Edmund McMillen & Indie Games Fest

Got a twofer for ya on this one.

The indie games website has posted their favorites from 2008 along with the more discerning (and wonderfully shorter) list of indie games from the IGF. They all have some really cool stuff but in particular I was glad to see The Graveyard is catching eyes. Like I said in that other write-up on the game, I get why people aren't into it. But the potential behind people devoting time and energy into making a single interactive vignette or "painting" as the IGF called it really interests me.

And hey, speaking of Indie, one of the nominees (Coil) was made with the help of Edmund McMillen, who has released a collection of the past ten years of his work. It was a bit odd doing a write-up on this one since there were technically a dozen or so games on the disc. Some are too difficult to be considered fair by my standards while others are well worth the ten bucks alone. Meat Boy in particular is a good bit of fun. Instead, what interested me was what his art style consistently brought to each game and how that played out by adding a sort of gross-tenderness. It was something that played significantly in Braid and I don't think his designs for that game should go unappreciated. I decided to not post a score with this one since I wasn't really pitching the games themselves but the person and his work.

It's so rare to get to chat about an individual in this medium, I couldn't resist.