The idea that publishers and platform-holders determine the games the vast majority of people are aware of through marketing, promotion, and their ensuing hype is appealing to a critic of consumerism such as myself. What appears to be freedom of choice is actually a heavily curated set of options presented by million and billion dollar corporations; our choice is largely an illusion. But at the back of my mind, I worry that this may be overly simplistic and the argument that quality games will be found by an audience seems compelling. And then I find a game like Circadian Dice, which reinforces the initial premise – an awesome, smartly designed game that never found the large audience it deserves.
This is the first post in a series on unpopular indies and will be driven by the pursuit of discovering more Circadian Dices – more games that should be much bigger than they are. Perhaps it will be a fruitless endeavor, maybe we will discover almost all worthwhile games are surfaced and I managed to find a needle in a hay stack, or we will learn production values are tied to game quality so intrinsically that it’s almost impossible for a small, niche game to be amazing when it looks bad and controls terribly. Whatever the conclusion, I get to play more small games and improve my hipster cred, which is the entire reason this site exists.
The first three games I’ll be discussing are all good to great. I do not expect this to be the trend, though I haven’t yet decided how to write about games that are not to my liking. It’s fun to attack big budget titles by cynical corporations, and, more importantly, it makes me feel tough and powerful, but deliberately writing about little known games and then shitting on them seems mean. You could argue that anyone who creates something needs to be able to deal with criticism, but then why do I cry any time someone doesn’t like videolamer? The point being we should all be nicer to me.
Circadian Dice
This game has amateurish art, reminiscent of Slay the Spire. Yet another mechanic heavy, turn based game, it reminds me of Dicey Dungeons. There are different mechanics to play with depending on which of the many different classes you choose, ala Monster Train. Despite these similarities to bigger, better selling games, Circadian Dice feels unique and is hugely entertaining. Gameplay consists of rolling dice you have some control over – the faces can be swapped, upgraded, etc. to change the potential outcomes of rolls. You cast dice against waves of enemies, each with their own moves, abilities, and behaviors. Really, if you have any fondness for this sort of game or the ones name dropped above, I would recommend Circadian Dice. Unfortunately, it is PC only because the developer is small and weak. The good news is they are working (slowly) on their next game – is another great game in the dice?
Dark Scavenger
Years ago this game, originally released in 2012, would constantly show up in my Steam recommendations, or queue or whatever system they were using at the time. It’s technically a turn based RPG, but it leans heavily on entertaining writing. It’s a zany game that actually works. Battles are amusing but can also be unpredictable, with items and weapons not always doing what you expect so people going into the game desiring some frictive, crunchy numbers may be disappointed. Graphics are overall mediocre but some of the enemies and main character art is pretty nice. Dark Scavenger has a sort of similarish vibe – offbeat role playing and dark sense of humor – as Lisa: The Painful RPG, which is unfortunately too amazingly popular for me to write about in this column. Unfortunately, the developers’ next game, Mike Dies, did not seem to capture any of the spirit of Dark Scavenger. Who knows, maybe I will play it and write it up eventually as it’s significantly less popular than Scavenger.
Bastard Bonds
Likely the first overtly deliberate homoerotic game I have played since any of the N64 WWF titles, this is a turn based tactical RPG that, like Dark Scavenger, is a little more popular than I would like for entries in this new series of posts on unpopular games. There is an interesting risk/reward system in Bastard Bonds that allows you to effectively pass a turn to charge up an attack, making you more vulnerable but also capable of inflicting significantly more damage to an enemy. Bonds is replete with cryptic mechanics I never fully understood. You could conquer areas of maps, set up bases, re-explore old areas, find many companions that join or not depending on conditions… it all felt like a game from an older era, something that had a lot of nooks and crannies and wasn’t focus tested to death. Sometimes it’s fun to be a little lost in a game, encountering either new or well disguised mechanics (that may turn out to be simple once understood), and playing something that subtly defies expectations largely by being mysterious. Also the dudes in it are really beefy and rarely wear shirts.
The next entry in this column will be more properly focused on unknown games, with the caveat some people will know the games. But not as many as the three I just covered. The games in the next post will also undoubtedly be worse as the three above are what inspired the series in the first place, as opposed to the many less interesting indie games I’ve played. That clears things up nicely.