00:44:30] A lot of this does come back to,

[00:44:32] uh,

[00:44:33] like the specific conversations that Harold will have with different people,

[00:44:36] like aboard the ship and just the facial gestures in particular.

[00:44:40] This one is,

[00:44:41] and I'm a sucker for stop motion,

[00:44:43] but Harold Halibut is another one where,

[00:44:45] um,

[00:44:45] just the individual movements mean so much.

[00:44:48] And I think you can see a lot of that distinct personality from character to character in Harold Halibut.

[00:44:54] And then the next one,

[00:44:55] Pepper grinder,

[00:44:57] you know,

[00:44:57] Pepper grinder,

[00:44:58] I played really early this year.

[00:44:59] And so when I was coming up with these nominations,

[00:45:01] um,

[00:45:02] I had pepper grinder on for a long time and then I had to look at it again and do pepper grinder.

[00:45:08] There's a lot of spunk and personality in what,

[00:45:11] in that player,

[00:45:12] uh,

[00:45:12] the player protagonist.

[00:45:14] And also just like in the boss fights,

[00:45:16] the drilling,

[00:45:17] um,

[00:45:17] there's a lot of flair.

[00:45:19] I feel like,

[00:45:19] um,

[00:45:20] with what's going on when you're using the drill and when you use a drill and like different circumstances with different vehicles,

[00:45:26] et cetera,

[00:45:26] pepper grinder is just a beautiful one there.

[00:45:28] And then the last one,

[00:45:29] Indica.

[00:45:30] And so Indica,

[00:45:31] I think is a game that deserves a lot of praise for a lot of different reasons.

[00:45:36] I wanted to include it in here in,

[00:45:39] uh,

[00:45:39] best animations because,

[00:45:41] um,

[00:45:43] in part because it's this weird balance.

[00:45:45] It has these pixel moments and where the pixel animations are really gorgeous,

[00:45:49] but it's also this fully like 3d model game.

[00:45:51] And like the first,

[00:45:53] the first like 10 minutes of this game,

[00:45:55] when you're just walking around the convent,

[00:45:56] um,

[00:45:57] just the different animations that you are doing as Indica,

[00:46:01] as you're just like filling a pail of water with like freezing ice cold water.

[00:46:05] I just feel like the animations were really deliberate and they do lend themselves to a lot of really strong personality in the game.

[00:46:12] Some slight spoilers for the game,

[00:46:14] right?

[00:46:14] But Indica is kind of haunted by the devil himself.

[00:46:16] And there is a moment in this game where you can catch glimpses of the devil.

[00:46:21] And I just think that the animations they actually use for the devil creature in this game really were creepy.

[00:46:30] And it was super cool when you first kind of realize what is happening and what's going on there.

[00:46:34] But folks,

[00:46:36] all these are amazing,

[00:46:37] but there can be only one winner.

[00:46:39] And so the winner for best animations,

[00:46:41] the new category this year in the I go to 2024 is none other than Bloom town,

[00:46:47] a different story.

[00:46:55] My sort of affinity towards pixel art might be a bit of a bias in here,

[00:47:00] but folks,

[00:47:00] I highly recommend that you just watch some video clips of Bloom town and not even the turn-based action,

[00:47:06] which don't get me wrong,

[00:47:07] does look really good.

[00:47:08] Like the,

[00:47:08] the animation,

[00:47:09] because each of the four people on your team and your party,

[00:47:12] they have a different ranged weapon that they can use.

[00:47:16] And Chester in particular,

[00:47:18] he will pull out like,

[00:47:19] I think of like a Winchester rifle,

[00:47:21] and he will get down on one knee and then prop up the gun,

[00:47:24] you know,

[00:47:24] he's holding,

[00:47:25] um,

[00:47:26] the barrel in his hand,

[00:47:28] which is,

[00:47:28] you know,

[00:47:28] his elbow resting on his knee.

[00:47:30] That animation,

[00:47:31] I never got sick of,

[00:47:32] I like never got sick of that one,

[00:47:33] but the game is just chock full of these moments where you see so much loving detail in every single bit,

[00:47:41] in every single animation.

[00:47:42] And so folks,

[00:47:43] that is best animations.

[00:47:46] Bloom town to different stories are winner there.

[00:47:49] Next up,

[00:47:50] we have the category of best pacing.

[00:47:53] And so the criteria that I have to define this are four bullet points.

[00:47:57] And here they are as follows.

[00:47:58] It eases a player into its narrative slash gameplay concisely.

[00:48:02] And so this is a big one for me and games can add more mechanics throughout the course of the,

[00:48:08] of the gameplay.

[00:48:09] To me,

[00:48:10] that's fine.

[00:48:11] But here it's like,

[00:48:12] we're getting to the meat and bones of the game relatively quickly.

[00:48:16] It has clear established goals for the player.

[00:48:20] And so this is kind of addressing the idea,

[00:48:22] like the yellow paint problem in video games.

[00:48:24] Um,

[00:48:25] it has goals and you know what you're supposed to be doing and you're not really stuck or maybe not stuck,

[00:48:31] but wandering.

[00:48:32] You're not wandering and lost kind of as you're going through the game.

[00:48:35] The next one is manages players expectations for difficulty.

[00:49:08] Scaling.

[00:49:09] To manage the player expectation,

[00:49:11] how the player will respond.

[00:49:13] And so game with really good pacing will guide a player forward and upward kind of through its trajectory.

[00:49:18] And then the last one here,

[00:49:20] thoughtfully places or removes bottlenecks or grind.

[00:49:24] I don't think a bottleneck like a boss skill check is a bad thing.

[00:49:28] And I don't think grind is a bad thing either,

[00:49:30] but they both can feel really tedious or they can be frustrating or impede progress in a game when they don't feel like they're employed thoughtfully.

[00:49:38] The games that I've mentioned here,

[00:49:41] where appropriate,

[00:49:42] thoughtfully place those things.

[00:49:44] All right.

[00:49:45] So here we go.

[00:49:45] We have six games,

[00:49:48] um,

[00:49:48] nominated for this category.

[00:49:50] The first one is Sheepy,

[00:49:52] a short adventure.

[00:49:52] We have Dungeons of Hinterberg,

[00:49:55] Neva,

[00:49:56] Bow,

[00:49:56] Path of the Teal Lotus,

[00:49:58] Minami Lane,

[00:49:59] and Crypt Custodian.

[00:50:01] So those are the six that I picked for best pacing,

[00:50:03] and I'll explain why.

[00:50:05] So Sheepy,

[00:50:05] a short adventure I haven't played in a while.

[00:50:08] Um,

[00:50:08] but looking back at it and kind of watching and remembering how I played this game,

[00:50:14] you do get specific abilities.

[00:50:16] Is this a side scrolling like puzzle platformer?

[00:50:19] There's not like a whole lot of puzzling in here,

[00:50:21] to be honest.

[00:50:21] It's mostly just platforming,

[00:50:23] but to me,

[00:50:24] this wins or it doesn't.

[00:50:26] Well,

[00:50:26] you don't know if it wins.

[00:50:27] I haven't announced it yet.

[00:50:28] This one gets nominated for best pacing because of the first bullet point.

[00:50:34] And also because of like the second and third bullet points,

[00:50:39] you get into this game quite easily.

[00:50:41] And you kind of know what you do.

[00:50:43] You do need the gamer pre knowledge of like,

[00:50:45] Hey,

[00:50:45] if I start on the left,

[00:50:46] I'm going to the right.

[00:50:47] And that's kind of how the game progresses.

[00:50:49] But there it's funny because this game doesn't have like dialogue and it

[00:50:53] doesn't really explain a whole lot what's going on,

[00:50:56] but it does have clear established goals for the player based on specific,

[00:51:00] like a plot events and moments that happened quite early on in the game.

[00:51:04] And so there isn't an attack.

[00:51:05] There is an antagonist that is introduced relatively quickly.

[00:51:09] And you can read all these different,

[00:51:11] like lore scraps as you're kind of traversing the game.

[00:51:14] And you get a much greater understanding of like what it is that you're

[00:51:18] trying to accomplish.

[00:51:18] And those lore scraps are easy to find and they're short to read,

[00:51:21] but they're informative.

[00:51:22] And so it kind of helps you push you forward that way.

[00:51:25] And then just the different abilities that you get in this game,

[00:51:29] make it so the game is never stale and always propels you forward.

[00:51:33] So that's what I have for.

[00:51:36] That's why I've nominated Sheepia Short Adventure.

[00:51:38] Next one, Dungeons of Hinterburg.

[00:51:40] There are 25 dungeons that you've got to do in this game, 25 plus.

[00:51:44] And I got to say in Dungeons of Hinterburg,

[00:51:47] it does a really remarkable job of scaling the dungeon length and difficulty

[00:51:53] and combat difficulty and puzzling.

[00:51:55] I actually really liked the puzzles here.

[00:51:57] Dungeons of Hinterburg is obviously when it comes to these dungeons,

[00:52:00] heavily inspired by the legend of Zelda.

[00:52:05] And I kind of feel like each mini dungeon in this game,

[00:52:08] because like I said, there's about 25 of them.

[00:52:11] It just has just enough for the dungeon to remain interesting and not get stale.

[00:52:17] Some of the early dungeons,

[00:52:18] like maybe you could venture to say that they feel like a little short,

[00:52:21] but I don't think that's a problem.

[00:52:24] And I don't even know if I consider that to be true.

[00:52:27] I just kind of feel like you just keep going.

[00:52:32] You keep getting lots of tools,

[00:52:33] and there's a good kind of rating system

[00:52:36] that determines whether or not you're prepared enough

[00:52:37] to go into dungeons for defense and offense.

[00:52:40] And the rest kind of goes up to your smarts.

[00:52:43] But I felt like there was enough environmental cues to get you through.

[00:52:46] I never felt like totally stumped.

[00:52:49] Maybe I got stuck for a little bit,

[00:52:51] but no more in a way that felt like really impeding to my progress.

[00:52:55] And then I would also say that there was good variety

[00:52:59] with some like really combat-oriented dungeons.

[00:53:01] I think that was really crucial to have something like that,

[00:53:04] rather than just to feel like you were constantly puzzle-solving your way through.

[00:53:09] Next up is Neba.

[00:53:11] Neba also adds a lot of different puzzle styles,

[00:53:15] I would say, all related to platforming.

[00:53:17] But it also introduces abilities in a really beautiful and thoughtful way

[00:53:20] that really makes a lot of sense with the game's narrative pacing.

[00:53:23] So there's a really good, I think, parallel structure there

[00:53:28] as you navigate the game and as you progress through it.

[00:53:31] Something that I really like about Neba is that you really just start,

[00:53:34] you actually just start with all the abilities that you're typically,

[00:53:36] that you're going to need for the most part as Alba.

[00:53:39] You get your double jump, you get your dash,

[00:53:41] you get your like downward aerial stab,

[00:53:43] you get your mid-air dash,

[00:53:45] like all that stuff is kind of given to you up front

[00:53:47] and it doesn't really change.

[00:53:49] The thing that changes is how Neba can help you in combat.

[00:53:53] And so I thought that was a really good way of like,

[00:53:56] to me this is like thoughtfully removing a bottleneck,

[00:54:01] which is like in a Metroidvania,

[00:54:02] you start within the five minutes,

[00:54:04] you already want to double jump, right?

[00:54:05] Neba's kind of like,

[00:54:07] Neba's not a Metroidvania,

[00:54:08] but Neba kind of responds to that by saying,

[00:54:11] what if we just start you with all of the basic abilities

[00:54:14] that you can expect to be in this type of a game?

[00:54:16] You have them here at the beginning and then you go forward.

[00:54:20] Next, Bow Path of the Teal Lotus.

[00:54:23] Well, this game,

[00:54:26] compared to all the games on this list for nominations,

[00:54:30] Bow Path of the Teal Lotus is incredibly more difficult.

[00:54:35] But the thing is,

[00:54:37] is that there is a difficulty spike,

[00:54:39] I would say fairly early on,

[00:54:41] but it does manage your player expectation.

[00:54:45] Like it is,

[00:54:46] it is a little surprising,

[00:54:47] but from there on the game kind of tells you,

[00:54:50] it's like,

[00:54:50] okay,

[00:54:51] it's been a tutorial up until the point.

[00:54:53] This is where the game is starting.

[00:54:54] And then this is where the game is going to continue.

[00:54:56] Like this is the starting point for really how the difficulty is going to be

[00:55:00] managed in this game.

[00:55:01] And so I really liked that.

[00:55:03] Bow being more of a,

[00:55:04] you know,

[00:55:05] a truer Metroidvania,

[00:55:07] lots of good abilities to unlock into,

[00:55:10] in ways to sort of progress forward.

[00:55:13] Um,

[00:55:14] and then in this,

[00:55:15] in,

[00:55:15] in Bow Path of the Teal Lotus,

[00:55:17] I thought it thoughtfully placed grind where if you want to get,

[00:55:21] um,

[00:55:21] specific like upgrade materials,

[00:55:23] they were relatively close to the critical path.

[00:55:26] And,

[00:55:27] uh,

[00:55:27] but if you really wanted to go all out and find things and really thoroughly

[00:55:31] explore and get some of the bigger rewards that the game has to offer you,

[00:55:34] like it was available to you.

[00:55:36] Um,

[00:55:37] but it wasn't like requisite in order to beat the game.

[00:55:40] Next up,

[00:55:41] Minami Lane.

[00:55:42] This game is like this,

[00:55:43] this tiny short game.

[00:55:45] There's only five levels and essentially you're managing people's happiness and economy in a pretty basic way in this town.

[00:55:54] And,

[00:55:55] um,

[00:55:56] I was really shocked that Minami Lane kept adding these new mechanics that felt really intuitive and felt just really beautifully introduced in each level.

[00:56:07] Um,

[00:56:08] Minami Lane doesn't really have grind and it doesn't exactly have bottlenecks because you can accomplish any level.

[00:56:14] They're like optional objectives that you can do,

[00:56:17] which I think was the right call for this kind of design.

[00:56:19] But like the different like stats and numbers that you had to juggle,

[00:56:23] cause you're juggling like the happiness of older demographics versus younger demographics and you're balancing money,

[00:56:28] but you're also balancing just like beauty of this specific,

[00:56:31] you know,

[00:56:32] street where these people live.

[00:56:33] You're balancing,

[00:56:35] um,

[00:56:35] the different like ingredient proportions that make people happy and how much you can sell and what kind of profit margin you can get at these different shops.

[00:56:44] What's crazy though,

[00:56:45] is like Minami Lane does not feel nearly as overwhelming as all the numbers I just threw at you.

[00:56:51] Like it becomes so intuitive to how you're playing the game.

[00:56:56] Um,

[00:56:56] it's really quite remarkable.

[00:56:58] And then the last nominee here,

[00:57:01] Crypt Custodian.

[00:57:02] All right.

[00:57:03] The thing about Crypt Custodian is that it is like entirely,

[00:57:08] it's not entirely,

[00:57:09] but it heavily favors like the best defense is a good offense because you start with,

[00:57:15] X amount of lives like hearts and you don't really increase those at all,

[00:57:19] except through these different abilities that you can unlock.

[00:57:22] And there's a huge path to,

[00:57:25] or a variety of paths,

[00:57:27] I should say as well to unlock more and more abilities that you can equip and to unlock like more currency so that you can equip more abilities simultaneously.

[00:57:37] Some of these,

[00:57:38] most of the abilities are passive,

[00:57:39] but some of them you have to activate.

[00:57:41] And what I loved about this is to me,

[00:57:43] Crypt Custodian is a great example of thoughtfully removing grind,

[00:57:47] um,

[00:57:48] or just like re-channeling grind.

[00:57:51] You're heavily like encouraged to explore.

[00:57:54] This is a top down Metrovania.

[00:57:56] And just by simply exploring,

[00:57:58] you were thrown currencies at you and you are just given,

[00:58:04] I feel like a lot of opportunity to upgrade like Pluto,

[00:58:09] the,

[00:58:09] the,

[00:58:09] the cat that you play as.

[00:58:12] And I thought that was cool.

[00:58:14] Like there's no heart that comes after beating a boss.

[00:58:16] Like you don't get the big heart container that you would expect from a Zelda game.

[00:58:21] And I just thought it was a great way of kind of making the game manageable,

[00:58:25] but this game absolutely favors like offensively oriented players in order to make good progress on it.

[00:58:32] All right,

[00:58:33] folks,

[00:58:33] there we have our nominations for best pacing.

[00:58:36] Just to run through the list again,

[00:58:38] we've got Sheepy,

[00:58:39] A Short Adventure,

[00:58:40] Dungeons of Hinterberg,

[00:58:41] Neba,

[00:58:41] Bow,

[00:58:42] Path of the Teal Lotus,

[00:58:43] Minami Lane,

[00:58:44] and Crypt Custodian.

[00:58:45] Folks,

[00:58:46] your winner for the I-Goaties 2024 best pacing.

[00:58:50] Goes to Minami Lane.

[00:58:59] This game blew me out of the water.

[00:59:03] This is one of my biggest surprises of this year was Minami Lane.

[00:59:07] It got a ton of buzz.

[00:59:09] It's like five bucks or something on Steam.

[00:59:10] It might be on Switch.

[00:59:11] It's got this cute art style.

[00:59:13] I kind of looked at it and I was like,

[00:59:15] okay,

[00:59:15] it looks good.

[00:59:15] You know,

[00:59:16] and it's like,

[00:59:16] it's pretty cheap.

[00:59:17] And I didn't buy it at launch.

[00:59:19] And I think it was like a few months later and ended up being on sale for like,

[00:59:22] I don't know,

[00:59:23] like three bucks or something.

[00:59:24] And I was like,

[00:59:24] you know what?

[00:59:25] Let me just get it.

[00:59:25] It's three bucks.

[00:59:27] And this game has like overwhelmingly positive reviews.

[00:59:30] I played through it.

[00:59:32] Probably took me like an hour and a half to get through the five main levels.

[00:59:35] And I got all of the optional challenges as well.

[00:59:37] And like I mentioned,

[00:59:39] just introducing it for best pacing is that I did not even realize how much I was thinking about

[00:59:46] and strategizing to sort of optimize the street in Minami Lane.

[00:59:51] Like the pacing here,

[00:59:52] the introduction of mechanics was so,

[00:59:57] it settles,

[00:59:58] not even the right word,

[00:59:59] but it was just so fluid and so smooth that by the time I got to the end of the game,

[01:00:05] I was like,

[01:00:06] wait a second.

[01:00:07] I actually understand this game so much better than I thought I would have.

[01:00:13] Um,

[01:00:14] I do not believe that this game needs to be like 10,

[01:00:16] 15,

[01:00:17] 20,

[01:00:17] 25 levels.

[01:00:18] I think that would kind of,

[01:00:19] uh,

[01:00:20] diminish its appeal and kind of what it can achieve with pacing.

[01:00:23] But I think Minami Lane is just another great example of like indie games oftentimes have like really expert packaging.

[01:00:30] You can get so much done.

[01:00:32] And if you just really polish and hone in on like specific game design in here,

[01:00:38] it's like the economy of a street.

[01:00:40] So beautifully done.

[01:00:41] Minami Lane is this year's winners of,

[01:00:44] uh,

[01:00:44] best pacing for the I goatees 2024.

[01:00:48] Next up this category,

[01:00:50] best level design.

[01:00:52] This is a category.

[01:00:53] It's so funny because I included it and it's been around since the first I goatees,

[01:00:58] um,

[01:00:58] a few years ago because I saw,

[01:01:02] and I wish I'm tell the story every time.

[01:01:04] And I wish I had saved the tweet of this person.

[01:01:07] This is back when tweeting and Twitter was still a thing,

[01:01:10] but somebody had said,

[01:01:11] isn't it ironic that in the biggest award show in our industry,

[01:01:14] referring to the game awards,

[01:01:16] there's no category for best level design.

[01:01:19] And the thread kind of continued to talk like this is one,

[01:01:23] one of the like most defining characteristics of video games is they have levels.

[01:01:30] And so,

[01:01:31] and you have level designers.

[01:01:32] This is a profession.

[01:01:33] This is a job.

[01:01:34] This is a specific branch of game design.

[01:01:36] Like how are we not recognizing like best level design?

[01:01:39] And so I thought to myself,

[01:01:41] well,

[01:01:41] how do we assess this?

[01:01:43] Right.

[01:01:43] And so here's the criteria that I have.

[01:01:44] And what's kind of funky about this criteria is that like in some games,

[01:01:49] like levels are explicitly part,

[01:01:51] a part of them.

[01:01:51] Right.

[01:01:51] So think of just like classic Mario games,

[01:01:53] right?

[01:01:53] You're in world one,

[01:01:54] level three,

[01:01:55] right?

[01:01:55] Even like demon souls use this,

[01:01:56] the same system.

[01:01:57] And so like,

[01:01:59] that is like clearly marking what an individual level is in a game.

[01:02:03] However,

[01:02:04] if you think of something like dishonor too,

[01:02:07] right?

[01:02:07] Where each mission is its own level,

[01:02:10] but for whatever reason,

[01:02:12] I feel like there's no like straight,

[01:02:14] like strong association between missions and levels necessarily.

[01:02:17] Maybe it was like golden eye,

[01:02:19] you know,

[01:02:20] on the N64 there was,

[01:02:21] but I feel like that's kind of changed a little bit,

[01:02:24] or even like talking about prey,

[01:02:26] like there is really crucial and important level design,

[01:02:31] but that very much does not have mission structure.

[01:02:35] I even saw like today,

[01:02:37] I was looking at different posts on blue sky.

[01:02:40] Somebody had mentioned like Indiana Jones and the great circle has incredible

[01:02:43] level design.

[01:02:44] Right.

[01:02:44] And despite their Indiana Jones and the great circle,

[01:02:47] having more like mission structure in terms of game progression,

[01:02:52] do we think about like different houses that you navigate as like levels or

[01:02:56] different buildings?

[01:02:56] Like,

[01:02:57] you know,

[01:02:58] resident evil to remake,

[01:02:59] which I played for the first time,

[01:03:01] not too long ago.

[01:03:02] Like,

[01:03:02] do we think of the place,

[01:03:03] the police station as a level when we think about contemporary game design?

[01:03:06] So anyway,

[01:03:07] I'm dragging this out too long,

[01:03:08] but here are the criteria for best level design.

[01:03:11] And what I was kind of looking for,

[01:03:12] and also to try to like even the playing field to try to include games that have level design,

[01:03:17] even if they don't have explicit like level,

[01:03:20] like a level select as you're going through the game.

[01:03:23] So we have exemplary level design for the game's respective genre.

[01:03:28] Right.

[01:03:28] So here I'm trying to take into account what the game genre means and how it defines and creates levels,

[01:03:33] and then how the game accomplishes that.

[01:03:35] Levels feel fresh,

[01:03:37] unique.

[01:03:37] Right.

[01:03:38] Right.

[01:03:39] How many side scrollers are left to right and you jump over different obstacles or pits of spikes and they're floating platforms and etc.

[01:03:45] Right.

[01:03:46] Like,

[01:03:46] where does it get unique?

[01:03:47] Where does it get new?

[01:03:49] Balances player engagement between thoughtlessly playing and stumping the player.

[01:03:54] I think this is really tricky with level design.

[01:03:56] And I mentioned this another way phrasing.

[01:03:57] And this is like environmental cues.

[01:03:59] Like,

[01:04:00] how does the game direct you towards the end goal?

[01:04:04] Right.

[01:04:04] And how does the level design specifically accomplish that?

[01:04:08] Then the last bit for the criteria here,

[01:04:11] paces the player's abilities and familiarity with the game throughout game progression.

[01:04:16] And so what I mean by this is like,

[01:04:18] maybe you get a double jump at the beginning of the game,

[01:04:19] but is there a level that kind of has you think outside of the box of how a level or a double jump might be interesting,

[01:04:27] right?

[01:04:28] Or,

[01:04:28] or important.

[01:04:29] And so for example,

[01:04:31] oftentimes in video games,

[01:04:32] you need the double jump just to get to a higher place.

[01:04:37] But a game like Hollow Knight,

[01:04:38] for example,

[01:04:39] or let me think of another game.

[01:04:42] Trying to think of like a game.

[01:04:44] Well,

[01:04:44] anyway,

[01:04:44] let me just give you this specific scenario,

[01:04:46] right?

[01:04:46] Like maybe a double jump isn't just important for getting,

[01:04:49] but maybe a double jump is a way of getting around a wall.

[01:04:53] And what I mean by that is like you jump,

[01:04:55] you,

[01:04:55] you know,

[01:04:56] glide out gravity takes an effect and you go down past maybe where a vertical wall is.

[01:05:01] And then you double jump again to get to another location.

[01:05:05] And so that to me would be a smart way of using double jump to get more access horizontally,

[01:05:12] not just vertically.

[01:05:13] And so that's what I mean by that is like,

[01:05:15] how are these abilities being used creatively and differently as you progress through the

[01:05:19] game?

[01:05:21] Here are your six nominees.

[01:05:23] We have pepper grinder,

[01:05:25] mini shoot adventures,

[01:05:27] animal well,

[01:05:28] grapple dogs,

[01:05:29] two cosmic canines,

[01:05:30] minami lane,

[01:05:31] and bow path of the teal Lotus.

[01:05:33] So some of these games have already discussed,

[01:05:36] so I probably won't talk about them in more detail,

[01:05:38] but here we go.

[01:05:39] Pepper grinder very much as Mario style.

[01:05:41] You have world level and you have,

[01:05:44] you know,

[01:05:44] the actual level,

[01:05:46] right?

[01:05:46] So world number,

[01:05:48] level number,

[01:05:48] and that's where you're getting into things.

[01:05:50] However,

[01:05:51] what I think is good about pepper grinder is that it's based around this sort of drilling,

[01:05:55] this burrowing mechanic.

[01:05:56] And this really hits kind of the last point that I have for my criteria.

[01:06:00] You do get better abilities and you kind of get like power-ups as you go through.

[01:06:04] And the game allows you to be a lot more creative with how you use the drill to propel yourself forward.

[01:06:11] There's like a grapple in here as well too.

[01:06:13] And so that sort of combination of,

[01:06:15] if you can exit your burrow at the right angle with the right momentum,

[01:06:20] how does that allow you to get better distance or closer to a specific point or reach a secret area?

[01:06:27] So pepper grinder is your first one.

[01:06:29] Mini shoot adventures.

[01:06:30] Avengers.

[01:06:31] Ooh,

[01:06:31] this game is like this super cool bowl of hell Zelda like.

[01:06:36] And to be honest,

[01:06:37] it got my attention was not even on my radar except for the fantasy critically bought in our discord.

[01:06:43] Like it was like unpublished mini shoot adventures.

[01:06:46] Like it was clocking in at like 91.

[01:06:48] I was like,

[01:06:48] what on earth is this game?

[01:06:50] It's getting 91.

[01:06:50] So I ended up grabbing it and it was amazing.

[01:06:53] And so what I,

[01:06:53] what I really liked about mini shoot adventures is that it is like this top down Zelda like,

[01:06:58] but you playing in like this hovercraft,

[01:07:02] this,

[01:07:02] or maybe just constantly low flying spacecraft.

[01:07:05] And so the abilities that you get are different,

[01:07:08] right?

[01:07:08] So of course you're going to get a dash,

[01:07:10] but like how you can go over water,

[01:07:13] for example,

[01:07:14] or how you can use a boost,

[01:07:17] um,

[01:07:18] and how you can use your just different weapons and abilities in there allowed,

[01:07:22] I think for some really,

[01:07:24] really creative level design when you're in the dungeons themselves.

[01:07:27] And so I think the dungeons have cool design based around this sort of hovercraft that you're

[01:07:33] playing as instead of like a swordsman or some type of typical hero.

[01:07:37] Next up animal,

[01:07:39] animal.

[01:07:40] Well,

[01:07:40] I mean,

[01:07:41] animal.

[01:07:42] Well,

[01:07:42] I mean,

[01:07:43] what else can I say?

[01:07:43] That hasn't been said like an incredibly,

[01:07:47] incredibly original and fresh feeling metroidvania.

[01:07:51] I think that's the strongest thing to say about it is that the abilities you acquire are wholly unique.

[01:07:56] The two that I mentioned in our game of the year episode on the main show,

[01:07:59] I'll mention them here as well.

[01:08:01] Like the bubble wand and the yo-yo,

[01:08:02] for example,

[01:08:04] really atypical abilities to acquire,

[01:08:06] but it does allow for some super cool use of those abilities.

[01:08:12] So for example,

[01:08:13] I mentioned like this double jump being used to traverse like a tricky horizontal space and not just a vertical space.

[01:08:18] Well,

[01:08:19] the bubble wand in this game,

[01:08:20] for example,

[01:08:20] you can use it to like break your fall.

[01:08:23] And so there's this one moment in animal well,

[01:08:26] where I was like,

[01:08:27] okay,

[01:08:27] to progress forward,

[01:08:28] I need to fall down like,

[01:08:30] I don't know,

[01:08:31] four frames or something and then get to the right.

[01:08:33] So I tried just jumping and falling.

[01:08:36] And sure enough,

[01:08:37] I died,

[01:08:37] but I had the bubble wand and I figured out that you can shoot the bubble wand underneath you.

[01:08:42] And so while I was free falling,

[01:08:45] when I got to the frame where I needed to slow down,

[01:08:48] shot the bubble wand underneath me and it broke my fall.

[01:08:51] It slowed me down.

[01:08:52] Then I was able to just jump and continue on with the game.

[01:08:55] Like that kind of level design and progression,

[01:08:57] I feel like is very much tied to the uniqueness of the abilities that you get.

[01:09:02] And then finally,

[01:09:03] bow path of the teal lotus.

[01:09:06] This is a,

[01:09:07] I don't know.

[01:09:07] The more I sit on this game,

[01:09:09] the more I think fondly of it and really only remember the good.

[01:09:14] Bow path of the teal lotus is a great metroidvania.

[01:09:17] I loved just like 95% of the boss fights.

[01:09:20] I loved in this game.

[01:09:21] And I think that it has really remarkable areas for a metroidvania.

[01:09:27] Some are much more difficult than others,

[01:09:29] but honestly,

[01:09:31] they're just good.

[01:09:32] They're just really great metroidvania levels.

[01:09:34] And I think this game uses like really good shortcuts and fast travel as well.

[01:09:40] You'll have to complete some quests and like leave an area and come back.

[01:09:43] And the fast travel is positioned where that's easy.

[01:09:45] The shortcuts feel really smart to like revisiting an area,

[01:09:48] which is crucial and characteristic of a metroidvania should never feel like a

[01:09:52] slog.

[01:09:53] And it really doesn't in bow path of the teal lotus.

[01:09:55] Thanks to how the different hubs,

[01:09:57] the different areas are kind of designed with,

[01:09:59] with their levels,

[01:10:00] their platformings or moment to moment,

[01:10:02] getting from one place to another.

[01:10:04] So those are your six nominations,

[01:10:07] pepper grinder,

[01:10:08] mini shoot adventures,

[01:10:09] animal.

[01:10:09] Well grapple dogs to cosmic canines,

[01:10:11] menami lane and bow path of the teal lotus,

[01:10:14] but only one can stand tall above all of the rest.

[01:10:19] And that one is grapple dogs to cosmic canines.

[01:10:29] Folks,

[01:10:30] this was a really tight category.

[01:10:33] Really any of these could deserve to win,

[01:10:35] but I'm picking grapple dogs to cosmic canines because in part,

[01:10:39] like the level design in the first game was really stellar.

[01:10:43] And when it came out and won this category,

[01:10:44] and I did not know how medallion games would make it better.

[01:10:49] Yeah,

[01:10:49] they did.

[01:10:50] And I think that's because there is no left to right in this game.

[01:10:54] I think you start pretty much every level going left to right in this game

[01:10:57] is design old school.

[01:10:58] It's world number and level number,

[01:11:01] but the levels are so much more expansive than that.

[01:11:04] But the thing is,

[01:11:05] is it doesn't feel unintuitive to go up into the left in this game.

[01:11:09] And there's so many cool secrets,

[01:11:12] way more in this one than in the original,

[01:11:15] whether that be cosmetics or just other things that you unlock.

[01:11:19] Just tucked away.

[01:11:20] And there's always what I love about the level design here.

[01:11:24] And what Joseph Griffin does an amazing job with is just give you these hints

[01:11:29] everywhere.

[01:11:30] There's something that's just off screen that calls your attention.

[01:11:32] There's a box that looks a little funny or a wall that looks just,

[01:11:36] just enough,

[01:11:37] not right.

[01:11:38] And so you are just constantly compelled to see,

[01:11:41] well,

[01:11:41] what is over there?

[01:11:42] How do I access that area?

[01:11:44] Combine that with probably one of the best grapples in,

[01:11:47] in games and especially in platforming games,

[01:11:51] just exploring these levels feels incredible.

[01:11:55] And I wish that the speed running community would really just hone in on this game,

[01:12:00] because I would love to see people just fly through these levels.

[01:12:03] There,

[01:12:03] there are some like time limit levels and you have to do some of them to progress in the game.

[01:12:09] But I just felt like,

[01:12:12] I don't know,

[01:12:13] the basic platforming and grapple mechanics in,

[01:12:17] in grapple dogs to is so rock solid.

[01:12:21] And then you combine that with these really wide and open levels.

[01:12:26] It made for some incredibly fun platforming.

[01:12:30] This game is just constantly encouraging you to platform more and in interesting ways and to create momentum in new ways.

[01:12:37] And so there's the introduction of this new character,

[01:12:39] Luna,

[01:12:40] who I see as,

[01:12:42] I don't know,

[01:12:43] I can't help but think of Ada Wong when I look at her in a good way.

[01:12:46] I don't think it was a ripoff.

[01:12:47] I think maybe there's an inspiration there,

[01:12:49] but I just got to say that like,

[01:12:50] um,

[01:12:52] Luna's abilities are different than Pablo's.

[01:12:54] Who's the main protagonist from the first game and in the second game.

[01:12:57] And her levels were just amazing.

[01:13:01] Like to me,

[01:13:01] it felt like it would have taken so much brainpower just to come up with how to write or create tightly knit levels for Pablo.

[01:13:07] But then to do the same thing for Luna,

[01:13:09] who has a slightly different skillset,

[01:13:11] but still kind of incentivize like getting momentum and platforming and going through things quickly.

[01:13:17] Beautifully done.

[01:13:18] So hats off to Medallion Games,

[01:13:20] Grappledogs 2,

[01:13:21] Cosmic Canines.

[01:13:22] That is your winner of the 2024 Igoatee's best level design.

[01:13:28] Moving right along.

[01:13:29] We have best world building.

[01:13:33] World building is a term that I used to love.

[01:13:37] Then I got really sick of it because I feel like people never explained what they wanted world building to mean.

[01:13:43] And so when I first came up with this category in the first Igoatees,

[01:13:46] I was like, okay, I need this category to mean something significant.

[01:13:50] If we are going to talk about world building and if world building is going to be like this key and really popular way of criticizing any,

[01:13:58] any art from artistic mediums.

[01:14:00] Novels, movies, and video games obviously get this kind of criticism real bad, especially sci-fi and fantasy.

[01:14:06] So this is how I define world building with the objective to actually explain coherently what world building is and what good world building is.

[01:14:20] The three criteria I have are it immerses and engages the player in the game's world quickly.

[01:14:27] Right?

[01:14:28] And so instead of taking forever to kind of figure out why we care, right?

[01:14:32] It just throws the player in the game and it gives them an objective.

[01:14:36] And it gets, it does some sort of emotional buy-in for the player to be in and inhabit this world.

[01:14:44] Next one is it insightfully encourages player exploration and discovery.

[01:14:49] A lot of world building, right?

[01:14:51] Just needs to be told to the player outside of the main narrative.

[01:14:57] And there needs to be some kind of incentive to push the player into the different nooks and crannies of a game.

[01:15:07] And I mean, a game that doesn't qualify, but I played this year was Signalis, right?

[01:15:11] So Signalis does a wonderful job of this and it's like not open world by any means.

[01:15:15] And so I think I would just want to clarify the first two category kind of sound like they're leaning towards open world games,

[01:15:22] but they really don't.

[01:15:23] Okay.

[01:15:24] But like what is going to inspire a player to read all the lore tabs instead of just like blitz through and try to find the boss and then progression to the next area.

[01:15:31] And then finally, the NPCs, world environment, and universes history mesh cohesively.

[01:15:38] When I teach the video games unit in my literature class, I bring up world building.

[01:15:44] And what I say to students is that world building needs a coherent logic.

[01:15:49] It does not just need a coherent physical or environmental logic.

[01:15:55] Of course, that's important.

[01:15:57] If your world has magic, yeah, have some sort of cohesive logic that explains how the magic operates physically or in the environment.

[01:16:05] That's important.

[01:16:06] But what might be more important is that the world has a cohesive cultural logic that is based upon that sort of physical or environmental logic, right?

[01:16:20] Or physical environmental change, right?

[01:16:22] Whatever the fantasy element is.

[01:16:25] So, for example, if there's going to be like magic in your game.

[01:16:31] Sure, you can give us a physical explanation of magic, but that is like the physical difference in your game.

[01:16:35] That's what makes it fantasy.

[01:16:36] It has magic in it.

[01:16:38] But the cultural logic would be, okay, well, what are people's opinions about it?

[01:16:42] Like what is the political use value of magic?

[01:16:45] Is magic used in labor?

[01:16:47] If so, how?

[01:16:48] And who is using it?

[01:16:49] Who has access to it?

[01:16:50] Who has control over it?

[01:16:52] And how does that shape the opinions of NPCs who view and understand and possess or do not possess magic?

[01:16:59] And what I mean by cultural logic is like there's got to be cultures in this game.

[01:17:02] And not just one monoculture, but a multitude of cultures, right?

[01:17:06] Because that's what makes world building feel immersive and feel like something that you can really sink your teeth into is when it does not feel like a monocultural product or world, right?

[01:17:19] And so the best world building is going to have multiple cultures that compete or at least disagree over this physical or environmental change that you have in the game or in the story.

[01:17:35] Anyway, we've got six nominees for best world building in this year's I goatees.

[01:17:41] And here they are.

[01:17:42] Ultros, Another Crab's Treasure, 1000x Resist, Arco, Dread Delusion, and Bow, Path of the Teal Lotus.

[01:17:50] Let's walk through these.

[01:17:52] Ultros was a game that I think I ended mixed on, but I simply could not deny the world building of this game.

[01:17:58] There are so many different logics.

[01:18:00] And the further I got into the game and the more areas I explored and the more NPCs that I interacted with,

[01:18:06] the more I realized that this sort of spaceship with this giant like organic mass and like almost like celestial body that exists on it,

[01:18:16] everybody wanted something different out of it.

[01:18:19] And those things were competing.

[01:18:22] Those values and those desires were competing.

[01:18:25] And you as a player are the biggest monkey wrench.

[01:18:31] You are the biggest problem for a lot of these different NPCs, a lot of different areas of the ship that they're using.

[01:18:37] And essentially they're all sitting there harvesting or taking advantage of like this super organic material that benefits these different cultures,

[01:18:47] if you will, but these different factions in different ways.

[01:18:49] And so you as a player being able to first of all know that, understand that,

[01:18:55] and then kind of make a decision of where you land on that.

[01:18:58] Oh, that's world building, baby.

[01:19:00] That's it right there.

[01:19:01] Next one, another crab's treasure.

[01:19:03] This game, holy cow, the last maybe fourth of this game was my biggest, the big aha moment for me.

[01:19:10] Like I finally got what this game was doing.

[01:19:13] The game was super enjoyable, don't get me wrong.

[01:19:15] And it is one of the best Souls likes to come out ever, I would say.

[01:19:19] The game you start though as a krill.

[01:19:23] You live in a tide pool and you're super isolated and it's included from ocean life.

[01:19:28] And you kind of get, you get sucked into ocean life and you kind of see how a lot of these sea creatures in a very anthropomorphic and cartoonish way,

[01:19:38] how they adapt to ocean pollution.

[01:19:41] And plastic becomes really important.

[01:19:43] There's a lot of jokes in there about microplastics.

[01:19:45] There's a lot of jokes just about plastic in general being in the ocean.

[01:19:49] And it's interesting to see like all these different cultures that create lives based on just the amount of plastic and garbage that there's in the ocean.

[01:19:58] And I'm venturing this spoiler territory here, but I would just honestly, I feel like if I tell you this and it's going to make you want to play the game and not really ruin it for you.

[01:20:08] For the majority of the game, I think you just simply see like how oceanic life has adapted to trash being everywhere.

[01:20:17] But the last quarter of the game, I think really, really makes a strong point about what exactly it means to have severe ocean contamination and what kind of impact that has on these different sort of made up cartoonish fantasy cultures that live in the ocean.

[01:20:40] And I think that like if we're going back to my definitions of world building, right, the big physical or environmental change or significance, right, for the plot here is just the abundance of trash in the ocean.

[01:20:52] And there are many different cultures that have different opinions on it.

[01:20:55] But Krill, I think, as a character comes to realize exactly what's happened outside of the tide pool.

[01:21:03] And they have been isolated from it, but it inevitably was going to change Krill's life whether or not Krill left the tide pod, the tide pool, the tide pod.

[01:21:15] My gosh, what are we talking about?

[01:21:16] I've said that several times now.

[01:21:18] The tide pool.

[01:21:19] We're talking about the tide pool.

[01:21:20] So anyway, best world building.

[01:21:22] Oh my gosh.

[01:21:24] Wonderful.

[01:21:24] I just love the way that game ended.

[01:21:27] Next up is a thousand X resist.

[01:21:30] Holy cow.

[01:21:31] I don't even know where to begin with this.

[01:21:34] This game is on paper.

[01:21:37] A thousand X resist should be the most incoherent convoluted mess you've ever seen.

[01:21:42] But play the game and you realize that this game is doing so much and it's doing it so beautifully,

[01:21:50] but also in an extremely smooth and human way.

[01:21:55] And so in the world building here, I mean, you live under the all mother.

[01:22:00] The all mother is this like supreme young woman who's powerful.

[01:22:04] She is a God.

[01:22:06] And she, what do you call this?

[01:22:09] Like a coven?

[01:22:10] It almost feels like she essentially owns this hub of all these like-minded sisters who are very similar in many different ways.

[01:22:17] And she kind of runs this society, but she lives outside of this society.

[01:22:21] In the beginning of the game, one of these sisters watch her just straight up stabs the all mother in the back and kills her.

[01:22:30] She's pretty dang dead, right?

[01:22:34] And so why and how is this society formed?

[01:22:37] Why do all the sisters sort of act this way?

[01:22:39] And why is the all mother becoming more and more reclusive?

[01:22:43] And that's where the game gets incredible in its world building.

[01:22:47] And it ties very closely to things that we've all had to live through with the pandemic.

[01:22:53] But it also taps into diaspora.

[01:22:57] It taps into motherhood.

[01:22:58] It taps into being a second generation immigrant versus a first generation immigrant.

[01:23:03] It taps into speaking language is funny.

[01:23:05] It taps into racism.

[01:23:07] It taps into the anti-Asian racism that we saw, particularly in the United States and Canada,

[01:23:12] shortly after the pandemic started or swung into full force in March 2020.

[01:23:19] Like this game tackles so much, but it does it beautifully in this sci-fi world that initially feels really distant,

[01:23:28] but by the end of the game, it feels very close to home.

[01:23:32] So really beautiful game and really wonderful world building in there.

[01:23:37] Next up, we have Arco.

[01:23:39] Of course, there's some of my bias in here as well,

[01:23:43] because I come from Latin American literature and Latin American studies,

[01:23:49] and this is very much, I think,

[01:23:52] Arco, in my opinion, is when we formalize in academia a canon of Latin American video games.

[01:23:59] Arco is going to be in the top five, top three most important games to come out.

[01:24:04] And what I love here is that it very much recalls the boom literature period.

[01:24:08] This is the 60s through 80s of Latin American novelists in particular.

[01:24:14] And just kind of this, a lot of it is historical fiction,

[01:24:18] kind of talking about post-independence period Latin America.

[01:24:23] Arco does this beautifully.

[01:24:25] It just, you get to know all the different cultures through different protagonists that are in the game.

[01:24:31] Something that I really admire about a lot of Latin American literature

[01:24:34] that I wish I saw a lot more in North, like in U.S. and Canadian literature, as far as I'm aware,

[01:24:40] is that there is no monocultural indigenous group.

[01:24:47] That there's a lot of different indigenous groups,

[01:24:51] and indigeneity means something different for different indigenous nations, right?

[01:24:55] And I think Arco just does this beautifully.

[01:24:57] It illustrates, okay, what groups are going to ally themselves with white settlers,

[01:25:05] with European settlers, with North American business interests,

[01:25:08] and which ones are not, and why and how they make those decisions.

[01:25:12] So Arco is just really wonderful in there.

[01:25:15] And I think Arco is a beautiful example of what,

[01:25:18] like a multicultural approach to storytelling really looks like.

[01:25:22] Next up is Dread Delusion.

[01:25:24] Dread Delusion, I've said it before, and I will say it again,

[01:25:28] is it's Morrowind on acid.

[01:25:29] It is a very psychedelic Morrowind.

[01:25:33] This game starts off, and you're like, what on earth is going on?

[01:25:38] There's a lot of names being thrown at you, and there's a lot of,

[01:25:42] well, we need to kill these gods because these gods have been oppressing these people,

[01:25:45] and we need the Inquisition to kind of root that out so we can establish order.

[01:25:49] And you're like, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[01:25:50] Whatever.

[01:25:51] Just get me to the game.

[01:25:53] However, I was shocked at how well I understood this world by the time I finished the game.

[01:26:01] Understanding different motivations, why different factions were the way that they were,

[01:26:04] why different cultures and subcultures existed,

[01:26:06] and why certain groups oppressed other groups,

[01:26:09] and kind of what benefits that they got from that,

[01:26:11] and how you as a player could decide to kind of help oppressors or the oppressed

[01:26:15] in a lot of different areas of this game.

[01:26:18] NPCs always had great things to say.

[01:26:20] They're darkly hilarious, and some of them were just mean, and some of them were just too naive.

[01:26:25] Like, there's just a massive variety of people and cultures in this game,

[01:26:28] and it worked incredibly well with kind of the central tenets of what you were doing as a prisoner,

[01:26:34] kind of being forced to work on behalf of this inquisition.

[01:26:38] Finally, Bow Path of the Teal Lotus.

[01:26:41] What I love about this game is that it kind of, like, if we want to separate storytelling into two different camps,

[01:26:48] which would just be, like, the main narrative and the lore or world of a game,

[01:26:53] Bow Path of the Teal Lotus, I feel like, starts you, and I would say probably the majority of the game.

[01:27:00] I don't know, like, three-fourths of the game, you're existing within this game's world and lore,

[01:27:06] and much less so in its narrative.

[01:27:08] And then it flips when you get towards the end.

[01:27:11] I thought that this was beautiful storytelling, but what I loved about this, too, is, like,

[01:27:15] I got a really excellent sense of who everybody was and why they were doing what they were doing,

[01:27:19] which I think is crucial in world building.

[01:27:21] For as much as I want to see some sci-fi planet that has, I don't know,

[01:27:26] that's constantly being torn apart by storms, and that's cool-looking, and it has cool art because of it,

[01:27:32] I want to know why and where and how people respond to living next to or near something that exists like that.

[01:27:40] I think Bow Path of the Teal Lotus does a wonderful job of that.

[01:27:44] All right, folks, we've got six nominees for Best World Building, and just to run through them again,

[01:27:52] they were Ultros, Another Crabs Treasure, 1000X Resist, Arco, Dread Delusion, and Bow Path of the Teal Lotus.

[01:27:59] Again, another really tight category, but there can only be one.

[01:28:03] And that one, the winner of the 2024 iGoades Best World Building category is Dread Delusion.

[01:28:19] I am so glad I did not skip this game because this world is amazing.

[01:28:24] It's this strange steampunk fantasy game with people who are suffering and people who are causing suffering,

[01:28:33] but you as a player can really decide how you want to navigate that.

[01:28:38] I won't say that every single conversation has different branches and that you're going to make

[01:28:44] huge, substantial changes to the game, but you do make changes to people and to power and to politics.

[01:28:52] And all those are clearly laid out for you, and it's easy to get invested in

[01:28:57] and to just kind of decide what it is that you want to be.

[01:29:01] There was one point of the game, I killed a lot of enemies in this game.

[01:29:04] There was one part of this game that was pretty much a skill check.

[01:29:07] Somebody was, or not a skill check, but it was like a personality test or something.

[01:29:14] This is like somebody who could like read my mind and my memories,

[01:29:16] and they asked me if I was a violent person, and I said no, because I wanted them to do something.

[01:29:22] And the way that they responded was just like, you are, you are a monster.

[01:29:28] You've killed many beings in this world, and many of whom were not deserving of death.

[01:29:34] And I loved that moment to me because I was like, oh crap, the game won.

[01:29:37] It is paying attention.

[01:29:39] But two, I thought to myself, wait a second.

[01:29:41] For as much as I think I'm being benevolent in this game, am I?

[01:29:45] Am I being benevolent in this game?

[01:29:47] And that was, I think, a big part of this game is like, if does order,

[01:29:54] where's the line between establishing order and removing agency?

[01:29:58] And where does the position of political benevolence function in that relationship?

[01:30:05] So Dread Delusion does this beautifully, wonderful game, and it is this year's winner.

[01:30:10] Best world building.

[01:30:12] Moving right along.

[01:30:14] We've got best gameplay slash mechanics.

[01:30:18] Getting into this, here are the criteria for this.

[01:30:22] One has intuitive, comfortable input layout.

[01:30:26] If you're playing on gamepad, if you're playing on mouse and keyboard, it's got to feel good to play,

[01:30:30] and it's got to be easy to play.

[01:30:31] And what I mean by this is within the first few sessions, you've got to have the inputs memorized.

[01:30:37] Otherwise, it's just having to relearn how to play a game every time you play it is not fun.

[01:30:43] The player has opportunity to strategically utilize the game's mechanics to optimize gameplay.

[01:30:49] And finally, game checkpoints or bottlenecks assess and challenge the player's skill or understanding of the game.

[01:30:54] And so that kind of sounds, I don't know, a little rote, but I want to just kind of get back to this.

[01:31:00] No checkpoint or bottleneck.

[01:31:02] So no like boss fight or like a big puzzle suddenly feels like you were playing the game wrong up until that point.

[01:31:11] Like it doesn't make you feel stupid.

[01:31:13] It challenges you and then it rewards you by making you feel smart, right?

[01:31:17] That's kind of what I mean by that.

[01:31:19] So here we have it.

[01:31:21] Your six nominees for best gameplay slash mechanics are one, Bellatro.

[01:31:27] Two, Animal Well.

[01:31:29] Three, Flock.

[01:31:31] Four, Goliath.

[01:31:33] Five, Arco.

[01:31:34] And then six, Shogun Showdown.

[01:31:38] Holy cow, what else can I say about Bellatro?

[01:31:40] It's a poker roguelike, which is the actually best description possible for this game.

[01:31:45] But what is remarkable, I would say about this with the gameplay mechanics is this point number two,

[01:31:52] the player's opportunity to strategically utilize the game's mechanics to optimize gameplay.

[01:31:56] Oh boy, the jokers in this game and how they change your deck.

[01:32:01] And then I would also say like the planet cards and the tarot cards that you get as well in this game

[01:32:05] allow for a lot of opportunity for creativity,

[01:32:08] but also strategizing.

[01:32:12] I love Bellatro for this, right?

[01:32:14] It has game checkpoints and bottlenecks in terms of the big blind or the boss blinds at the end of each round.

[01:32:21] And those really assess like, okay, do you, can you, did you create like a hand or a deck that can get past this sort of scenario?

[01:32:29] And what I think the overall challenge here is,

[01:32:32] is your deck flexible enough to be able to survive different challenges and scenarios?

[01:32:38] And part of this is because, listen, decks get shuffled.

[01:32:43] And so you cannot rely on the same sequence of cards being pulled into your hand.

[01:32:48] How are you going to work with that RNG?

[01:32:50] And how can you use it to your advantage maybe?

[01:32:53] So Bellachos in there, absolutely.

[01:32:56] Animal Well.

[01:32:56] I mentioned this when it comes to best level design,

[01:33:01] but I would say that Animal Well especially feels really intuitive and easy to play.

[01:33:08] But the different abilities here for Metroidvania,

[01:33:11] I'll go back to the two that I mentioned,

[01:33:13] the yo-yo,

[01:33:15] the bubble wand,

[01:33:17] I mean the frisbee,

[01:33:19] like you're getting the most rant.

[01:33:20] I swear,

[01:33:21] like I feel like the developer here was just like,

[01:33:25] oh man,

[01:33:26] let's go to the junk drawer.

[01:33:29] What's in here?

[01:33:30] Let's go to my kid's toy drawer that's in the shed in the backyard that has been rotting.

[01:33:36] What's in here,

[01:33:37] right?

[01:33:37] Like and how can I use this creatively?

[01:33:40] It's like the biggest random,

[01:33:42] most random hodgepodge of items for abilities,

[01:33:44] but holy cow,

[01:33:46] does it make for an insane creativity

[01:33:50] as you're kind of traversing this world,

[01:33:52] as you're traversing the well.

[01:33:53] There's a lot of different chase sequences,

[01:33:55] and I feel like that makes up the majority of the checkpoints

[01:33:58] that you have in this game.

[01:34:00] And how do you use firecrackers?

[01:34:02] You know,

[01:34:02] how do you use light or the absence of light?

[01:34:04] How do you utilize sound or secret passages

[01:34:07] or the fact that you're a little blob

[01:34:08] and you can squeeze through areas?

[01:34:10] You know,

[01:34:11] there's just a lot of good level design here,

[01:34:13] but great mechanics,

[01:34:15] like how you can manipulate different scenarios to distract things,

[01:34:19] because you're just a little blob.

[01:34:20] There's really not much you can do to fight back.

[01:34:23] And then there were some more like traditional puzzle,

[01:34:25] combat-based boss fights.

[01:34:28] I think the variety in there was important as well,

[01:34:30] but those fights too,

[01:34:32] it's like how am I going to use this item that I'm doing?

[01:34:34] In that way,

[01:34:35] it very much is a true,

[01:34:36] a pure metroidvania,

[01:34:38] where it's like I've acquired this ability

[01:34:40] and now I need to use it against this boss.

[01:34:42] What are all the different ways I can use a yo-yo

[01:34:45] to beat this boss here?

[01:34:47] Next,

[01:34:48] Flock.

[01:34:49] Flock is a really fascinating,

[01:34:51] monster-catching,

[01:34:52] sort of creature-collector's game.

[01:34:56] And what I loved about Flock

[01:34:58] is that it does have really comfortable inputs on a controller.

[01:35:02] I love flying around.

[01:35:03] I love that you did not have to control

[01:35:05] the verticality of the bird that you were flying.

[01:35:07] You're pretty much only doing side-to-side

[01:35:10] to get to different places.

[01:35:11] You're moving,

[01:35:11] you know,

[01:35:12] on a 2D plane,

[01:35:13] forward,

[01:35:14] backward,

[01:35:14] left,

[01:35:14] and right.

[01:35:15] That's what you got to worry about.

[01:35:18] And then the game,

[01:35:19] especially towards the end,

[01:35:20] is a little heavier

[01:35:21] in giving you different mechanics

[01:35:22] to help you find more creatures

[01:35:24] and discover more things.

[01:35:26] You can use the whistle.

[01:35:28] You get a lot of information

[01:35:29] with the different creatures that you find.

[01:35:32] Yeah,

[01:35:32] so Flock on here,

[01:35:33] I thought was really,

[01:35:34] really solid.

[01:35:35] Next up,

[01:35:36] Goliath.

[01:35:37] Oh,

[01:35:38] I love this roguelike.

[01:35:39] One of my favorite roguelikes

[01:35:40] from this year

[01:35:42] or in recent memory.

[01:35:43] But essentially,

[01:35:45] it feels like,

[01:35:46] you look at it

[01:35:47] and you might think,

[01:35:48] this is like any other small roguelike.

[01:35:49] There's a lot of secrets

[01:35:51] and exploration in this game

[01:35:53] depending on how you play it.

[01:35:54] But the chief mechanic

[01:35:55] that made me love this game

[01:35:56] was the Mega Shot.

[01:35:58] So it's combat related.

[01:35:59] It's a twin-stick shooter,

[01:36:01] kind of isometric camera angle view.

[01:36:03] And what you're doing

[01:36:04] is you,

[01:36:05] I don't know,

[01:36:06] you have your clip

[01:36:07] and it's,

[01:36:08] I think you start with five bullets,

[01:36:09] four regular ones

[01:36:10] and then one Mega Shot

[01:36:11] at the very end.

[01:36:12] And if you reload halfway through,

[01:36:15] you don't reach your Mega Shot.

[01:36:17] That bullet always stays

[01:36:18] at the bottom of your magazine.

[01:36:22] And what I loved,

[01:36:23] loved about Goliath

[01:36:25] is that when you got upgrades,

[01:36:27] there's,

[01:36:27] sure,

[01:36:28] there's traditional roguelike upgrades

[01:36:29] for something like this,

[01:36:30] like things related to movement

[01:36:32] or stamina

[01:36:32] or what happens

[01:36:33] when you reload,

[01:36:34] et cetera.

[01:36:34] But this game really boiled down

[01:36:36] to the Mega Shot.

[01:36:37] You could add more Mega Shots.

[01:36:39] You can add more damage

[01:36:40] to your Mega Shot.

[01:36:41] You can just add more damage overall.

[01:36:43] You could take away

[01:36:44] a normal bullet,

[01:36:45] which at first I thought,

[01:36:46] why would you do this?

[01:36:47] And then I thought,

[01:36:47] wait,

[01:36:48] I get to my Mega Shots faster.

[01:36:50] So I actually had a run

[01:36:50] in this game

[01:36:51] where I think I had

[01:36:52] one normal bullet

[01:36:53] and four Mega Shots

[01:36:55] and boy,

[01:36:55] was that fun.

[01:36:57] That was so fun.

[01:36:58] Oftentimes,

[01:36:59] I would start level,

[01:37:00] I would waste

[01:37:00] the initial bullet,

[01:37:02] let the enemy spawn in

[01:37:03] and then I'd just have

[01:37:03] four Mega Shots

[01:37:04] to use

[01:37:05] that did massive damage

[01:37:07] and I heavily invested in that.

[01:37:09] And then when I got to bosses,

[01:37:10] same sort of thing.

[01:37:11] I was like,

[01:37:11] I'm a glass cannon here,

[01:37:13] but it's a lot of fun

[01:37:14] being able to always use

[01:37:16] my Mega Shots.

[01:37:17] So Goliath,

[01:37:18] I think it's just

[01:37:18] an incredibly inventive

[01:37:19] but fresh roguelike

[01:37:21] in that way.

[01:37:22] Next up is Arco.

[01:37:24] Ooh,

[01:37:24] it's like this

[01:37:25] 1.5

[01:37:28] turn-based speed.

[01:37:30] You are doing actions,

[01:37:31] the enemies

[01:37:33] are also doing actions

[01:37:34] simultaneously.

[01:37:37] They're going to respond

[01:37:38] and you have to think

[01:37:40] a lot about predictability

[01:37:41] and where you're going to be.

[01:37:43] Some of your player abilities

[01:37:44] are going to allow you,

[01:37:45] because this very much

[01:37:46] plays like a tactics game,

[01:37:47] right?

[01:37:48] But some of your abilities

[01:37:49] will allow you to move

[01:37:51] before enemies get a chance

[01:37:52] to move.

[01:37:53] Some actions you take,

[01:37:54] other enemies

[01:37:55] are going to be using

[01:37:55] simultaneously.

[01:37:57] Oftentimes,

[01:37:59] oftentimes you'll be

[01:38:00] just managing

[01:38:02] multiple people

[01:38:04] in a fight at once

[01:38:05] and gosh,

[01:38:07] I'm not explaining

[01:38:08] this well,

[01:38:08] but it's like the best

[01:38:11] freshest

[01:38:13] take on a tactics game

[01:38:15] that I've played

[01:38:15] probably ever.

[01:38:17] Just absolutely remarkable

[01:38:18] what it's doing there.

[01:38:19] Has great boss fights.

[01:38:21] So the checkpoints here

[01:38:22] very much assess

[01:38:24] and challenge

[01:38:24] the player's skill

[01:38:25] and understanding

[01:38:26] of the different abilities

[01:38:27] that you've invested in.

[01:38:29] Finally,

[01:38:29] Shogun Showdown.

[01:38:30] This is another roguelike.

[01:38:32] It's a 2D one.

[01:38:33] It's really strange.

[01:38:35] It's a horizontal grid.

[01:38:37] Basically,

[01:38:38] you have,

[01:38:38] I think,

[01:38:39] five to ten

[01:38:40] different spaces

[01:38:42] horizontally

[01:38:43] that you can move

[01:38:44] between side to side.

[01:38:45] This kind of like

[01:38:47] Arco,

[01:38:48] some abilities

[01:38:49] will allow you

[01:38:50] to do something

[01:38:51] without necessarily

[01:38:52] taking a turn,

[01:38:53] but here,

[01:38:53] this game is

[01:38:54] 100% about

[01:38:56] planning out

[01:38:56] your next

[01:38:57] five actions

[01:38:58] at once

[01:38:59] and being able

[01:39:00] to take down

[01:39:01] as many enemies

[01:39:01] as possible

[01:39:03] while doing that.

[01:39:06] I'm not explaining

[01:39:07] this one very well

[01:39:08] either,

[01:39:08] but what I love

[01:39:10] probably most

[01:39:10] about this game

[01:39:11] was just

[01:39:12] kind of that strategy,

[01:39:13] but also the different

[01:39:14] abilities you got.

[01:39:15] You had close range

[01:39:16] weapons,

[01:39:16] weapons that

[01:39:17] maybe hit

[01:39:18] an enemy

[01:39:19] that's in front of you

[01:39:20] and behind me

[01:39:21] a weapon

[01:39:22] that will actually

[01:39:23] hit like,

[01:39:23] it'll skip a space

[01:39:24] but it'll hit

[01:39:25] the space beyond that

[01:39:26] so like two spaces

[01:39:27] away from you.

[01:39:28] You get range shots.

[01:39:29] There's an ability

[01:39:30] like a lightning bolt

[01:39:31] that would hit

[01:39:31] the player

[01:39:32] or excuse me,

[01:39:33] hit the enemy

[01:39:34] that's furthest

[01:39:34] away from you

[01:39:36] in the direction

[01:39:36] that you're facing.

[01:39:38] Holy cow,

[01:39:38] the direction

[01:39:39] you're facing

[01:39:39] in this game

[01:39:40] matters so much.

[01:39:42] I wish,

[01:39:43] I mean,

[01:39:43] learn that quickly,

[01:39:44] right?

[01:39:45] It matters a lot,

[01:39:45] but I just love

[01:39:47] this arsenal

[01:39:47] that you got

[01:39:48] and I felt like

[01:39:50] maybe the meta

[01:39:51] progression

[01:39:51] wasn't like

[01:39:52] super generous

[01:39:54] but the knowledge

[01:39:55] that you gained

[01:39:56] in each run

[01:39:57] was so valuable.

[01:39:58] I feel like

[01:39:59] I learned

[01:40:00] so much more

[01:40:01] playing this roguelike

[01:40:02] than I typically do

[01:40:03] playing roguelikes

[01:40:04] run after run.

[01:40:05] A lot of times

[01:40:06] after a while

[01:40:07] playing a roguelike

[01:40:08] I'm just brute forcing it

[01:40:09] and I'm beating my head

[01:40:10] against the wall

[01:40:10] until I get to a point

[01:40:11] where I want to progress

[01:40:12] or like think tactically

[01:40:14] but I think Shogun Shodun

[01:40:15] does a really

[01:40:16] masterful job

[01:40:18] of just

[01:40:19] teaching you

[01:40:20] how to play the game

[01:40:21] better with each run.

[01:40:23] So those are your

[01:40:23] six,

[01:40:24] four best gameplay mechanics

[01:40:26] just to run through them.

[01:40:27] Again,

[01:40:27] we have

[01:40:27] Balotro,

[01:40:28] Animal Well,

[01:40:29] Flock,

[01:40:30] Goliath,

[01:40:31] Arko,

[01:40:31] and Shogun Shodown.

[01:40:34] Again,

[01:40:34] another tough one

[01:40:35] but,

[01:40:35] I mean tough

[01:40:36] but for me

[01:40:37] there is one clear

[01:40:38] winner in here

[01:40:39] and I wonder

[01:40:40] like I mentioned earlier

[01:40:41] I wonder if you could

[01:40:42] guess it kind of

[01:40:42] based on how I talk

[01:40:43] about each of these

[01:40:44] games who have won through.

[01:40:45] Or through the run through

[01:40:46] of them.

[01:40:46] This game is Animal Well.

[01:40:49] Animal Well

[01:40:50] is amazing

[01:40:51] and everybody

[01:40:53] who's played that

[01:40:54] seems to know that

[01:40:55] to some degree.

[01:40:56] Not everybody who played it

[01:40:57] liked it, right?

[01:40:58] But I think it's

[01:40:58] kind of hard to dismiss

[01:41:00] or not recognize

[01:41:00] the brilliance

[01:41:02] of this Metroidvania

[01:41:03] relying on different

[01:41:04] abilities

[01:41:05] to create unique

[01:41:06] levels.

[01:41:07] And so

[01:41:07] I think the gameplay,

[01:41:09] the moment to moment

[01:41:09] of Animal Well

[01:41:11] is just my favorite.

[01:41:12] it's one of those games

[01:41:14] that man,

[01:41:14] I really wish

[01:41:15] I had more time

[01:41:16] to just go through

[01:41:17] and do all the secrets

[01:41:18] and find all the eggs

[01:41:20] because I just loved

[01:41:21] every moment

[01:41:21] of playing this game.

[01:41:23] And so

[01:41:24] the winner

[01:41:25] for the iGoaties

[01:41:26] 2024 Best Gameplay

[01:41:27] slash Mechanics

[01:41:28] is Animal Well.

[01:41:36] Folks,

[01:41:37] we're doing something new here.

[01:41:39] We're doing an intermission

[01:41:40] and what I've done

[01:41:41] is I've contacted

[01:41:42] several indie creators

[01:41:43] whether they be

[01:41:44] podcasters or streamers

[01:41:46] or both

[01:41:46] or whatever it is.

[01:41:47] People that I respect,

[01:41:48] I respect people

[01:41:49] who I really enjoy

[01:41:51] the stuff that they're

[01:41:51] putting out

[01:41:52] and I wanted to include

[01:41:53] them in some capacity.

[01:41:54] And so what will happen

[01:41:56] here is that

[01:41:56] I'm going to read

[01:41:57] through approximately

[01:42:00] a dozen or so

[01:42:01] different games

[01:42:02] that these indie creators

[01:42:03] have suggested

[01:42:05] or recommended.

[01:42:06] So for this intermission

[01:42:07] I asked them,

[01:42:08] I said,

[01:42:08] for the intermission

[01:42:10] of the 2024 iGoaties,

[01:42:11] would you please send me

[01:42:12] one or two games

[01:42:13] indie games

[01:42:14] that you consider

[01:42:14] to be the most underrated

[01:42:15] or under the radar

[01:42:16] from 2024?

[01:42:19] And so they've sent me

[01:42:20] 50 word responses

[01:42:22] and I'm going to

[01:42:23] read them out to you

[01:42:24] and there'll be links

[01:42:27] so that you can check out

[01:42:27] all the content

[01:42:28] that these people

[01:42:29] have put out.

[01:42:29] They're amazing people

[01:42:30] and I highly respect

[01:42:31] what it is that they're doing.

[01:42:32] At the same time,

[01:42:34] part of the reason

[01:42:35] why I'm doing this now

[01:42:36] in this intermission

[01:42:37] is because of

[01:42:38] the next category

[01:42:39] and the iGoaties.

[01:42:40] The next category

[01:42:41] is best score

[01:42:42] slash OST.

[01:42:44] And what we'll be doing

[01:42:46] is in the background,

[01:42:47] I will actually be

[01:42:48] running through,

[01:42:49] there'll be music playing

[01:42:50] from the best music,

[01:42:53] best OST

[01:42:53] from these indies

[01:42:54] that I have nominated.

[01:42:56] So those nominees

[01:42:56] are Neva,

[01:42:58] Athenian Rhapsody,

[01:42:59] Haunti,

[01:43:00] Master Key,

[01:43:01] Crypt Custodian,

[01:43:01] and Bellatro.

[01:43:02] And so you'll get a chance

[01:43:04] to kind of hear

[01:43:05] what it is

[01:43:06] that I'm talking about

[01:43:07] so I don't have to try

[01:43:08] to painstakingly explain

[01:43:10] what the music sounds like.

[01:43:12] You can just hear

[01:43:12] snippets of them

[01:43:13] and it'll be in that order

[01:43:15] as well.

[01:43:15] Neva,

[01:43:16] Athenian Rhapsody,

[01:43:17] Haunti,

[01:43:18] Master Key,

[01:43:19] Crypt Custodian,

[01:43:20] and then Bellatro

[01:43:21] is the final one.

[01:43:23] So listen to these games,

[01:43:25] maybe have a piece of paper

[01:43:26] or something nearby,

[01:43:27] write them down,

[01:43:28] look at the show notes

[01:43:29] and so you get a sense

[01:43:30] of these games,

[01:43:31] many of which

[01:43:32] I have not played

[01:43:33] but become highly recommended

[01:43:34] from these excellent

[01:43:35] indie content creators.

[01:43:38] First,

[01:43:39] I want to mention

[01:43:40] and give a nice shout out

[01:43:41] to two different patrons

[01:43:45] of our Patreon

[01:43:46] who support

[01:43:46] and make indie impressions

[01:43:47] and things like

[01:43:48] the iGoaties possible.

[01:43:49] I also ask them to,

[01:43:51] anybody who submits

[01:43:53] or subscribes to,

[01:43:54] any tier that helps

[01:43:55] with indie impressions.

[01:43:56] I got two responses,

[01:43:58] Slugcats do recommend

[01:43:59] these three games

[01:44:00] as underrated from 2024,

[01:44:03] Conscript,

[01:44:04] Pools,

[01:44:04] and Shogun Showdown.

[01:44:06] And I played

[01:44:07] Shogun Showdown

[01:44:08] mainly because

[01:44:08] Slugcats do

[01:44:09] and a few other people

[01:44:10] in our Discord,

[01:44:11] Lankup being one of them,

[01:44:13] really highly recommended it.

[01:44:14] And then the next one,

[01:44:15] Ruse,

[01:44:16] hopefully I'm saying

[01:44:17] that correctly,

[01:44:18] also highly recommends

[01:44:20] Farewell North

[01:44:21] as an underrated

[01:44:22] or under the radar

[01:44:24] indie game.

[01:44:25] So those are ones

[01:44:25] to take into account.

[01:44:27] But first up,

[01:44:29] we have got

[01:44:30] two from Dan.

[01:44:33] Dan is from

[01:44:33] The Greatest Story

[01:44:34] Ever Play.

[01:44:34] Dan has guested

[01:44:35] on our main show

[01:44:36] a few times.

[01:44:36] He's guested

[01:44:37] on Indie Impressions.

[01:44:39] We had a lovely

[01:44:40] chat about

[01:44:41] Kentucky Route Zero.

[01:44:42] And I've guested

[01:44:43] on his show

[01:44:43] a few times

[01:44:43] most recently

[01:44:44] talking about

[01:44:45] the first game

[01:44:45] that he recommends,

[01:44:47] which is

[01:44:47] Banisher's Ghosts

[01:44:48] of New Eden.

[01:44:49] He says,

[01:44:50] This game from

[01:44:50] Dontnod took elements

[01:44:51] from their previous

[01:44:52] game Vampire

[01:44:53] and approved upon them.

[01:44:55] Antae and Red

[01:44:55] are engaging lead characters.

[01:44:57] Getting to learn

[01:44:58] about the relationship

[01:44:58] and work as ghost hunters

[01:45:00] is interesting.

[01:45:00] Exploring this world

[01:45:01] and learning lore

[01:45:02] was enjoyable.

[01:45:03] They did a really

[01:45:04] great job with side quests.

[01:45:05] Listen to the episode

[01:45:06] Jake and I did on this

[01:45:07] for The Greatest Story

[01:45:08] Ever Played.

[01:45:09] And that link is

[01:45:10] posted now online

[01:45:12] on our Patreon as well.

[01:45:14] Dan also recommends

[01:45:16] Collapsus.

[01:45:17] This game isn't out yet,

[01:45:19] but you can pick it up

[01:45:20] as early access

[01:45:21] for PC and Android

[01:45:22] on itch.io.

[01:45:23] I played this game

[01:45:24] at GDEX

[01:45:25] and was promptly hooked.

[01:45:27] In the weeks since then,

[01:45:28] I've played

[01:45:28] 10 plus hours.

[01:45:29] This game takes

[01:45:30] the enjoyment of Tetris

[01:45:31] and then adds

[01:45:32] physically flipping

[01:45:33] your device

[01:45:33] to change directions.

[01:45:35] Once this game

[01:45:35] officially releases,

[01:45:36] I think it'll be huge.

[01:45:37] I could see so many people

[01:45:39] play this on break,

[01:45:40] after work,

[01:45:40] while watching TV,

[01:45:42] etc.

[01:45:43] Thank you, Dan,

[01:45:44] for those submissions

[01:45:45] and please check out

[01:45:46] Banishers Ghost of New Eden

[01:45:47] and Collapsus.

[01:45:49] Next up,

[01:45:50] we have Eric

[01:45:50] from Pages of Play.

[01:45:52] He has two

[01:45:53] different submissions

[01:45:54] in here

[01:45:55] and let's read out

[01:45:57] what he's got.

[01:45:57] The first one is

[01:45:58] for Hadley's Run.

[01:46:00] This is mesmerizing

[01:46:02] roguelike.

[01:46:03] This is a mesmerizing

[01:46:04] roguelike,

[01:46:04] keeping my attention

[01:46:05] through trance-like beats,

[01:46:06] a vibrant arsenal

[01:46:07] of weapons

[01:46:08] and truly poignant writing.

[01:46:09] I kept wanting

[01:46:10] to go deeper

[01:46:10] to evolve character

[01:46:12] relationships,

[01:46:13] outfit my ship

[01:46:13] with permanent benefits

[01:46:14] and perhaps most of all

[01:46:16] blow up some dazzling

[01:46:17] enemy AI

[01:46:17] in Technicolor fashion.

[01:46:19] It's a monumental feat

[01:46:20] to have branching dialogue

[01:46:21] this good in a game

[01:46:22] based on runs

[01:46:23] and repetition.

[01:46:24] To quote one of the game's

[01:46:25] more spirited characters,

[01:46:26] the thing about

[01:46:27] Ununcertainty

[01:46:28] is that if you repeated

[01:46:29] a bunch of times,

[01:46:30] on average,

[01:46:30] it becomes certain.

[01:46:31] End quote.

[01:46:32] I hope that you

[01:46:33] will give this game

[01:46:34] a chance to prove

[01:46:34] that the roguelike genre

[01:46:35] can deliver arcade action

[01:46:37] between lines

[01:46:37] of an inspirational script.

[01:46:40] Nice!

[01:46:40] Yeah, this is one

[01:46:41] that I've been inspired

[01:46:42] to check out

[01:46:43] because of Eric.

[01:46:43] And then the second one

[01:46:44] that he has here

[01:46:45] is on Arco.

[01:46:48] Overall,

[01:46:48] Arco left quite

[01:46:49] the impression on me.

[01:46:50] The writing expertly

[01:46:51] weaved together

[01:46:52] the tales

[01:46:52] of dissimilar settlers

[01:46:54] plagued by a common enemy

[01:46:55] and tied each of their

[01:46:56] stories together

[01:46:56] in a remarkable fashion.

[01:46:58] The artwork was breathtaking,

[01:47:00] the sound design

[01:47:00] was immersive,

[01:47:01] and the combat

[01:47:02] was engaging

[01:47:02] from start to finish.

[01:47:03] I really have found

[01:47:04] fault with the difficulty

[01:47:05] and unexpected consequences

[01:47:07] for actions

[01:47:08] that had me replaying

[01:47:09] segments several times.

[01:47:10] This was a tense

[01:47:11] but terrific journey

[01:47:12] for me,

[01:47:13] from the strategic

[01:47:14] combat choices

[01:47:14] that barely gave me

[01:47:15] the edge over my opponents

[01:47:16] to the dramatic script

[01:47:17] that never wasted a moment.

[01:47:19] I was enthralled

[01:47:20] by the callous world

[01:47:20] of Arco.

[01:47:21] I would be shocked

[01:47:22] if this game

[01:47:23] is not showing up

[01:47:23] on Indie Game of the Year

[01:47:24] lists this year

[01:47:25] but with such an uncompromising

[01:47:28] delivery of its vision.

[01:47:29] Alright,

[01:47:30] thank you Eric for those

[01:47:31] and be sure to check out

[01:47:32] Howly's Run and Arco

[01:47:33] when you can.

[01:47:35] Next up,

[01:47:36] we've got two from Blink.

[01:47:37] Blink is from

[01:47:38] IndieQuest Podcast

[01:47:39] and he also streams,

[01:47:41] big fan of Blink streams

[01:47:42] as well.

[01:47:43] The first one that Blink has

[01:47:45] and both of these

[01:47:45] I believe are from

[01:47:48] Sockpop Collective

[01:47:49] who you can support

[01:47:50] on Patreon

[01:47:50] if I'm not mistaken.

[01:47:51] They release a game

[01:47:52] every month

[01:47:53] which is kind of insane.

[01:47:55] But the first one is Grun.

[01:47:58] Grun is an intriguing,

[01:47:59] mysterious,

[01:48:00] unnerving take

[01:48:01] on the Outer Wilds

[01:48:02] gameplay loop

[01:48:02] with a focus on gardening.

[01:48:04] Or if you want to trust

[01:48:05] the Steam description,

[01:48:06] it's just totally,

[01:48:08] it's just a totally normal

[01:48:09] gardening game.

[01:48:11] Nice.

[01:48:11] And then the second one

[01:48:13] from Blink is this.

[01:48:14] Leap Year.

[01:48:15] Leap Year is a mini

[01:48:16] metronvania

[01:48:17] where the fall damage

[01:48:18] is cranked so hard

[01:48:19] that you die

[01:48:19] from your own

[01:48:20] jump height.

[01:48:21] Sounds frustrating

[01:48:22] but learning how to

[01:48:22] navigate the world

[01:48:23] and uncovering

[01:48:24] Leap Year's systems

[01:48:25] was two or three

[01:48:26] of the most fun hours

[01:48:27] I had all year.

[01:48:29] So these two games,

[01:48:30] the Leap Year description

[01:48:31] that he has there

[01:48:32] sells me very much

[01:48:33] on that game.

[01:48:34] Sounds fascinating

[01:48:35] and it sounds frustrating

[01:48:37] but more fun than not.

[01:48:39] So thank you Blink

[01:48:40] and please check out

[01:48:41] those games

[01:48:41] when you get a chance.

[01:48:43] The next one is

[01:48:44] Bopo from

[01:48:45] Underplayed Pod.

[01:48:46] Bopo also streams,

[01:48:48] big fan of his streams,

[01:48:50] recently did one on Fez

[01:48:52] that was fantastic.

[01:48:53] The first game

[01:48:54] is another one for Grun.

[01:48:56] Grun is one of 2024's

[01:48:58] most transfixing mystery games.

[01:49:01] There's an odd pleasure

[01:49:02] in its mundane gardening

[01:49:03] but beyond all

[01:49:04] the grass cutting

[01:49:05] lies a densely packed world

[01:49:06] of aberrated colors,

[01:49:08] eerie passageways,

[01:49:10] and spine tingling strangers

[01:49:11] that I still think about

[01:49:12] long after my dozens

[01:49:14] of playthroughs.

[01:49:15] Nice.

[01:49:16] And then the second one

[01:49:17] from Bopo is

[01:49:18] Valley Peaks.

[01:49:20] Valley Peaks

[01:49:21] is a peaceful game

[01:49:22] about frogs

[01:49:22] that also happens to be

[01:49:23] about climbing

[01:49:24] challenging mountains.

[01:49:25] To play it is to feel

[01:49:26] embraced like a warm hug.

[01:49:28] It's beautiful soundtrack,

[01:49:29] autumnal vistas,

[01:49:30] and colorful characters

[01:49:31] remind me that

[01:49:32] difficult things

[01:49:33] are possible to overcome

[01:49:34] one step at a time.

[01:49:36] Alright, yeah,

[01:49:37] Grun and Valley Peaks.

[01:49:38] Give those ones

[01:49:39] a check,

[01:49:40] or check those out

[01:49:41] if they sound appealing

[01:49:42] to you.

[01:49:43] Next one,

[01:49:44] this is Dave

[01:49:45] from Tales from the Backlog.

[01:49:47] Dave is no stranger

[01:49:48] to our show.

[01:49:48] He has guested on it

[01:49:49] and we have guested

[01:49:50] on his as well.

[01:49:51] Dave is just

[01:49:52] this amazing lightning rod,

[01:49:53] I feel like,

[01:49:54] in the indie content

[01:49:55] creator community.

[01:49:56] And this is the one game

[01:49:58] that he recommended.

[01:49:59] He's got one for us.

[01:50:00] And he picks

[01:50:01] The Plucky Squire.

[01:50:03] Pre-release expectations

[01:50:04] may have gotten out of hand

[01:50:06] and it seems like people

[01:50:07] were surprised

[01:50:07] by what we got,

[01:50:08] which is a chill,

[01:50:09] colorful,

[01:50:10] and charming

[01:50:11] storybook adventure.

[01:50:13] Yeah, please be sure

[01:50:14] to check out

[01:50:16] episodes with Dave.

[01:50:17] It's funny,

[01:50:18] so there's this

[01:50:19] long-standing joke

[01:50:20] in our Discord community,

[01:50:21] which the majority

[01:50:23] of which doesn't like

[01:50:23] the game Breath of the Wild,

[01:50:24] but Cameron and I

[01:50:25] really love.

[01:50:26] And we've never done

[01:50:27] an episode on it,

[01:50:28] but we did guest

[01:50:29] on Dave's show

[01:50:30] to talk about it,

[01:50:31] so we kind of found

[01:50:31] a loophole there.

[01:50:32] We also have a forthcoming

[01:50:34] episode with him,

[01:50:35] so be on the lookout

[01:50:36] on social media

[01:50:37] for that.

[01:50:38] The next four

[01:50:40] recommendations come

[01:50:41] from Emily and Kate

[01:50:42] from No Small Games.

[01:50:44] We'll do Emily's first

[01:50:45] and then Kate's.

[01:50:46] No Small Games

[01:50:47] is this wonderful podcast.

[01:50:48] Both of them stream

[01:50:49] and they're wonderful

[01:50:50] streamers as well.

[01:50:51] Emily's first recommendation

[01:50:54] is Valley Peaks.

[01:50:56] Valley Peaks surprised me

[01:50:57] this year with super

[01:50:58] intuitive climbing controls,

[01:50:59] a really joyful vibe,

[01:51:00] and yet still plenty

[01:51:01] of challenging moments

[01:51:02] as you guide your

[01:51:03] Froggy Man character

[01:51:04] up some huge mountains.

[01:51:05] Best of all,

[01:51:06] it features my new favorite

[01:51:07] video game soundtrack

[01:51:08] of all time.

[01:51:09] Inspiring, hopeful,

[01:51:10] and an utter delight.

[01:51:12] I love that praise,

[01:51:13] and I did not get around

[01:51:14] to playing this game

[01:51:17] before doing

[01:51:18] just nominations,

[01:51:19] and so this is one

[01:51:21] that I'm kind of like,

[01:51:21] oh, I wonder,

[01:51:22] is the soundtrack

[01:51:23] really that great?

[01:51:24] I'm sure it is

[01:51:25] if Emily says so.

[01:51:26] And then her second

[01:51:26] recommendation

[01:51:27] is the following.

[01:51:29] Vampire Therapist.

[01:51:30] I love when a game

[01:51:31] teaches me something,

[01:51:32] but I love it even more

[01:51:33] when it helps me

[01:51:34] actually improve

[01:51:35] as a person.

[01:51:36] While this game

[01:51:37] makes it clear

[01:51:37] that it's not a replacement

[01:51:38] for therapy,

[01:51:40] my journey with Sam Walls,

[01:51:42] American Cowboy

[01:51:42] and Vampire Therapist,

[01:51:44] taught me concepts

[01:51:45] from cognitive behavioral therapy,

[01:51:47] and I've already changed

[01:51:48] how I view myself

[01:51:49] and the world.

[01:51:50] I love this

[01:51:51] because it sounds like

[01:51:52] an edu game,

[01:51:54] but it maybe isn't,

[01:51:56] but it maybe is,

[01:51:58] you know what I mean?

[01:51:59] So thank you,

[01:52:00] Emily,

[01:52:00] for those two,

[01:52:01] and you can check out

[01:52:02] her content on Twitch,

[01:52:05] twitch.tv slash

[01:52:06] a specific egg

[01:52:07] or the No Small Games podcast.

[01:52:09] And these two come from Kate,

[01:52:11] who's the other co-host

[01:52:12] of the No Small Games podcast.

[01:52:14] The first one is Pepper Grinder.

[01:52:17] This pixel art 2D

[01:52:18] with a female protagonist,

[01:52:20] platformer,

[01:52:21] has an absolutely iconic

[01:52:23] drilling mode,

[01:52:24] which allows you

[01:52:25] to dive through the earth

[01:52:26] and collect gems

[01:52:26] like a fish swimming

[01:52:27] through water.

[01:52:28] The gameplay is so satisfying.

[01:52:29] The soundtrack is killer.

[01:52:31] And the bosses are difficult,

[01:52:32] but manageable.

[01:52:33] The unique platforming

[01:52:34] makes this a 10 out of 10 for me.

[01:52:35] And it's so easy to root

[01:52:37] for a main character.

[01:52:38] I agree.

[01:52:39] Wonderful main character

[01:52:40] in Pepper Grinder.

[01:52:41] And her second recommendation

[01:52:42] is a good gardener.

[01:52:45] In this bite-sized experience,

[01:52:47] you're tasked with growing plants

[01:52:49] for your nation's war effort.

[01:52:50] Each day,

[01:52:51] you take care of your crops

[01:52:52] with occasional visits

[01:52:53] from your supervisor

[01:52:54] who reveals more information

[01:52:56] to you over time.

[01:52:57] I still haven't been able

[01:52:58] to shake the ending.

[01:52:59] This is some of the most

[01:52:59] creative storytelling

[01:53:00] I've experienced

[01:53:01] in a game.

[01:53:03] And what is...

[01:53:04] I love this description

[01:53:05] that she has here.

[01:53:06] And I've talked to her

[01:53:07] just a tiny bit

[01:53:08] about this game.

[01:53:09] Now, I played

[01:53:12] another game

[01:53:13] from this developer

[01:53:13] whose name is slipping

[01:53:14] from my mind right now

[01:53:15] called

[01:53:16] From Before the Green Earth.

[01:53:19] But this description

[01:53:20] just has got me.

[01:53:22] Like, how does a game

[01:53:22] like this end, right?

[01:53:24] So thank you, Kate,

[01:53:26] for your recommendations.

[01:53:27] And please check out

[01:53:28] her stream as well.

[01:53:29] That is twitch.tv

[01:53:30] slash caterbossom.

[01:53:32] And then she's also part

[01:53:33] of the No Small Games podcast.

[01:53:35] Next up,

[01:53:35] we have John

[01:53:37] from Gaming in the Wild.

[01:53:39] Again,

[01:53:40] another just big pillar,

[01:53:41] I feel like,

[01:53:42] of the indie content

[01:53:43] creative community here.

[01:53:45] John's recommendation

[01:53:46] is Phantom Spark.

[01:53:48] John says,

[01:54:07] John has been talking

[01:54:08] about this game

[01:54:09] for quite a long time.

[01:54:10] And the thing

[01:54:11] that really gets me

[01:54:12] about this one

[01:54:13] is the silky handling.

[01:54:15] For like a high

[01:54:17] adrenaline,

[01:54:17] fast-paced racer,

[01:54:18] you need

[01:54:19] wonderful handling.

[01:54:21] And so it's

[01:54:21] wonderful to hear that.

[01:54:22] So be sure to check out

[01:54:24] the Gaming in the Wild podcast

[01:54:25] and also Phantom Spark.

[01:54:28] The last two

[01:54:29] that I have here

[01:54:30] are from Matt

[01:54:31] from the

[01:54:32] Fun and Games podcast.

[01:54:36] Matt's incredible.

[01:54:37] Really big fan

[01:54:38] of their stuff

[01:54:39] and what they do.

[01:54:39] And Matt is a busy,

[01:54:41] busy person,

[01:54:42] I feel like.

[01:54:43] I've been trying

[01:54:44] for a long time

[01:54:45] to get Matt on

[01:54:45] the Indie Impressions show.

[01:54:47] And that,

[01:54:47] hopefully something

[01:54:48] will work out

[01:54:49] relatively soon there.

[01:54:50] Their first recommendation

[01:54:51] is for a game,

[01:54:52] Yars Rising.

[01:54:53] A joy to play.

[01:54:55] A wonderful Metrovania

[01:54:56] born out of an Atari

[01:54:57] throwback that totally

[01:54:59] caught me off guard.

[01:55:00] The characters are charming.

[01:55:01] The writing is silly

[01:55:02] and fun.

[01:55:02] The soundtrack

[01:55:03] is incredible.

[01:55:04] The neon design

[01:55:05] and aesthetics

[01:55:06] were on point.

[01:55:07] Love the exploration

[01:55:08] and combat,

[01:55:09] especially the bosses.

[01:55:10] A way forward game

[01:55:11] through and through

[01:55:12] and totally worth

[01:55:13] your time.

[01:55:14] This one has totally

[01:55:15] not been on my radar

[01:55:17] so I'm really looking

[01:55:18] forward to checking

[01:55:19] this one out

[01:55:19] when I get a chance.

[01:55:21] And then the second

[01:55:21] one from Matt

[01:55:22] is Arranger,

[01:55:23] a role puzzling adventure.

[01:55:26] What a brilliant

[01:55:27] and wonderful puzzle adventure.

[01:55:28] Incredible storytelling

[01:55:29] through gameplay.

[01:55:30] Gorgeous art,

[01:55:30] beautiful music,

[01:55:31] fun puzzles

[01:55:32] that were challenging

[01:55:32] but intuitive.

[01:55:33] Always felt smart

[01:55:35] and accomplished

[01:55:35] and rarely frustrated.

[01:55:37] A must play.

[01:55:38] That last bit there

[01:55:39] I love

[01:55:40] because when it comes

[01:55:41] to puzzle games

[01:55:42] this is exactly

[01:55:43] the feeling

[01:55:43] that you want.

[01:55:44] You want to feel smart,

[01:55:45] you want to feel clever

[01:55:46] and you want to feel

[01:55:47] motivated to move on

[01:55:48] and not frustrated.

[01:55:49] So that's another one.

[01:55:50] Check out those games

[01:55:51] and check out

[01:55:51] the Fun of Games podcast

[01:55:52] when you get a chance

[01:55:53] as well.

[01:55:54] And then I'm actually

[01:55:55] going to close this

[01:55:56] out with my own

[01:55:59] in here.

[01:56:00] There's a billion games

[01:56:02] I feel like

[01:56:02] I'd love to recommend here

[01:56:04] but one that I just

[01:56:05] want to call out

[01:56:06] is Grapple Dogs 2

[01:56:07] Cosmic Canines.

[01:56:10] My description here

[01:56:11] is an incredibly

[01:56:12] robust sequel

[01:56:12] that features

[01:56:13] one of the best

[01:56:14] grapples in gaming.

[01:56:15] It's a tight-knit

[01:56:16] and polished platformer

[01:56:17] that feels like

[01:56:18] the product of decades

[01:56:19] of a genre

[01:56:20] reinventing itself.

[01:56:21] Also, Luna is an

[01:56:22] amazing new character.

[01:56:24] Yeah, I was just

[01:56:25] really surprised

[01:56:26] because Grapple Dogs

[01:56:27] seem to get a lot of buzz

[01:56:28] but Grapple Dogs 2

[01:56:29] did not

[01:56:30] which is really

[01:56:31] surprising to me.

[01:56:32] So that's a shout out there.

[01:56:34] So thank you so much

[01:56:35] to all these

[01:56:35] indie content creators

[01:56:37] and the Patreon subs

[01:56:40] who have this

[01:56:41] wonderful list

[01:56:42] and so if you are

[01:56:43] looking for

[01:56:43] an indie game

[01:56:44] if you're looking

[01:56:45] for something

[01:56:45] to go back

[01:56:46] and play

[01:56:47] then that is

[01:56:48] you've got a list

[01:56:49] here of a dozen

[01:56:50] or so games

[01:56:51] that you should

[01:56:52] check out

[01:56:52] and I imagine

[01:56:53] you'll find a few

[01:56:54] in there

[01:56:54] that you will

[01:56:56] love

[01:56:56] and that you'll

[01:56:57] really enjoy

[01:56:57] playing.

[01:56:59] Alright, so there

[01:57:00] you have it.

[01:57:01] You got to listen

[01:57:02] to the music

[01:57:04] for the nominees

[01:57:05] for the next category

[01:57:06] for best score

[01:57:07] slash OST

[01:57:08] but also listen

[01:57:09] to some

[01:57:10] awesome recommendations

[01:57:11] from amazing

[01:57:12] indie content creators

[01:57:13] or indie game

[01:57:14] focused content creators

[01:57:15] on indie games

[01:57:16] that just flew

[01:57:17] under the radar

[01:57:18] that maybe didn't

[01:57:18] get as much

[01:57:19] praise or buzz

[01:57:19] as they expected

[01:57:21] there might be.

[01:57:23] I'd also like

[01:57:24] to point out

[01:57:24] that the snippets

[01:57:25] that you listen to

[01:57:26] I picked some

[01:57:28] what I felt like

[01:57:29] tracks that were

[01:57:30] highly emblematic

[01:57:32] of sort of the feel

[01:57:33] of the music

[01:57:33] that you get

[01:57:34] from the games

[01:57:34] and they're all

[01:57:35] tracks that are

[01:57:36] roughly two minutes

[01:57:37] long in there.

[01:57:39] Alright, and so

[01:57:39] just to reiterate

[01:57:40] and you heard

[01:57:40] in this order

[01:57:41] music from

[01:57:42] Neva, Athenian Rhapsody,

[01:57:44] Haunty, Master Key,

[01:57:46] Crip Custodian

[01:57:47] and finally Bellatro.

[01:57:48] And so my criteria

[01:57:49] for the best music

[01:57:51] is one

[01:57:52] just memorable music

[01:57:54] music that just

[01:57:55] really stands out

[01:57:56] for it's either

[01:57:57] emotional impact

[01:57:57] or it's because

[01:57:58] it's music that I'm

[01:57:59] humming long after

[01:58:00] I've done

[01:58:01] play session

[01:58:02] with the game

[01:58:03] music that I'm

[01:58:04] pulling up

[01:58:04] to listen to

[01:58:05] while I'm working

[01:58:06] or driving

[01:58:07] or doing something

[01:58:08] else, right?

[01:58:09] So memorable

[01:58:09] and sticking with you

[01:58:10] in some way.

[01:58:11] Next criteria is

[01:58:13] music that artistically

[01:58:14] and precisely

[01:58:15] reflects key game

[01:58:16] themes,

[01:58:17] events,

[01:58:18] and moods.

[01:58:19] And so I want

[01:58:20] you know

[01:58:21] when I'm looking

[01:58:22] for nominees

[01:58:23] for this

[01:58:24] music that just

[01:58:25] really coincides

[01:58:27] and enhances

[01:58:28] moments, right?

[01:58:29] And then finally

[01:58:30] has distinguishable

[01:58:31] themes for key

[01:58:32] players or moments

[01:58:33] in the game.

[01:58:36] I love

[01:58:37] leitmotifs.

[01:58:38] I love

[01:58:39] kind of themes

[01:58:40] that are played

[01:58:41] upon or reiterated

[01:58:42] or rearranged.

[01:58:43] I'll mention

[01:58:44] just David Fenn

[01:58:45] is one of my

[01:58:46] probably favorite

[01:58:47] video game

[01:58:47] composers.

[01:58:48] Just thinking

[01:58:49] about like

[01:58:50] Moonlighter

[01:58:50] and Death's Door,

[01:58:51] I mean

[01:58:52] David Fenn

[01:58:53] is a really

[01:58:54] really wonderful

[01:58:56] composer

[01:58:56] when it comes

[01:58:57] to creating

[01:58:59] themes and

[01:58:59] then reusing

[01:59:00] those themes

[01:59:01] throughout a game.

[01:59:02] And also like

[01:59:04] Joel,

[01:59:05] I'm blanking on

[01:59:05] his last name,

[01:59:06] it starts with a

[01:59:06] C though,

[01:59:07] who did the

[01:59:07] Eastward

[01:59:08] soundtrack as

[01:59:09] well.

[01:59:10] Another

[01:59:10] incredible

[01:59:11] composer.

[01:59:11] And it just

[01:59:12] kind of goes

[01:59:12] without saying

[01:59:12] like Lena

[01:59:13] Rain,

[01:59:14] right?

[01:59:14] Does an

[01:59:14] incredible job

[01:59:15] with their

[01:59:15] work.

[01:59:16] But out of

[01:59:17] all these six

[01:59:26] one,

[01:59:27] the one for

[01:59:27] best score

[01:59:28] slash OST

[01:59:28] from the

[01:59:29] Igoathe's

[01:59:29] 2024

[01:59:31] is

[01:59:32] Haunty.

[01:59:39] I loved

[01:59:41] the soundtrack

[01:59:41] and the

[01:59:43] boss themes

[01:59:43] in particular,

[01:59:44] the different

[01:59:45] themes from

[01:59:46] the worlds,

[01:59:47] like the

[01:59:47] different hubs

[01:59:48] that you

[01:59:48] visit.

[01:59:49] It was just

[01:59:51] incredible how

[01:59:52] it managed to

[01:59:53] be like somber

[01:59:54] indie music,

[01:59:55] but sometimes it

[01:59:56] really fit with

[01:59:57] like the circus

[01:59:57] or carnival

[01:59:58] themes or

[01:59:59] feel a little

[02:00:00] jazzy or

[02:00:01] or just

[02:00:02] really feel

[02:00:03] like,

[02:00:04] I don't know,

[02:00:04] detective noir

[02:00:05] kind of musical

[02:00:06] at the same

[02:00:07] time.

[02:00:07] Saxophone is

[02:00:08] being used

[02:00:09] beautifully in

[02:00:10] the soundtrack.

[02:00:11] And so what

[02:00:12] you listen to

[02:00:13] is a two

[02:00:13] minute snippet.

[02:00:14] Actually,

[02:00:15] it's the track

[02:00:15] called The

[02:00:16] Tower,

[02:00:17] which I think

[02:00:18] is extremely

[02:00:19] robust.

[02:00:20] It almost

[02:00:21] functions as

[02:00:21] an overture

[02:00:22] for kind of

[02:00:22] the breadth

[02:00:23] of the music

[02:00:24] that you hear

[02:00:24] throughout this

[02:00:25] game.

[02:00:25] There are a

[02:00:26] lot of

[02:00:26] really wonderful

[02:00:27] boss fights.

[02:00:27] I highly

[02:00:28] recommend you

[02:00:28] listen to the

[02:00:29] track The

[02:00:29] Vortex.

[02:00:30] The way

[02:00:31] that music

[02:00:31] sort of

[02:00:32] plays with

[02:00:32] that particular

[02:00:33] boss fight,

[02:00:34] Sublime.

[02:00:34] Absolutely

[02:00:35] loved it.

[02:00:36] So Haunty is

[02:00:36] this year's

[02:00:37] winner.

[02:00:38] Moving right

[02:00:39] along,

[02:00:40] most innovative.

[02:00:41] This is the

[02:00:42] category that I

[02:00:43] just cannot seem

[02:00:44] to keep to

[02:00:45] six entries,

[02:00:46] so we have

[02:00:47] more than

[02:00:48] that.

[02:00:48] We have

[02:00:48] seven here.

[02:00:49] Here are the

[02:00:50] four main

[02:00:51] criteria for

[02:00:52] most innovative.

[02:00:53] Number one,

[02:00:54] a stellar

[02:00:55] exemplary game

[02:00:56] of a genre.

[02:00:57] And so,

[02:00:58] and I'm here

[02:00:59] from innovative,

[02:01:00] I'm not

[02:01:00] necessarily

[02:01:01] thinking about

[02:01:02] brand new,

[02:01:04] but something

[02:01:04] that feels

[02:01:05] new in the

[02:01:06] sense of fresh

[02:01:07] for what it

[02:01:08] is.

[02:01:09] It does its

[02:01:09] genre incredibly

[02:01:10] well.

[02:01:11] The next point

[02:01:12] here is pushes

[02:01:13] a defining

[02:01:13] mechanic into

[02:01:14] new territory.

[02:01:16] If exploration

[02:01:18] or backtracking

[02:01:18] is a hallmark

[02:01:19] characteristic of

[02:01:20] Metrovania,

[02:01:20] how did they

[02:01:21] do that in a

[02:01:21] fresh new

[02:01:22] way?

[02:01:23] Next,

[02:01:24] criteria creates

[02:01:25] functional and

[02:01:26] fun hybrid of

[02:01:27] multiple genres.

[02:01:29] Maybe the

[02:01:30] mix and mash

[02:01:31] really pays

[02:01:31] off in some

[02:01:32] ways that

[02:01:34] create a synergy

[02:01:35] between game

[02:01:36] mechanics or

[02:01:36] genres that

[02:01:37] are not

[02:01:37] particularly or

[02:01:38] often put

[02:01:39] together.

[02:01:40] And finally,

[02:01:40] this is one

[02:01:41] that I try to

[02:01:43] find more so

[02:01:45] than the other

[02:01:45] criteria,

[02:01:46] and this is

[02:01:46] makes one of

[02:01:47] the genre's

[02:01:47] weaknesses one

[02:01:49] of its

[02:01:49] strengths.

[02:01:50] examples where

[02:01:51] if you can

[02:01:52] take, so for

[02:01:53] example, and

[02:01:54] it's funny because

[02:01:55] Eric in his

[02:01:55] description actually

[02:01:56] talks about this,

[02:01:57] but for some

[02:01:59] games, like

[02:02:01] roguelikes in

[02:02:02] particular,

[02:02:03] narrative tends

[02:02:03] to suffer because

[02:02:04] you're just

[02:02:04] repeating the

[02:02:05] same kind of

[02:02:05] situations and

[02:02:06] mechanics over

[02:02:07] and over again.

[02:02:07] So he's saying

[02:02:08] Hadley's run and

[02:02:09] I would venture

[02:02:09] to say like

[02:02:10] Hades,

[02:02:10] right?

[02:02:11] Wonderful

[02:02:11] examples where

[02:02:12] that repetition

[02:02:14] makes sense

[02:02:15] narratively.

[02:02:16] And so in my

[02:02:17] opinion, those are

[02:02:17] games that take

[02:02:20] a narrative,

[02:02:21] a weakness,

[02:02:22] which is typically

[02:02:22] in the narrative

[02:02:23] and they make it

[02:02:24] something that you

[02:02:24] look forward to

[02:02:25] in those games.

[02:02:26] All right, so

[02:02:27] the nominations,

[02:02:28] right?

[02:02:28] We have seven

[02:02:29] nominees here.

[02:02:30] There are

[02:02:31] Ultros, Rusty's

[02:02:32] Retirement, Animal

[02:02:33] Well, Pacific Drive,

[02:02:34] Arco, The Plucky

[02:02:35] Squire, and Flock.

[02:02:37] So to go through

[02:02:38] these quickly,

[02:02:39] because there are

[02:02:40] only two new

[02:02:40] games here.

[02:02:41] The first one,

[02:02:41] Ultros, holy

[02:02:43] cow, the second

[02:02:44] half of the game,

[02:02:45] the sort of

[02:02:47] cyclical nature

[02:02:48] of the game as

[02:02:49] well, the way

[02:02:51] that exploration

[02:02:51] is handled, the

[02:02:52] seed gathering

[02:02:53] and planting and

[02:02:54] the way that

[02:02:54] time passes in

[02:02:56] Ultros.

[02:02:57] Things that, I

[02:02:59] mean, exploration

[02:02:59] is a key part of

[02:03:00] Metrovanias, but

[02:03:02] holy cow, the

[02:03:03] way that just

[02:03:04] plants and seeds

[02:03:05] work in this

[02:03:05] game is a

[02:03:06] mechanic that

[02:03:06] is wholly

[02:03:08] changes, like

[02:03:09] what a

[02:03:09] Metrovania can

[02:03:10] do as you're

[02:03:11] exploring and

[02:03:13] going back to

[02:03:15] places that you

[02:03:15] have previously

[02:03:16] been and you're

[02:03:16] trying new

[02:03:17] combinations of

[02:03:17] seeds as you

[02:03:18] plant them in

[02:03:19] different soil

[02:03:19] spots.

[02:03:21] Amazing, amazing

[02:03:23] new mechanic, I

[02:03:24] would say, that

[02:03:25] really pushes what

[02:03:26] a Metrovania can

[02:03:27] be.

[02:03:28] Next up, Rusty's

[02:03:29] Retirement.

[02:03:30] I love Rusty's

[02:03:31] Retirement.

[02:03:33] What's so amazing

[02:03:34] about this is that

[02:03:35] it's really just an

[02:03:35] idle farming game,

[02:03:37] but you can play it

[02:03:38] on your desktop and

[02:03:39] it only takes up a

[02:03:40] part of your screen.

[02:03:41] And so part of the

[02:03:41] innovation really with

[02:03:42] Rusty's Retirement

[02:03:43] isn't so much the

[02:03:44] game mechanics, but

[02:03:45] it's actually simply

[02:03:46] how the game is

[02:03:47] displayed and played

[02:03:48] because you can have

[02:03:49] it running while

[02:03:50] you're doing other

[02:03:50] things at a desktop.

[02:03:52] I think most idle

[02:03:53] games are associated

[02:03:54] with mobile and

[02:03:55] they're associated

[02:03:56] with, oh, my work

[02:03:57] break, you know, I'm

[02:03:58] going to pull this up

[02:03:58] and see if anything's

[02:03:59] happened in this

[02:04:00] idle game, maybe

[02:04:01] push a few buttons

[02:04:01] and then leave it

[02:04:02] alone and come back

[02:04:02] to it.

[02:04:03] Rusty's Retirement,

[02:04:04] I feel like, is the

[02:04:05] absolute perfect way

[02:04:07] to incentivize taking

[02:04:09] a quick 30-second to

[02:04:11] one-minute break

[02:04:12] between like 15 to

[02:04:14] 30 minutes of work

[02:04:15] at a desktop.

[02:04:17] And it features

[02:04:17] amazing pixel art,

[02:04:19] it's beautiful, I've

[02:04:19] already talked about

[02:04:20] the pixel art of

[02:04:20] Rusty's Retirement,

[02:04:23] and you just get to

[02:04:24] see a little farm

[02:04:25] grow and the little

[02:04:26] robots do things.

[02:04:27] Next up, Animal

[02:04:28] Well.

[02:04:29] I've talked about

[02:04:30] Animal Well many

[02:04:30] times, I feel like,

[02:04:31] already, but holy

[02:04:33] cow.

[02:04:34] I just feel like not

[02:04:36] just exploration and

[02:04:38] backtracking, but the

[02:04:38] different abilities you

[02:04:39] get in this game have

[02:04:40] this massive ripple

[02:04:41] effect on level design,

[02:04:43] how you create and

[02:04:45] respond to environmental

[02:04:47] cues, and how you just

[02:04:48] sort of progress

[02:04:48] through the game's map.

[02:04:50] Next up, Pacific Drive.

[02:04:52] So Pacific Drive is one

[02:04:54] of the rare games on

[02:04:55] this list where I

[02:04:57] didn't complete it, but

[02:04:59] I do still feel like it

[02:05:00] was incredibly innovative.

[02:05:02] This driving, you know,

[02:05:04] gameplay, finding

[02:05:06] resources, beautiful

[02:05:07] art style, also

[02:05:08] beautiful music in

[02:05:10] this one.

[02:05:12] But I just felt like

[02:05:13] this gameplay loop of

[02:05:14] working on your car,

[02:05:16] upgrading it, getting

[02:05:17] all these resources, and

[02:05:18] going back out for

[02:05:19] another run, it's not

[02:05:20] really a roguelike.

[02:05:21] It's much more level or

[02:05:22] mission-based rather than

[02:05:23] just repeating the

[02:05:25] same thing over and

[02:05:26] over again.

[02:05:26] I just feel like it's

[02:05:28] really innovative in

[02:05:28] its gameplay loop, and

[02:05:29] the fact that driving

[02:05:30] is such a key component

[02:05:31] of it.

[02:05:32] Like, at some moments

[02:05:33] the driving is quite

[02:05:35] relaxing, and then

[02:05:36] other moments you have

[02:05:37] this adrenaline car

[02:05:38] chase scene.

[02:05:39] And it just feels

[02:05:40] really good to play.

[02:05:41] So Pacific Drive is on

[02:05:43] here.

[02:05:43] Next is Arco.

[02:05:45] So I talked about

[02:05:46] Arco's gameplay

[02:05:47] mechanics, but I kind

[02:05:48] of feel like its

[02:05:50] innovation kind of

[02:05:51] stems from the fact

[02:05:52] that it is an

[02:05:54] anthology where you

[02:05:56] are playing as

[02:05:56] different characters

[02:05:57] and different chapters

[02:05:58] focused kind of on

[02:05:59] their stories and

[02:05:59] then how they

[02:06:00] coalesce as a

[02:06:01] party, which I

[02:06:02] feel like is

[02:06:03] innovative.

[02:06:04] This isn't a JRPG

[02:06:05] by any means, but

[02:06:07] I love the way

[02:06:09] that this game

[02:06:10] kind of borrows

[02:06:12] maybe a little bit

[02:06:12] of like how the

[02:06:13] party forms, and

[02:06:14] I'm doing that in

[02:06:15] air quotes, from

[02:06:17] JRPGs or just

[02:06:18] you know, how

[02:06:20] these people get

[02:06:21] thrown together and

[02:06:21] why they get thrown

[02:06:22] together.

[02:06:23] And in a lot of

[02:06:24] ways this game might

[02:06:25] feel like a prequel

[02:06:26] to like another story.

[02:06:27] It absolutely isn't.

[02:06:29] Don't get me wrong.

[02:06:31] But yeah, just how

[02:06:32] this party comes

[02:06:33] together, I think

[02:06:33] that's a big part

[02:06:34] of it, but also

[02:06:34] this kind of like

[02:06:35] 1.5 turn-based

[02:06:36] combat, the way

[02:06:38] that it's tactical,

[02:06:39] the abilities that

[02:06:40] you get, the

[02:06:41] different dashes,

[02:06:42] stun mechanics,

[02:06:44] kind of what you

[02:06:44] have to do when

[02:06:45] suddenly there's

[02:06:46] a thousand bullets

[02:06:47] on screen, and

[02:06:47] how to manage

[02:06:48] multiple pieces

[02:06:49] simultaneously, how

[02:06:50] characters work

[02:06:51] together.

[02:06:52] I mean, Arco, I

[02:06:53] just think is truly

[02:06:54] innovative in how

[02:06:55] tactical games

[02:06:56] function.

[02:06:57] Next up, the

[02:06:58] plucky squire, I

[02:07:00] mean, I talked

[02:07:01] about this when

[02:07:02] I talked about

[02:07:03] its nomination in

[02:07:04] the best art

[02:07:05] direction for

[02:07:05] other category.

[02:07:07] The 2D, 3D

[02:07:09] combination in

[02:07:10] here, I love

[02:07:11] like how the

[02:07:11] 3D world and

[02:07:12] your actions and

[02:07:13] abilities that make

[02:07:14] sense there can

[02:07:14] impact or change

[02:07:15] what happens in

[02:07:16] the 2D storybook

[02:07:19] game and

[02:07:19] mechanics.

[02:07:20] Like you're

[02:07:20] messing with the

[02:07:21] environments so

[02:07:22] much within the

[02:07:23] book from what

[02:07:24] you can do outside

[02:07:25] of the storybook.

[02:07:26] Next up, or

[02:07:28] final from this

[02:07:28] one is Flock.

[02:07:29] I mean, Flock is

[02:07:31] awesome in that

[02:07:33] it's like it's a

[02:07:34] creature collector

[02:07:35] and you like get

[02:07:36] attached and the

[02:07:36] creatures are really

[02:07:37] cute, but the game

[02:07:38] is really just like

[02:07:39] a lot of menuing

[02:07:41] and cataloging and

[02:07:42] using clues to

[02:07:43] sniff out where

[02:07:43] things are.

[02:07:44] And so it kind of

[02:07:46] does feel like the

[02:07:47] gameplay loop is

[02:07:48] field research for

[02:07:49] something like, I

[02:07:51] don't know, a

[02:07:51] zoologist or

[02:07:52] ecologist.

[02:07:53] Just kind of going

[02:07:54] out and gathering

[02:07:55] data and trying to

[02:07:56] find where and why

[02:07:57] and how these

[02:07:57] species are in

[02:07:58] these locations and

[02:07:59] what they do.

[02:08:00] And there's a lot

[02:08:01] in here.

[02:08:01] And my kids

[02:08:02] responded really

[02:08:02] well to Flock, I

[02:08:03] think, because of

[02:08:06] this idea of just

[02:08:07] like cataloging and

[02:08:08] using those hints to

[02:08:08] go find more of

[02:08:10] these creatures and

[02:08:12] then just having them

[02:08:13] amass as part of

[02:08:13] your flock.

[02:08:14] You know?

[02:08:15] Yeah, so I feel

[02:08:16] like it's innovative

[02:08:17] in the creature

[02:08:18] collecting genre where

[02:08:21] it doesn't really

[02:08:23] neatly sit in that

[02:08:24] genre because I

[02:08:25] feel like a lot of

[02:08:26] creature collectors

[02:08:28] have monster

[02:08:29] battling in it.

[02:08:30] And this is a

[02:08:30] non-combat game.

[02:08:32] But yeah, you just

[02:08:33] amass this flock and

[02:08:34] it's equal parts, I

[02:08:35] feel like, scientific

[02:08:37] research and

[02:08:37] enterprise and

[02:08:38] cataloging.

[02:08:40] Very, I feel like,

[02:08:41] 19th century

[02:08:43] scientific research

[02:08:44] is cataloging,

[02:08:47] drawing anatomy of

[02:08:48] different creatures and

[02:08:49] trying to understand

[02:08:50] why and how they come to

[02:08:51] exist in these

[02:08:51] habitats, right?

[02:08:52] But balancing that

[02:08:53] with just like this

[02:08:54] aesthetic beauty of

[02:08:55] what the creatures are,

[02:08:56] they're cute and you

[02:08:57] want to collect them

[02:08:58] because you want them

[02:08:58] to be with you,

[02:08:59] right?

[02:09:00] So yeah, those are

[02:09:02] the seven nominees for

[02:09:04] most innovative.

[02:09:05] We have Ultros,

[02:09:06] Rusty's Retirement,

[02:09:08] Animal Well,

[02:09:09] Pacific Drive,

[02:09:10] Arco,

[02:09:10] the Plucky Squire,

[02:09:11] and Flock.

[02:09:12] And out of these

[02:09:13] seven, the winner,

[02:09:15] the top dog,

[02:09:17] is Rusty's Retirement.

[02:09:26] I mean, I think some

[02:09:27] of this just comes

[02:09:28] from my bias.

[02:09:29] I love Haiku the Robot.

[02:09:30] I love what Mr. Morris

[02:09:31] Games has done,

[02:09:32] but I also believe this

[02:09:34] to be the most innovative

[02:09:34] because, and I talk

[02:09:36] about this a little bit,

[02:09:37] some slight spoilers for

[02:09:38] our Game of the Year

[02:09:39] episode, in that so,

[02:09:42] like this game took,

[02:09:43] I think, less than a

[02:09:44] year to develop and it

[02:09:46] sold like buku bucks.

[02:09:48] It did incredibly well

[02:09:50] and it's just a small,

[02:09:51] cute thing that you can

[02:09:52] have be a part of your

[02:09:53] day without being

[02:09:56] like super intrusive

[02:09:57] to what you need

[02:09:58] to get done while

[02:09:59] you're working on

[02:10:00] your computer.

[02:10:01] But it's just fun

[02:10:03] to check in and see

[02:10:04] how things have

[02:10:04] progressed.

[02:10:06] And I think for me,

[02:10:07] like it really innovates

[02:10:08] and makes,

[02:10:09] because I feel like

[02:10:10] idle games kind of

[02:10:11] get a bad rap,

[02:10:13] but I do feel like

[02:10:14] Rusty's Retirement

[02:10:16] is innovative in how

[02:10:17] it works on a desktop

[02:10:18] and like making an

[02:10:19] idle game just kind of

[02:10:20] like a fun little

[02:10:21] thing to include in

[02:10:22] your day, right?

[02:10:24] And it kind of flies

[02:10:25] in the face of people

[02:10:26] who think idle games

[02:10:27] are just a giant waste

[02:10:28] of time or something

[02:10:30] that is just like

[02:10:31] going to be a giant

[02:10:32] money suck.

[02:10:34] You have to keep

[02:10:34] buying stuff to

[02:10:35] accelerate times.

[02:10:36] None of that stuff

[02:10:37] is in this game.

[02:10:38] It's just like simply

[02:10:40] for the love of the

[02:10:41] game.

[02:10:41] You have it up,

[02:10:42] you look at it,

[02:10:43] you see cute things

[02:10:44] happening and then you

[02:10:45] kind of move on with

[02:10:46] other things going on.

[02:10:47] So Rusty's Retirement

[02:10:48] takes the

[02:10:50] iGoathe's 2024

[02:10:51] Most Innovative.

[02:10:52] Folks, we're coming

[02:10:53] down to it.

[02:10:55] We've got two

[02:10:56] categories left and

[02:10:58] it's funny, I don't

[02:10:59] know if you can tell,

[02:10:59] I've recorded this in

[02:11:01] several different

[02:11:01] sessions and you

[02:11:02] probably hear my voice

[02:11:03] getting hoarse and

[02:11:03] then suddenly it

[02:11:04] perks up again.

[02:11:06] But we got these

[02:11:07] two more and two

[02:11:08] extremely important

[02:11:09] categories.

[02:11:11] We'll first discuss

[02:11:12] the best narrative

[02:11:14] slash writing and

[02:11:15] then we'll just get

[02:11:15] into an indie game

[02:11:16] of the year.

[02:11:17] The best narrative

[02:11:19] slash writing.

[02:11:20] This is an extremely

[02:11:22] tough one.

[02:11:23] It is different than

[02:11:25] world building.

[02:11:25] World building, I

[02:11:26] think, as a category

[02:11:27] is meant to look at

[02:11:29] a game holistically.

[02:11:30] The best narrative

[02:11:31] and writing very

[02:11:33] much focuses on how

[02:11:35] the characters talk

[02:11:35] to each other.

[02:11:36] It focuses on what

[02:11:38] they're saying and

[02:11:38] characterization, how

[02:11:39] they develop, how

[02:11:40] they grow, how they

[02:11:41] change, how they