Indie Games – PlayBrassMonkey.com https://playbrassmonkey.com Tech so cool it could freeze the... Sun, 06 Aug 2023 02:19:25 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Outer Wilds https://playbrassmonkey.com/wiki/outer-wilds/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=outer-wilds Fri, 04 Aug 2023 23:28:50 +0000 https://playbrassmonkey.com/?post_type=yada_wiki&p=556

Infobox

  • Developer: Mobius Digital
  • Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
  • Engine: Unity
  • Platforms: Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
  • Release: Windows, Xbox One – May 28, 2019; PlayStation 4 – October 15, 2019; PS5, Xbox Series X/S – September 15, 2022
  • Genre: Action-adventure
  • Mode: Single-player

Introduction

“Outer Wilds” is a 2019 action-adventure game developed by Mobius Digital and published by Annapurna Interactive. The game features the player character exploring a solar system stuck in a 22-minute time loop that ends with the star going supernova. The player progresses through Outer Wilds by exploring the solar system and learning clues to the cause of the time loop. Outer Wilds received critical acclaim and several Game of the Year awards, including at the 16th British Academy Games Awards. The game received an expansion, Echoes of the Eye, in 2021.

Gameplay

The central premise of the game is exploration, with the player compelled to uncover the remains of the Nomai civilization to find the cause of the time loop and complete the game. All areas of the game are technically immediately accessible to the player upon acquiring the ship launch codes, however many areas are protected by logic puzzles which can often only be solved through learning more of the Nomai and speaking to fellow space explorers. The player character has health, fuel, and oxygen meters, which are replenished when the character returns to the ship or by finding trees or refills. The player has several tools, including a camera probe which can be launched long distances and a signalscope for locating broadcast signals. There are no equipment upgrades during the game.

Plot

The player takes the role of an unnamed space explorer preparing for their first solo flight. After being involuntarily paired with a statue on their home planet made by the Nomai, an ancient and mysterious race that had once colonized the system, the player discovers they are trapped in a time loop. Every loop resets when the sun goes supernova after 22 minutes, or when the player-character otherwise dies.

Development

“Outer Wilds” was developed by Mobius Digital and published by Annapurna Interactive. The game was built using the Unity engine.

Reception

The game was highly praised for its unique gameplay mechanics and compelling narrative. It won several awards, including the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.

References

]]> Return of the Obra Dinn https://playbrassmonkey.com/wiki/return-of-the-obra-dinn/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=return-of-the-obra-dinn Fri, 04 Aug 2023 11:46:45 +0000 https://playbrassmonkey.com/?post_type=yada_wiki&p=526 Return of the Obra Dinn

Infobox

  • Publisher: 3909 LLC
  • Designer: Lucas Pope
  • Engine: Unity
  • Platforms: macOS, Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
  • Release: macOS, Windows – October 18, 2018; Switch, PS4, Xbox One – October 18, 2019
  • Genre: Adventure, Puzzle
  • Mode: Single-player

Introduction

“Return of the Obra Dinn” is a 2018 adventure and puzzle video game created by Lucas Pope and published by 3909 LLC. It was Pope’s second commercial game, following 2013’s “Papers, Please”, and was first released for macOS and Windows before being ported to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One a year later. “Return of the Obra Dinn” was praised for its gameplay, art style, and narrative; it won several awards including the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.

Gameplay

The game is set in 1807 with the player assuming the role of an insurance inspector for the East India Company. The Obra Dinn, a merchant ship missing for five years, has reappeared off the coast of England with no one alive aboard. The player is dispatched to the ghost ship to perform an appraisal, reconstruct the events of the voyage, and determine the fates of all sixty souls aboard, providing a cause of death for those deceased or a probable current location for those presumed living. Investigation is accomplished through the use of the “Memento Mortem”, a pocket watch capable of transporting its user to the moment of death of any corpse located. The game, played in first-person perspective, uses a “1-bit” monochromatic graphical style inspired by games on early Macintosh computers.

Plot

The Obra Dinn, an East Indiaman trade ship, departs from Falmouth to the Orient in 1802 with 51 crewmen and 9 passengers. The ship fails to meet her rendezvous at the Cape of Good Hope, and is declared lost. Five years later, the Obra Dinn reappears off the coast of England with every hand either dead or missing. The East India Company sends its Chief Inspector to determine what happened aboard the ship. The inspector receives a logbook and the Memento Mortem stopwatch from Henry Evans, the ship’s surgeon. The stopwatch, when used on a corpse, enables the user to experience and walk around the exact moment of the corpse’s death, frozen in time. With this and the logbook, the inspector sets out to unravel the fate of all 60 aboard.

Development

“Return of the Obra Dinn” was developed by Lucas Pope, known for his previous game “Papers, Please”. The game was built using the Unity engine and features a unique “1-bit” monochromatic graphical style, inspired by early Macintosh games.

Reception

The game was highly praised for its unique gameplay mechanics, art style, and compelling narrative. It won several awards, including the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.

References

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