2006 RPG Game of the Year by Game Tunnel

Independent Games and Casual Games Reviews

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2006 RPG Game of the Year

Role-playing games seem to be the most commonly started independent games project. However, for being so commonly started, in the past, they have been rarely completed.

This year, however, we saw many RPG games come to Game Tunnel and were impressed with most all of them. It was a hard category to pick a winner from, but an easy category for everyone to enjoy.

5th Place - Empires & Dungeons

Developer: Niels Bauer Software Design		Players: 1
Website	Download		Purchase
System Requirements: Windows 98/Me/2000/XP

When you break down any game to its core game play rules, its underlying mechanics, what you end up with is a surprisingly simple skeleton. What's actually going on in a first person shooter? Aren't you just lining up a mouse cursor on a moving image? What does it mean to have different weapons and ammo? Isn't this just managing a restricted number of items and working out which one can be used most efficiently with each target. What, exactly, is the difference between Id's 1992 hit Wolfenstien and Monolith's 2005 game Fear. Why do we bother paying $150 for a graphics card!!

There is a genre of gaming that eschews realism and 3D graphics and attempts to make a game based solely on core rules. Such games feature lots of menu screens, stats, buttons and simple 2d artwork, either in the form of static portraits that help set the scene or simple maps and icons. They actually require the player to use his imagination. When done badly, which is sadly all too often, they are unappealing and complex, more like spreadsheets than games. When done well they can offer a fun, abstract experience similar in many ways to good board games. Thankfully, Empires & Dungeons falls into the latter category.

Empires & Dungeons is as much strategy as it is RPG. Players rule their kingdom, building an army and tracking resources. While running their kingdom players also point and click their way around the kingdom, wandering through dungeons and carefully leveling up so that they can overcome the enemy. Simple, addictive and fun.

4th Place - Avernum 4

Developer: Spiderweb Software		Players: 1
Website
System Requirements: Windows 98+, 30MB RAM -OR- MAC OSX

Avernum 4 takes players back underground with the same stand-out story writing and in-depth game experience that have become the hallmark of Spiderweb Software.

Avernum 4 plays a little different than previous Avernum titles, while still turn-based, the combat and game play feel a little closer to real-time than to turn-based.

Perhaps the most interesting part of Avernum is the world that was created for this series. Avernum is entirely inhabited by creatures and races that you won't find in any other company's RPG. Spiderweb has carefully created all its races from scratch instead of reusing the same races that Tolkien created and Dungeons and Dragons made the staple of every role-playing fantasy adventure over the last 30+ years. Avernum is a world unto itself that provides a tremendous experience that seemingly contains nearly endless side-quests and adventures. It is more than enough to keep gamers playing, and enjoying every minute of it, for many hours.

The writing is a hallmark of Spiderweb Software, and this game's plot does not disappoint. Players will become deeply attached to their party and other characters in the game as they trek across the underground world.

As before with Spiderweb Software's RPGs, existing fans will find yet another compelling game, while new players might be put off by the graphics. For those who get over the graphics and actually play the game, the enchanting world of Avernum will quickly become endeared to their hearts.

3rd Place - Minions of Mirth

Developer: Prairie Games		Players: MMORPG
Website
System Requirements: Windows XP, 800mhz, 256mb RAM, 64mb Video Card -OR- Macintosh OSX (10.4+), G4/G5/Intel Processor, 256 MB RAM, 64mb Video Card

Minions of Mirth With all the MMO's out there boasting this feature and that, it becomes quite difficult to distinguish which MMORPG is worth your time, and especially your money. Prairie Games, however, has designed a fully functional, affordable alternative to a lot of the other MMO games out there. There's only one major download client, and there's no worries about having to re-download two dozen other add-ons from the website to get the game up and running. Oh, and you don't have to pay a monthly fee. Once you've paid for the game you are free to play to your heart's delight.

Minions of Mirth manages to capture the essence of what makes a good online game, and this acts as a catalyst to turn the entire game into something more than the sum of its parts.

The mod-ability of MOM means that players have incentive to go out and create things for the game. The player-created content that makes it into the primary server gives a strong sense that an individual player can help shape the world. This makes them act more responsibly in protecting what they have invested time in.

At the same time, an opinion from the players means something to the developers. This has created quite a bit of brainstorming amongst players and goodwill between them and the development staff.

The end result of all this is that the community draws people into the game. It's one thing to log into Everquest and see thousands of people, none of whom are the least bit interested in talking to you. It is another thing altogether to log into the Prairie Server and see a dozen friendly faces who will literally fight over who gets to answer your questions on how to start. If you like medieval MMORPGs, and want something different that has depth, ease-of-use, and lots of playability, Minions of Mirth is a game to check out.

2nd Place - Aveyond

Developer: Amaranth Games		Players: 1
Website	Download		Purchase
System Requirements: Windows 98+ (Except Windows 2000); Pentium II; 256 MB RAM; DirectX 8.0+

Aveyond is the latest release from Amaranth Games, and it's a clear homage to the days of old school SNES, sprite-based RPG goodness. For many, this is the format that the RPG flourishes in. Role-playing games are not to be defined by their graphics and their bells and whistles, but by the strength of their storyline, their battle and magic mechanics, and their sidequests. Those are the essential elements of any RPG and the rest is really just window dressing.

Aveyond is fun to play. The game is irreverent and the quests are cute. There's no heavy soul-crushing storyline filled with the weeping of children and the death of your childhood lover. The game looks exactly as it should as a throwback title and has a wonderful soundtrack (this isn't MIDI crap, people, this is orchestral).

With an $20 price tag and over 50 hours of gameplay on the table, Aveyond should look pretty good to an RPG fan. The Amaranth site even offers what, perhaps, was an RPG first. Freely available on the site are saved games that give the player boosted stats and weapons. Want to start with great equipment, lots of gold and at level 30? Download and go! Just want the gold? Download and go! Awesome.

2006 RPG Game of the Year - FastCrawl

Developer: Pawleyscape		Players: 1
Website	Download		Purchase
System Requirements: Windows 95/98/2000/ME/NT/XP, 128 Mb RAM

FastCrawl is a dungeon-crawler that is fast. It's really that simple. As the gamer, you select from four difficulty levels and from three length distinctions (short, medium, long). This determines both how long the game will last, and, of course, how difficult it will be. Short games are estimated to take about 30 minutes. Long ones clock in at around an hour.

Once an adventure has begun, the gamer is met by a brief story splash screen. Each “story” is basically a scenario outline with spots for variables. The varying items will be what the quest of the adventurers is, where it is taking place and what the enemy involved will be. The adventuring party is chosen randomly (both in terms of character classes and number of party members) and everyone starts out with the same equipment set. From there, it's all point and click.

Everything in the game is accomplished with the mouse, making it supremely easy to play, especially compared with most full-featured RPG titles, which tend to have keyboards chock full of quick-keys. The gamer simply clicks on an adjacent segment of dungeon to move into and the party moves to it. Once there, the map will reveal adjacent items. Click to open doors, right click to open locks. Double-click to equip items, double-click to de-equip. Very, very easy. The only real complication to navigating the dungeons is the “time-limit”. The party has finite supplies (which can be replenished through treasure discoveries) and each movement through the dungeon reduces the number of total supplies by one. Resting to heal up the party can eat up a much larger number, typically in the range of 10 to 15 supplies. This element doesn't affect how easy the game is to play, though. Everything still plays just as easily as before.

After each level of a dungeon is passed, the party levels up. This means that the gamer can pick what direction they want their party members to expand towards. Warriors can focus on attack, defense, or some first aid work. Mages can change the spell-type they cast, improve their efficacy with wands or simply be a little more all-seeing. Rogues can improve their pathfinding skills, or their lock-picking or their attack and defense. Clerics can choose to improve their heal abilities, change to damaging magic or focus on combat. This allows for a little user customization of their party experience.

Everything in the game is random. The dungeon creation is random, the items awarded are random and even the way the items are generated is random. There are a number of weapon and armor attributes that are cobbled together to form items. This can lead to some pretty useless items as well as some totally awesome ones. It can also lead to some comedy, such as in the case of the "Frosty Sword of Frost."

Random adventures means that the game is always fresh. However, random adventures mean that the game is by and large devoid of depth. Now, with a name like FastCrawl, a gamer shouldn't be hunting for depth, but its important to note that for RPG fans. FastCrawl is more like an arcade-RPG, to be played for the distraction and to snag the highest score.

FastCrawl quite reminiscent of NetHack and feels like a much matured NetHack. Though sometimes it isn't quite perfect, the quick adventures of random arrangement make for a perfect combination of adventuring and role-playing that kept us playing for many, many hours hours. Perhaps the one big paradox of the game is that despite its quick games, we didn't play it any fewer hours than the longer RPGs we tried out this year. In fact, many of us here played it more.