JonB wrote:

Obviously, if you're playing something that's so niche no one else will care, then fair enough, and the genre threads for stuff like Roguelikes and Soulslikes have been pretty good for that sort of thing in some cases.

This. A thread for a game with only a few people playing it will quickly become a zombie thread. It'd be better to keep it within the genre/system in that case. It comes down to whether or not a game is popular enough to support it's own thread. That'll become obvious if there's a lot of discussion about it in the other related threads.

Play it by ear, I reckon. If there's a lot of talk about Tinykin, for example, make a Tinykin thread. But you should use extant threads before starting a new one - a thread is a privilege, not a right, so to speak.

Raiziel wrote:

Surely this thing is organic. If a game surges in popularity then a thread inevitably emerges.

I'm just trying to encourage making the bar for that a bit lower. Tinykin has been popular recently, but no thread.

I thought raising the issue might make people a bit more conscientious about starting new threads. But obviously, if everyone's happy with the way things are, it'll stay as it is.

Tinykin is very popular nobody will question you.

Still no Tinykin thread. He's bottled it lads. I knew he would.

Nah. He's written the OP with pics and everything. Best he's ever done. But he can't bring himself to post it. Poor muzz.

The Islets thread did the job for me, I doubt I would have bought it full price without the extra spotlight.

I've made the mistake of starting threads for games so niche no-one will care though. It's heartbreaking.

Raiziel wrote:

Fair enough. But in all honesty, there isn’t a bar. This place is pretty much a free-for-all. If you like a game enough, make a thread about it. Or even a film. I’m not entirely sure this thing needs encouragement. If a game called Tinykin is awesome to you, cool, make a thread.

OK, but that didn't happen (until now), so...

I'm saying that maybe as a forum we've got into the habit of adding to a handful of general threads rather than starting specific ones. And that's fine, and organic in itself, but I'm pointing out there are some downsides.

Jon Bossy.

He'll be rebranding us soon.

It's a good idea but it needs plenty of support. I enjoy the shmups thread as I know those of a similar mind will be in there.  As long as each thread is created when it becomes necessary due to interest otherwise you could get a lot of dusty empty threads. They would sink but why have the clutter.

Pikmin but cartoon with absolutely amazing level design and buckets of charm. Could well be my GOTY.

That's my only complaint.

Perfect length for me. I thought it started to run out of ideas towards the end and the credits arrived at the perfect point. Quality package but more of it might've taken the shine off. Would play dlc in a few months for sure, but I'm not expecting it.

Today I found myself with an unexpected afternoon off, and the desire to play something that wouldn’t require 80 hours of investment. Something quick, fun, and arcadey.

So, on the back of a glowing Eurogamer review, I picked up  Sword Ship.

It’s pretty much exactly what I wanted. I’ll get the negative out of the way first -  it’s quite expensive for what it is.  It’s very much a pick up, blast, get a high score, try again sort of a game. The levels change, but not massively, and the gameplay remains pretty much the same throughout.

Said gameplay has, however, been polished within an inch.  So what is it?  Basically a shmup without the shooting. A Mup? A dodgem up?  I don’t know.  Stuff appears, it shoots at you, and you can’t shoot back.  Fortunately, the enemies in question are exceptionally stupid, and it’s pretty easy to get them to blow each other up, and therein lies the first bit of genius.  So you move around the screen, desperately lining up enemy shots, whilst trying to dodge them yourself. You get points every time you pull off one of these “tricks”. You get bonus points for doing so at the last minute, or taking out multiple enemies at once and so on.

Visuals are simple, colourful, with enemies and attacks (for the most part) nicely sign posted. There is also a weirdly satisfying “dive” animation when you briefly take your ship underwater to dodge attacks. 

If dodging bullets and lasers wasn’t enough, there’s also the small issue of collecting cargo. What little plot there is, has you racing your ship across the surface of the sea of a flooded future world stealing cargo from the rich to give to the poor.  In practice what this means is you need to grab cargo every level, and safely dispatch it where you can cash it in at the end of the level. 

This is where the second Very Good Idea comes in. At the end of each level you can cash in each bit of cargo for a massive points bonus. However, you can instead choose to convert some of them into extra lives instead (you have none by default).  Thus the risk/reward mechanic that’s there in the main gameplay, works its way into the score/ lives system too. Lives may seem the obvious choice if, like me, you’re not that excited about high scores - but new elements unlock at different high score levels, making the decision all the more tantalising. (These elements may be new upgrades, new ships, new weather conditions or even new difficulty levels.  It sums up how poor I am at the game that I’ve only just unlocked “normal” difficulty. You can choose to carry on at “beginner” level if you wish, but on “normal” there’s an extra one of those precious crates in every level, and thus potential for higher scores still, and so the cycle starts up again…)

Suffice to say, for such a simple game, I’ve been playing for a remarkable amount of time this evening, and can see it being my game of choice for a quick bit arcade fun for quite some time.

tin_robot wrote:

Today I found myself with an unexpected afternoon off, and the desire to play something that wouldn’t require 80 hours of investment. Something quick, fun, and arcadey.

Heh. Mushihimesama - an arcade 2D shooter with 5 levels..... I have clocked up 180hrs on that bollocks and I've only scratched the surface.