In an attempt to increase the amount of content here, I figured a “What I’ve Been Playing” segment would be some nice filler.  But beyond that, it might be a bit informative as to what has been influencing me as a developer.

Lock’s Quest

I’ve been working through Lock’s Quest in short bursts for a while now.  I’ve played quite a few tower defense games over time, and was admittedly getting tired of them, but gave Lock’s Quest a chance anyway.  I was not disappointed.  The additions and changes are more than enough to make it feel like a completely different game type all its own.  And even better, it works great as a portable game, since its even divided into discrete chunks of time of 2-4 minutes which makes it perfect to pick up every now and then for a quick couple rounds.  The art is beautiful, and I absolutely love the constant animation of the sprites.

Borderlands

I picked up Borderlands when I noticed the PC version dropped to twenty bucks on Amazon briefly.  I convinced a friend of mine to do the same, given the condition we’d play nothing but co-op.  I had heard it was definitely designed to be played that way, and I was not misled.  When you’ve got 1-3 friends you can hop on with, it’s definitely some fun.

New Super Mario Bros. wii

I had been looking forward to this game for a good while now.  I was a bit suspicious at first when they first revealed the game and showed off the focus on multiplayer gaming, but my faith in Nintendo and the promise of an updated experience to New Super Mario Bros. for DS did not let me down.  The game is fantastic, whether alone or with friends.  And it’s not “easy” either.  I got through all eight worlds and bested Bowser rather quickly, but I’m still tackling the challenge of 100% completion by hopping on every now and then and tackling a single level until I’ve got the three coins and the secret exit if it has one.  Eventually, I’ll have it all!

Muramasa: The Demon Blade

What can I say, other than this game is absolutely beautiful.  The game mechanics are fairly interesting, and the play is pretty fun.  I’ve been working through on hard mode and enjoying it quite a bit.  But in all honesty, the main reason I wanted to play through Muramasa was to experience the art.  Given my current plans for art style of RunawayTank! and Scale, Muramasa is a great inspiration for what I hope to accomplish.  I’ve gleaned quite a few ideas for art assets, techniques and special effects that I think will look fantastic in my own games.

In all, I’d say this past week has been an interesting combination of just plain fun, and research.  Lock’s Quest is a nice quick diversion, whereas Mario Bros. and Muramasa are both entertaining and inspirational.