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Talkin' 'Bout tiny Games

Hey all! This month's thing is here and it's... weird!

Basically I've been itching to talk about a lot of small, unknown, or simply overlooked games for a while now (you may have seen me complain about the lack of a Videogame Schlock Discourse on Twitter or seen some of my streams where I focus on z-grade titles).

Well, here's a 10 minute long look at why it's hard to get coverage for those sorts of titles. None of it is particularly revelatory, but combining footage of games that have been widely overlooked with the reasons it's hard to talk about them is hopefully at least somewhat compelling.

Going into next month I want to try and find a format that works for me covering them.  High-minded thematic analysis isn't really gonna cut it - breaking down the how's and why's of a game next to no one has played has proven difficult to do.  Instead, I think maybe a more positive, emotional, and enthusiastic approach might suffice? Still, this isn't a pivot or move away from the more thinky stuff - think of it as searching for a sister show to what's already there.  There's more than enough games out there to shout the praises of the unknown while breaking down and analyzing the more popular stuff!

-Chris

Talkin' 'Bout tiny Games

Comments

Loved this video! Excellent points, and I would love to see more videos pointing out great or interesting smaller games to try out.

Stephan Packard

Interesting video. I couldn't help but think of my own attitude to choosing new games in recent years that wasn't covered by your video. Hopefully it helps... I have got to a point that I can tell from screenshots or a few seconds of gameplay (there is no shortage) whether I'll like a game or not. The thumbs up and down score is irrelevant to me. Also the price of these things is so low now, even if it is bad, I don't care. That page you mentioned that plays 6 second clips of games sounds perfect for me! Lastly, I liked "Everything" too, I didn't actually buy it, I played it at a convention after seeing a clip online and wow, that mans voice. I liked it so much I bought some audiobooks of Alan Watts. That indie game has become extremely valuable to me and I expect many others. A game that inspires reading and learning, that is rare.

Bester

I love weird games, so please know that I am still interested in watching all your smaller games videos :) I might suggest a possible way to share recommendations with better metrics is to try to do some grouping by theme or by type, or even by “if you liked x you might like y” with x being a more well known title. People sure love lists so maybe something like “top 5 indie games of May 2019” or something? No matter how you go about it, you have my Patreon support, I always appreciate your sharing of titles I haven’t heard of elsewhere.

Tsushi

This is exactly what i’ve been struggling wish lately! The more I have gotten into playing smaller, scrappier games on itch.io the more i’ve realised there is a dearth of criticism and coverage for these titles, making discoverability one of largest barriers to entry to these games. Super Bunnyhop did a series of videos titled ‘games from my inbox’ which really highlighted how so many small games sink without so much as a ripple in the (very consolidated) gaming press. Thanks for recommendations at the end of this video, small curators and hobbyist lists that signal boost interesting titles are really what i’m thirsty for. There’s just not much out there (that i have found yet) Looking forward to whatever you do covering the good the bad and the janky world of ‘tiny’ games.

Whoo! Any talking about tiny games is going to be loved by me. "High-minded thematic analysis isn't really gonna cut it - breaking down the how's and why's of a game next to no one has played has proven difficult to do. " Tis fair if you find difficult, and no need to continue with that approach if you don't feel like it. I will note that at least from my perspective, I've found your analysis and dissection of obscure and often tiny indie games (including ones I haven't played) to be quite enjoyable, enlightening, and valuable, provided you provide a synopsis about the games before you nerd out about them.

Corbett

One other model I would recommend is Mark Brown's (aka Game Maker's Toolkit) monthly Playlist video, which is literally just him spending ~10 minutes rounding up what games he played during the month and, in a few sentences, what he thought of them. It seems like a relatively lightweight way to signal boost (or not) games that won't necessarily earn a full blown essay from you.

Marty Crenlon


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