PEGBRJE: Choice Chamber and 10 in 1 game-a-week bundle!
There’s a lotta games oh no
Choice Chamber is a uniquely ‘co-operative’ 2D action adventure game made by studio bean, the one-man army that created Soundodger (included earlier) and many other titles. This time around, however, we’re getting a game with a different focus; a game made exclusively for the absolute insanity that is the hivemind of Twitch Chat. Strap in, things are going to get weird.
Choice Chamber plays very similarly to a roguelike adventure where each room needs to be beaten in order to gain the loot of the next room, and death causes everything to be lost. The combat is relatively simple, with the ability to hack at the enemies in front while jumping to avoid spike traps, get over platforms, and generally traverse each chamber. Those reward chambers are randomized to allow for each run to feel fresh and new, but they aren’t randomized by the engine; no, we let the infamous Twitch Chat do that.
Little backstory, this game was funded back in 2014 by Twitch as a way of showcasing the ways that viewers could be integrated in to a viewing experience with the content creator. Twitch was still coming off of the high that inspired this content-centric focus thanks to the great Twitch Plays Pokemon event, so titles that helped to expand on this functionality was seen as the best possible way of continuing this new design idea.
While the player is stuck in a chamber, the side bar has multiple choice options for Twitch Chat to argue over, silently choose, and/or emote to for fun. After a set amount of time, the winner’s effect goes in to place, and becomes law. The first choice seems limited to simple stuff such as the weapon the player starts with, but just as quickly begins to devolve in ways alter the laws of the game and start to create the exact kind of chaos Twitch hoped to encapsulate. The first indicator of this? The first jump upgrade, for there is a chance to get the ‘Pogo’, which doesn’t let the player stop jumping. From here Chat will decide at least a few effects per Chamber, from how the rooms should be sized, what enemies can appear, what kind of floor will exist and even randomized choices that seem to make absolutely no sense in the context of the game itself. One run can involve as fast swinging sword with icy floors and flames, while the other can be my doomed run of the hammer Pogo with spikes and cramped spaces. Everything and anything can be changed, for there is no way to properly gauge the upcoming difficulty, for we have no control of anything; that’s in the hands of the fickle masses.
Now there is a way to play this offline, and I can guarantee with 100% certainty that it feels almost identical thanks to the tie mechanic; if two answers are tied by the end, it randomizes between them. Well, if nobody picks anything, then it picks a random answer from the entire pack. This does remove the possibility of the pure malicious/troll runs, for there isn’t anyone trying to make me suffer as much as possible — even if the RNG sometimes acts like it — but it does still give the same feeling of being at the whim of another outside of the engine. Without that feeling, the game feels incomplete for it was designed with that intentional chaos in mind and thrives within its space. There’s even co-operative somehow!
Choice Chamber is a title reflective of the explosion that was community-driven design through interaction, where players would be able to alter nearly everything and anything in order to feel like they were part of the game as well. This design structure lead to dozens of titles down the road and features implemented in to other titles to accommodate the zanny outcomes that can occur. On its own, Choice Chamber will offer a fun co-op experience for those looking for some light-hearted randomized fun. Plug it in to twitch with a few viewers, however, and you’ve got a complete fiesta of nonsense awaiting you. Good luck out there!
10 in 1 game-a-week bundle! is a collection of prototypes, concepts, unfinished works, and small games made by Andrew Karalis, an indie developer based out of Australia. This is an anthology of all of their works that were created within a week (not collectively, that would be insane) and all utilizing Unity. As I’ve done in the past, the way this will be documented is in a short blurb for each to highlight what they are and what makes them intriguing. Onward!
DRIFTING Through Time — a racing game in which the only thing players compete against is the time, which is 10 seconds. That sounds weirdly impossible, but fret not as every time the car drifts the time stops completely. It forces creative solutions drifting shenanigans as players try their best to drift as much as possible while still making it over the finish line.
Dog Ownership Simulator: Players now own a cubeular dog which only wishes to be played with. Drag and spin to play, but be wary of random doggy accidents and be sure to clean them up.
Chilling Bayside: An entire game about physics and enjoying the summer sun, players will simply click around and push the three floaters around to their hearts content. Reminded me of bath time, just lazily pushing rubber ducks across the tub.
Paint the Town Red: Created for a friend, this involves painting the entire backdrop a single colour all thanks to the power of a single cherry tomato. Plays similarly to golf and other momentum-creating games in which dragging back flings the tomato in the opposite direction. Can change the colour of the tomato to paint the world different colours while also freaking out tomato purists.
RONG: Featuring the artistic talents of fellow dev ‘divlauren’, RONG completely turns pong in to a one-sided affair by putting the entire game in a circle. It’s easily the most frustrating due to my inability to handle circular motion properly (seriously I keep moving my mouse the wrong way). Each pong hit increases the pace of the ball, but there are also other ‘versions’ to discover as the game progresses, such as a hilarious game of tennis and a vaporwave aesthetic.
???: Also known as HatVenture, this is an unfinished title featuring a magician who had all of his hats stolen. Outside of the initial level, I don’t think there is anything else present.
Pineapple Pipeline: Having a pineapple on a skateboard may sound odd, but it works fantastically as a good alliteration title as our little fruit has gone toobular. There’s an infinite half-pipe (sometimes covered) to ride down, and a bunch of tricks that can cause the pineapple to get stuck in the floor. Radical. Also our friend cannot ride goofy, as that will make him go backwards I guess?
Tandem Toobs: Made as a gift for his parents, Tandom Toobs is an unfinished co-op title requiring the two featured cylinders to get along and make their way through each level. As they are attached, players will need to coordinate which direction each one rolls in order to make turns properly or to go around objects, which is always the fun of co-op. I just wish the blue one wasn’t so sad. :(
Beach Bird Volleyball: burly seagulls here to inform everyone they are burly and like volleyball. Unfortunately it seems that one has decided to not arrive, so instead our solo seagull will just be playing solo for now. Hit the ball, push the ball, have a blast in the free space.
Mouse racing game: Start the engines, and work with some bizarre intentional inputs in this toy racing game. The goal is to reach the bottom, but the engine is revved through the mouse wheel. Turning the mouse upside down is the recommended path, thanks to the inverted turning on M1 and M2. The scroll wheel is supposed to be revved in the opposite direction to simulate a windup car, but somehow I made it go backwards and off the map. I’m a very good driver I swear.
Spider Playground: Hold up, this is an eleventh game! The title lied! Joking aside, players are a tiny spider in this unfinished title about scaling everything. Armed with only a cute yellow dress, our little spider will simply run around the sandbox and climb all of the toys to their little heart’s content.
As one might notice, many of these titles are unfinished or in a barebones state — expected, given the 1 week creation time, but it also paints an interesting picture about trialing out new ideas and mechanics. Development often has an entire period dedicated to prototyping features in small environments, but at the same time there are tons of titles that get brainstormed as prototypes that never come to life due to studio time constraints, feature issues, scoping; the list goes on. What you as the player get to see here is a window in to the life of a game that was created to exist after a week, complete with our ability to understand the direction of where the game wishes to go if there had been more time/resources funneled in to them. It’s a treat to get to see many of the unfinished/abandoned projects because some times they have the most bizarre or curious ideas, and that is what is on display here. If you like concepts given form, then this is definitely a bundle worth messing around with.
FYI that Pineapple deserves the world.
