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Goats are jerks, Goat Simulator proves it
For millennia goats have been known as the most demonic of livestock, and as this footage from Goat Simulator demonstrates, were they not kept in pens, goats would run amok, headbutting buckets into space, climbing ladders and sprinting headlong into moving cars. Created by Swedish developer Coffee Stain Studios for Global Game Jam 2014, Goat Simulator awards players points for their antisocial barnyard behavior. While never intended for retail release, the internet has unsurprisingly fallen for this combination of fuzzy beasts and wanton destruction. "When I woke up today my video with the damn goat had 100,000 views, which is like more than all our other real game trailers the last year combined," Coffee Stain PR manager Armin Ibrisagic told Vice. Following this unexpected outpouring of support, Coffee Stain is now pondering the future of Goat Simulator. "We are discussing what more we can do with Goat Simulator now that people have shown such an interest in it, but we don't want to promise anything," Ibrisagic said, adding, "We're going to listen to people's opinions in the coming couple of days and see how it goats." [Image: Coffee Stain Studios]
Your body is a wonderland in Kinect platformer 'Fru'
Fru is two platformers in one game, with one layer of the world shown clearly on the screen, and another layer uncovered within the silhouette of a player's body as it moves in front of the Kinect camera, in real-time. The silhouette world offers new platforms, enabling players to reach the exit door in each level (with a little hopping, ducking and contortion). Fru comes from a collection of indies during Global Game Jam 2014, which prompted developers to create games with the theme "We don't see things as they are, but as we are." The team had 48 hours to create the game, and Fru ended up winning the judge and audience awards in the NHTV Breda Global Game Jam competition. If you have a Kinect hooked up to your PC, you can download Fru right here. Game Designer Mattia Traverso – previously of indie documentary game Riot and IGF 2012 student finalist One and One Story – tells Joystiq that he hopes Microsoft notices Fru so the team can expand on the idea. "We definitely have plans to bring this to the next level," Traverso says. "We are starting to work on it to make it an actual, full game and I am contacting Microsoft right now to see what we can do .... Right now we are trying to give it some visibility, to show the big M that this project is actually something interesting that people like."
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is local bomb-defusing fun
Three developers at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada recently offered a novel multiplayer bomb-diffusing game for this past weekend's Global Game Jam. Dubbed Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, the game has one Oculus Rift-wearing, Razer Hydra-holding player lifting and examining a ticking time bomb while at least one other player holds the manual with instructions to disarm the virtual destructive device. The accompanying video for the game shows three fellows hovering over a spread of papers, shouting instructions (and not always the correct ones) at the bomb's diffuser with choice quotes like "Oh fuck," and "How much time is on the bomb, Owen?" Developed by the team of Allen Pestaluky, Ben Kane and Brian Fetter with dramatic music by Liam Sauve, the Windows-only game is freely available for players to check out on the Global Game Jam website. Kane works with Going Loud Studios, developers of the satirical platformer DLC Quest. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes requires the Oculus Rift and Razer Hydra devices, so the rest of us will have no choice but to pray others will snip the correct wires.
Global Game Jam entry Emerald floats through Kickstarter space
Emerald, a game about exploring a spaceship in zero-gravity, was originally conceived during the 2013 Global Game Jam, but has since drifted through the cold void of the Internet and landed on Kickstarter. Creator Nick Yonge seeks $5,800 (Canadian) so that Emerald can release February 13, 2014 on PC, Mac and Linux. The Kickstarter page for Emerald describes the game as "Thomas Was Alone meets Analogue: A Hate Story meets System Shock, but without any gravity." Players will float through a damaged spacecraft, repairing systems one-by-one, while simultaneously rediscovering who you are and how you got there via flashbacks. Sounds like a jolly, carefree romp where nothing could go wrong, right? Right?
Surgeon Simulator 2013 tries its hand at open-heart surgery
Heads up to all the future surgeons, medical professionals and car mechanics out there: Play Surgeon Simulator 2013. A team from Bossa Studios whipped up Surgeon Simulator 2013 in two days for the Global Game Jam, and it's a mix of QWOP and nightmares. Just like real surgery.
Indie Fund backing Global Game Jam hit Mushroom 11
Mushroom 11, from 2012 NYU Global Game Jammer Itay Keren, is an experiment in mobility and art design, and it's caught the eye (and wallet) of Indie Fund. Keren won the Best Game Design award at GGJ 2012 with Mushroom 11, and has since focused on fleshing it out into a more polished, complete game. Check out some preliminary art and that wild gameplay mechanic in the above video."The design space being explored by Mushroom 11 is not something we've seen before," Indie Fund writes. "It's engaging and tactile and we're excited to support Itay and see where his design exploration leads!"Keren has previous development experience for mobile devices, but there is no word on potential platforms for Mushroom 11.
GNILLEY: the game where you scream to survive
Do you like video games? Are you filled with rage? Then GNILLEY just might be the game you've been waiting for. Developed by Glen Forrester (a.k.a. Radix) for Global Game Jam 2010, the game apparently started out as being about "pitch and color," but quickly became "all about yelling at everything," and ended up winning the award for most original game at the competition. Head on past the break to check it out for yourself -- we're sure you'll agree he made the right decision.
India and Russia are down for the Global Game Jam
Saying that their participation "further exemplifies the global nature of the event," Global Game Jam founder Susan Gold has announced that locations in India and Russia will be joining the two-day game creation marathon, which gets underway on January 29. The event will span 38 countries, with the mad dash to make a game in under 48 hours beginning in New Zealand. A complete list of Game Jam locations can be found at the event's site, including the ones in the former Soviet Union -- from which we fully expect to see a Project Natal-compatible Cossack dancing game emerge.
Lid comes off Global Game Jam 2010 on Jan. 29
Grab your mason jars and pectin, because it's time to make another batch of "Mario Mulberry." Oh, right, this is about the IGDA's Global Game Jam. Specifically that the annual event -- during which individuals and teams jam for 48 hours to make a game from scratch -- is right around the corner. In fact, it was announced today that all jamming will be performed between January 29 and 31 at locations in 36 countries. You can check out last year's creations at the Global Game Jam 2010 site, or, should you want to join a jam session, there's a location finder there, too. We know it's not mentioned in the official rules, but we figured you should know that bringing your own vacuum sealing gear is generally frowned upon.
Icarus Studios hosting Triangle Global Game Jam
Aspiring game developers in the Triangle have an exciting opportunity coming up. January 29-31 is the annual Global Game Jam, an event for participants to "band together to design one or more video games from scratch-from concept art to scripting to animating". At the end of the event, they will have designed one or more games from start to finish. (We know, they are probably not the most polished games ever to be created, but will serve as a great learning experience.) While Global Game Jam is a worldwide event, Icarus Studios and Fallen Earth will be the hosts for the event in this particular region. The event begins at 4 p.m. January 29 and continues for 48 hours straight. Participants are invited to stay at the studios for the full 48 hours. The first Triangle Global Game Jam had over 20 developers and students participating, who created four games in the 48-hour period, so expect to be busy if you attend.
