Escape Artists

Escape Pod => Science Fiction Discussion => Topic started by: Scattercat on September 05, 2009, 01:08:12 PM

Title: Story, Atmosphere, and Minimalism (in Coffee Break Games)
Post by: Scattercat on September 05, 2009, 01:08:12 PM

Canabalt (http://www.kongregate.com/games/AdamAtomic/canabalt) is a flash game.  It uses only one button.  It has purposely pixelated graphics.  And yet it has some of the best atmosphere I've ever seen.  I'm fascinated by this glimpse into another world, far beyond what the simple gameplay would command.  The birds, the cranes, the crumbling buildings, the endless cityscape with its rumbling, smoke-belching transports, the running man making impossible leaps, the distant shadows of technological monstrosities raining down destruction... there's a lot going on here and I want to know more, but the game refuses to tell me.  I like that.

Mostly I wanted to share this with anyone who hadn't seen it yet, as it's an amusing little tidbit of a game.  Still, if anyone has any ideas of their own for the story behind it, I'd be all ears...


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Title: Re: Story, Atmosphere, and Minimalism (in Coffee Break Games)
Post by: Alasdair5000 on September 08, 2009, 03:31:35 PM

That's awesome.  And yeah, I like you, would like to know who the guy is, why the city's under attack and why he can't die...

Title: Re: Story, Atmosphere, and Minimalism (in Coffee Break Games)
Post by: Bdoomed on September 08, 2009, 05:52:51 PM

my GOD this is fun.

Title: Re: Story, Atmosphere, and Minimalism (in Coffee Break Games)
Post by: stePH on September 08, 2009, 09:20:08 PM

The latest PC Gamer Podcast had one of the guys mention this for his "play list".

Title: Re: Story, Atmosphere, and Minimalism (in Coffee Break Games)
Post by: Heradel on November 11, 2009, 07:43:47 PM

Boing Boing got some of the background materials for the game (http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/11/the-running-man-behi.html). There's also an iPhone version, from which no good can come.

Title: Re: Story, Atmosphere, and Minimalism (in Coffee Break Games)
Post by: Scattercat on November 12, 2009, 02:14:53 AM

That's pretty awesome.  I maintain that it is a very nifty game.  I even wrote a flitterfic for it (and got tweeted by Adam Saltsman, which roughly tripled my daily hits for Mirrorshards.)