This pleases me. I fit into this demographic. I haven't found many games which satisfy it though. Even including Cliff's own GSB, which for me takes time to remind myself how to use my ships effectively. Roguelikes seem to fit this nicely, and random generation usually comes hand in hand with short but interesting games. So please suggest anything which you think fits this. Here are some suggestions from me:Cliffski wrote:THE BITE SIZED HARDCORE MANIFESTO.
What we demand is…
1) No pandering to casual gaming stereotypes. No gratuitous kittens or ‘cute’ cuddly characters.
2) No time wasting. No splash screens, intros, or FMV. We have 30 minutes tonight for gaming. Ensure all 30 minutes have us interacting with the game.
3) No Grind. We have day jobs. leave the grind to the kids in the F2P MMOs where it belongs. Give me decent, varying content, without filler. And don’t reward grind either, with bonus achievements for time played, or 1,000 low level rats clubbed.
4) No nickel+diming. We have proper jobs and disposable income. If the game is good, we will buy outright. Don’t keep breakign immersion to try and sell us $0.05 worth of magic pixie dust.
5) No oversimplification. We can cope with 2 mouse buttons, maybe even 3, and a wheel. We can cope with right clicking, tech trees, customisable units and mods.
6) No mandatory training levels or tutorials that cover the obvious. This is my 245th first person shooter. I can guess that WSAD moves, the mouse looks, and the mouse shoots. At the very least, let me skip tutorial stuff I don’t need.
7) Don’t patronize us. We shouldn’t get an achievement for hitting the jump key, or told we are awesome soldiers for hitting a tin can. Leave that crap for kids in kindergarten.
8 ) Be original. We have gamed before. We have fought in many a crate-strewn corridoor, and killed many a rat and returned their hides to someone who is too lazy to do it themselves. We have heard many tales of lost kingdoms and evil wizards. Surprise us. Please.
Minecraft - Obviously, the king of hop-in-and-out, even when you don't want to hop out.
Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space - Not as infinite as it says, but the spacefaring light RPG can be played in half an hour even on large maps, and the randomisation of equipment and maps makes it very replayable.
Dungeons of Dredmor - Polished Roguelike which can be save-quit and picked up again in no time. A little bit repetitive for me, possibly because I've never got past the second level.
Gratuitous Space Battles - A bit too unintuitive to be a true Bitesized Hardcore, but a handy little game nevertheless which can be played in short time.
Orcs Must Die! - Something from the more polished end of things, and a single game might be a bit too long to be included, but it does toss you right into the action with very little between you and the game.
Plants Vs Zombies - If the campaign games take a bit too long for you, you can save-quit them pretty quickly. If you don't fancy that you can always try one of the quicker puzzle modes.
Super Meat Boy - Play-die-play-die-play-die action platformer. You're never far from being able to get up and walk away because you're never far from death.
Terraria - Persistent world building/adventure game, easy to jump in and out of.
The Binding of Isaac - Like a cross between Super Meat Boy and Smash TV. Random, single screen levels, which you can put down because you'll never survive that long.
