Your good at these David, You point out the flaws, but at the same time, you dont make it sounds like 'this is a pile of crap' it actualy makes me want to play it...

I like the Referance to Myst, I loled.

Awesome, I really like this review. Are you planning on incorporating any of these concepts into Overgrowth? and which concepts are you most interested in? I know the maps of Lugaru probably wouldn't benefit from much more than simple radar implemented already. Are you planning anything more for the Overgrowth maps? ... can we get a cool instrument for Turner? I know he's a killer Ninja but even Ninja's like music ... maybe a cool wolf bone flute that's been sharpened into a deadly weapon? then he can play the deadly bloody flute ...

^_^

It was very good, and totally right, in the demo I got stuck at that part and it got me to quit playing it, and I didn't know about the R button, and I didn't know about the map markers, and I didn't know about the hotkeys. It's a very good game though and I guess these things could be fixed with a patch or two?

Very good desgn tour.

I got Aquaria for Christmas, and I'm really enjoying playing it. The game seems to have a Zelda mystique set in a metroidvania style game, which I love. I especially agree with the save point radar. I died and had to go back REALLY FAR once. So far I can't recommend the game enough, but then, I'm a sucker for aesthetics :)
Been working my way through Lugaru, too-- the Alpha Wolf mission is HARD :P

I thoroughly enjoyed this design tour, however this was an odd one because it was the first design tour that I hadn't already played through the game before watching.

I know it's an old one, but i'm curious about your thoughts on Uplink, as a purely text based game.

Looks awesome. I might get it

In my opinion, the game shouldn't guide the user to the "right" solution, but let her use the one she comes up with if it is plausible enough. I think the things you've shown should have worked. Of course, there may be technical limitations...

As for spell hotkeys... I wonder if using them breaks the game flow... Hehe, got it? - flow!

Insightful overview, as always, though you should probably mention it contains some "visual spoilers". Yeah, the game is relatively old, but you should take notice that there should be many people who started on it just now, as the price dropped.

But still, the surprise works once, and a good lesson stays forever.

How about taking on The Graveyard?

i found a slightly similar game once that i think you guys might be interested in reviewing, its called Starscape, check it out here: http://www.moonpod.com/English/about_ss.php

Wow, the game's graphics look really polished. The off-the-grid level editor approach is also very inspiring.

David, I'd like to make a suggestion for one of your next design tours, not for one game, but for 3 games, by Matteo Guarnieri's Rag Doll Software. They use ball and rag doll physics and combine them in fun and challenging ways: http://www.ragdollsoft.com/ You might say that they are merely concepts/studies, but I think as a whole they are worth a design tour. Each is a different approach to using advanced 2D physics in a game: One is a fighter, one is a low-gravity-sports game and one is a platform jumper. The first two are especially fun and challenging when played multiplayer with friends.

Nice! Although, this design tour didn't feel as in-depth as some of the previous ones... :-p

Also, I'd second the Uplink design tour request. That game was awesome. I almost forgot about it. I'm gonna go play it now :-D

the controls werent an issue for me, I quickly discovered all of naija's abilities because I was using a gamepad.

great design tour though, I cant wait for more to come :D

Again, nice work David!

Howdy I love your design walk throughs. You give alot to think about and I appreciate that.

neat tour this is the first i haven't played tough be fore you guys did it.
i think i am going to go get the demo thanks David. didn't know how cool this was looking till' now.
uplink? hmmm... i have to check this out. thanks cap'n lee and tdg.

Hey, that was a great review. It's nice how you point out the flaws without putting any anger or signs of annoyance into it.

Anyway, as for a review suggestion, check out Iji, it's an indie 2D platformer with multiple endings based on player actions (such as how many people you kill, etc...). It's not terribly long, but I'm sure you would enjoy it and you may learn a thing or two.

Here's the link:
http://www.remar.se/daniel/iji.php

Don't know if you'd want to review a game that's still pretty much in active beta, but Spelunky by Derek Yu is a ton of fun, and a very interesting game design wise. A nice mix between a rouglelike, and a platformer.

http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=4017.0

I'm not sure if it's worth a design tour but Noitu Love 2 is an amazing retro-styled brawler with great controls. Demo and purchase available at http://www.konjak.org/

I liked this, thank you.

I second Jo-shadow's request for the ragdollsoft.com games.

Strangely enough I stumbled across the Wolfire blog when I was debating wither I should buy World of Goo or Aquaria. After downloading the Aquaria demo I ended up getting WOG because it didn't capture me quite the same, but I recently revised the Aquaria demo and just kind of lost myself in it. It reminds me of Diablo, and I think it's because the simple click based almost mouse only feel of the movement. Watching the unexplained game elements really makes me far more interested in buying it now.

I love these reviews and this blog, keep up the good work!

I know that probably a lot of people have asked this before and it seems like an indie cliché to even mention it, but why not a Cave Story design tour?

This was a great review
convinced me to buy it ^^
I second that you should do either a ragdollsoft game or Cave Story next
and in the future, look into doing Feist
^^

Like the tour! Keep them coming...

I liked the tour. And your voice... :D

if i got it in free i will like to play more

A rougelike platformer? I'll have to check that out.

I haven't played many indie games, I wish I had, but a bunch of random ones come to mind-

Mondo Medicals/Agency (a creepy and confusing first person puzzler, the second of which contains some FPS elements)

Cortex Command (a brilliant physics based platformer/shooter/strategy game with a huge modding community. It's not complete yet, but it's still amazingly fun.)

The Chzo Mythos Series (5 Days a stranger, 7 Days a skeptic, Trilby's notes and 6 Days a sacrifice. Ignore the numerical order, that is the order they should be played in.)

Just remembered, all of those are free. And the Chzo Mythos series is mainly point and click with the exception of Trilby's notes, which is a text based adventure game.

I should just read what I type before I type it, right?

Cortex Command isn't free. Silly me.

I totally love your Design Tours! Especially because until now I've played/known all the games you reviewed =D Keep up the good work, and as a lot of people say: try reviewing Cave Story, it's a Great game!
Thumbs up!

Actually the initial reviews were right about some criticism of Aquaria. Map markers and an improved map in general are additions in the very latest version of Aquaria. Of course this goes to show that the creators use feedback in a positive way but hey, the reviews evaluated how things were at the time of their writing. =)

In general I agree with the analysis though and although I find Aquaria awesome by indie game standards and have liked it a lot, your criticism about a "lack of guidance" is very true... In fact even I got bored by the game after a while because of the constant lack of knowledge where I should go next - I simply don't enjoy aimless exploration that much and while it worked for Knytt and Knytt Stories it doesn't quite work for Aquaria in my case. However, I returned to the game after a long, long pause and finished it in this "second batch of gameplay", so to speak.

I agree with the above post, I got bored of this game because I don't like pointless exploration (where you can run around in circles not knowing what the hell to do), there didn't feel like there was any need to explore anyway it seemed too tranquil and relaxed. Basically you are tossed into an ocean and told to explore to find the mysteries, while this is good it soon become boring as you end up not knowing where to go and requires a lot more time looking for the next thing.

Also the vid is spot on, I gave up for a while because I didn't realize that I needed to play that song at the gate.

Cortex Command

Uplink

DROD - the city beneath

Finally overcome my aversion against leaving you web adress somewhere !(because it came to my mind that I did that years ago by joining the forums lol).
I recommend the Freeware Game TAGAP www.tagap.net for the next walkthrough David. Good and gory game.

I have been working on my review of Aquaria for neocritic.com, and I found your review very informative. I am only about 5 hours in so far and I had no idea about the hotkeys or the whirlpool. Thanks for the review, I will cite you in my review as having shown me this.

Okay, just a request that probably won't end up getting through, but what the heck... I'll give it a shot.

I'd really like to see a Design Tour of Daniel Remar's "iji"... It's a freeware action/adventure indie game that deserves a good tour. It's not perfect, but it's complete and it's a lot of fun.

Anyway, that's my opinion but hopefully others agree with it and better still, maybe we'll see a design tour of it.

Oh, and I forgot to include a link... the game can be found here:

www.remar.se/daniel/games.php

All these tours are great, introducing me to at least two great games I'd never heard of before. (this and Knytt Stories)

A game you might be interested in reviewing is one in the same vein as Knytt stories: N. Or N+, for Xbox Live Arcade, DS, and PSP. It began life as a free flash game that's still available online: a simple, momentum-based platformer involving a weaponless character, but stripped down to the most basic elements. Unlike Knytt stories, the game is divided into small, single-screen levels, but even the free game includes hundreds, as well as a decent level editor. Most of those levels provide the same "complete challenge" as Knytt stories, though distilled to the point where the only button other than jump is suicide. The graphics mirror the gameplay in complexity, so there's probably not much to say about them, and the game lacks any story whatsoever, but it's surely worth a look, if not a video.

I know it may not be original, but you should do a design tour for Cave Story. I'd be really interested to hear what you have to say about it.

You've helped them sell another copy. The game is truly amazing, but I'd forgotten all about it until now.

Please keep making these design tour videos. They are excellent.

I would love to see you review Cortex Command, great game that, unfinished though it may be.

Maybe consider reviewing it when it has more content.

Regarding design tour suggestions:

I think cave story is mostly covered by what was said in knytt stories :)

How about Lugaru?