#flatgame

working on a game that's loosely based around a dream i had. idk if i want to finish this or keep it unreleased or whatnot but it's been cool trying to play with unity again and learning new stuff about that engine.

making games with hand drawn graphics is cool

Sixth week of my Video Game Genres Guides!

Logo by my friend Flatgame! This is a very niche style of indie games that was suggested to me by my friend, the same friend that has been making logos for these! If you'd like to suggest a genre to look into, check my ask page! Anyways, flatgames are super hard to pin down, but in general they are very simple narrative adventure games with minimal graphics, gameplay, and controls. Some of these games tell very personal stories, while others are quite silly or cute. Here's what that would look like on a Genre Tree!

In terms of top level, Flatgame is strictly under Adventure as a very primitive sub-genre of Graphic Adventure. Here's 5 Flatgames (in no particular order). In terms of tags, they are all pretty much just Flatgame, as is most of the genre. Instead of tags, I will be linking these games so that people can support these indie devs if they'd like!

The Isle Is Full Of Noises Number 1 is The Isle Is Full Of Noises! This is the game that started the genre. The games creator Llaura McGee coined "Flatgame" when her games simplistic style was criticized by judges at Indiecade. Contrary to the criticism and the simple gameplay and art, this game is really intense, and as much as I recommend it I would also warn that it is very heavy emotionally.

gays at the beach! Number 2 is gays at the beach!! This is the first flatgame I played in this genre exploration. To be honest when starting out I really had no idea how these games were going to work. The story seems cute I think? It's certainly about gays at the beach! The music was good but I wasn't even really sure when I finished the game, which my friend says is normal for this genre. After this game, I knew this wouldn't be the easiest genre exploration to write lol.

how 2 dreams Number 3 is how 2 dreams! This is a collaborative flatgame made by multiple devs! This flatgame is a lot more surreal as you adventure through how dreams are made and delivered. Very simple fun with silly different graphics from each of the developers!

Interactive Meadow 64 Number 4 is Interactive Meadow 64! This flatgame is less narratively driven, and more framed as a nice relaxing meadow to chill and relax in. Reminds me of this one scratch project I made for a class in middle school lol. Super cute and relaxing compared to some of the more intense storytelling in the genre.

The Arcane Kids Manife$to is a circa 2012 (?) manifesto with text that, brilliantly, I can't even copy and paste, since it's a Photoshopped image of the Steam OS X interface. I also really like how Tale of Tales' RAM argues for a "punk economy" above, but down here, the AxK M$ warns, "do NOT call us punk." It's like these manifestos are in conversation. I also like how the declaration "fuck formalism" might contradict "play with structure", maybe a manifesto is supposed to be in conflict / in flux with itself:

I made this game for Flatgame Annual 2016. It’s a very short flatgame about the apocalypse.