Excellence in game design

With the Olympics over, I’m working on a chart of winter Olympic medal hauls; for now though I’d like to post a few thoughts on a whole other category of games.

I’ve basically grown up (more or less) alongside video games. Coin-op arcade games, the Atari 2600; I still have my trusty 8-bit Nintendo and the twenty-year-old games still work. (Will those cartridges with batteries ever die, I wonder?) And I could do a whole series of posts on design elements of adventure games I’ve played.

Today though, I’m going to share some recommendations which are considerably more accessible (assuming that you’re visiting this site from a modern computer, and not a vintage ’90s-era machine with a floppy disk drive). The following three games are all available for free, just a click away, through your browser. (You’ll need Adobe Flash, but as I noted the other day, that’s on nearly all computers anyway, these days.)

First up, Thule Trail. This is a brilliant game released a few years ago as a promotion for Thule, the Swedish maker of ski racks, cargo pods, etc. I think the relatively-easy game play can be fun for anyone, but for anyone familiar with the classic 1980s educational game “Oregon Trail,” it’s irresistable. A very witty send-up of that cross-country adventure; the designers achieved a perfect recreation of Apple ][ text and low-resolution graphics.

Expedition. This is a promotion for the History Channel’s “Expedition Africa” program. Thoughtfully-crafted design adds immensely to this game, particularly the clever icon designs and the dice that they appear on, which spill onto the game map each turn with a pleasing clatter.

Death in Sakkara. A masterpiece from the BBC, this one has just about everything. Great typography, from the hint-of-creepy font of the game interface to the invented newspaper clippings and handwritten journal entries. A pulp-ish, comic book illustration style which nicely complements the 1920s period adventure content. And the haunting music which, if outside the purview of graphic design criticism, is still worth noting. This is fairly big game, though well-organized through the journal interface; if you plan to play it register a username and password so you can save your progress.

While I’m on the subject of games, I may as well give a mention to Seek ‘n Spell, developed in part by designers right here in Lakewood. This one’s neither free nor a web-based game–in fact you have to actually get up and go outside to play–being instead an application for the iPhone or Droid-based mobiles. I’ll note it here anyway, though, as it has won multiple design awards and is also a ton of fun. (Perhaps by giving it a shout, the Seek ‘n Spell posse will organize some more games finally. Or as soon as temperatures rise more than a few degrees above freezing again, at least.)