I should warn you that before me and John Patrick Roberdeau get to talking about what is one the finest RTSs ever made, there is some irrational rage directed at Lego Indiana Jones and some stuff about a boring chemistry-themed game that only a programmer can love. But on the flip side, you also get the nerd version of Easy Rider and one of the coolest names you could ever hope to give a daughter.
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If you’ve got a kid, go quick and get him to help you with today’s level, Sackeratinator 3000. I’ll confess I haven’t yet gotten my own kid to help me puzzle this one out, but I fully intend to do so. Not because I can’t figure it out myself. Well…a little bit of that. I have only played seven or eight rat test cages, and one of those I’m just not getting. I need a new perspective.
But let me step back a second. Yes you read that right. Rat test cages. Basically in this level you allow yourself to be transformed from sack to rat by a lab scientist. He promises to turn you back to sack once you work through his lab tests. The only real problem with the level is the extensive prologue section about the lab doctor and riding an elevator and blah blah blah. I’m sure I’ll be able to skip it next time I play the level, but I hate skipping this type of stuff first time through, so I end up resenting it if it’s tedious. It is here, but I can forgive that because the little rat test cage puzzles pleased me so. In spite of the fact that there’s one I can’t crack. I’m sure my kid will help me figure it out. In the meantime there’s plenty more to try.
What’s more, the game really does pay you the compliment of treating you like a rat. Because as far as I know, rats don’t get any pop-up tips in their little lab experiments. I like the fact that as a sack rat, neither do you.
I cannot wait to get back to this one.
At GDC, I moderated a panel on the future of strategy gaming. My opening premise was that the genre is in a golden age, thanks to the range of great games spanning AAA big-budget titles, mid-sized developers working with larger publishers, garage developers working with smaller publishers, and even some amazing titles developed and published by just one person.
During the panel, I mentioned six such games. I mentioned them again on the latest episode of the strategy gaming podcast, Three Moves Ahead. And I’ll expain here why you should play them. Although, to be fair, at least two of these games hired artists, so it’s not entirely accurate to call them one-man projects in terms of the development process. But they are all self-published and well worth playing.
After the jump, six great strategy games made (mostly) and published by one dude Continue reading →
