The Spring 2005 Game Contest - Hall of Fame

The jury went by gameplay, reliability, graphics, completion, and last not least, documentation. Yes, providing cheats or a walkthrough can - and did - make the difference between a winner and an almost-winner. You will find those who came close mentioned below. By the way, the next contests will be announced in the AUM magazine. But now let's see who did it this time....

And the winners are:

1st Prize - Hostradamus by Ingo Slaby
Last year we wrote about this game: "excellent leveldesign, great graphics, very good ideas: this game has everything to become one of the really good adventures! We are looking forward to see its finished version in a contest again".

And here it is! It was worth the waiting. This adventure for kids has turned out very well. A well done intro gets you into the right mood for playing the game. The goal is to rescue a village of poor rabbit kids from starving, from dying of thirst and above all from those mean goblins that threat to make them slaves, as they did with their parents. On your way to fulfill this task, you need to solve various riddles and to play the board game 'Othello' from time to time. This perfectly reliable game leads you through levels that are excellent designed down to the last detail.

The landscapes with their trees and flowers, different paths and trails, buildings and a lot of little more extras are done with loving care. No less care was taken to create the various people and creatures you're going to meet on your way through this adventure. The background music is different for every level and (if you don't tune it too loudly) supports the atmospheres quite well. The soundsare well choosen too. What makes Hostradamos our first prize winner is the fact that it is simply consistent and atmospheric. There are very few things to complain about - well, you could complain that it is only in German...

2nd Prize - Epidemic Groove by Dejobaan Games
First of all: a very funny intro! The idea to justify this kind of a mixture of strategy and game of skills is just great. The game runs fast and reliable even with the complex script that was necessary for the gameplay.    

Due to these nasty little cells and worms that increase each level in numbers and agressivity, along with the increasing number of defending walls, weapons and and other tools, the game offers a wide range of possibilities to rescue these poor little brain cells of infected people. And how could we play games like these if we'd lost the few ones we've had? Limited time and money ensure that the player will be kept in suspense and eagerly takes every new challenge that comes along with the next level.

We must admit that the music is not really what you'd call "groovy" and we gratefully took the chance to turn the volume to zero. The sounds and graphics fit very well. What we really missed sometimes was the option to save a state and being able to replay a level without being forced to start from the beginning again.  

3rd Prize - Botz Attack by Mind Chamber
Wanna have fun? Then play Botz Attack and you get what you're looking for. Like expected from a game of this kind, this side scroller offers you a lot of action, as there are various enemies increasing in strength and number and different weapons.

Due to these nasty little cells and worms that increase each level in numbers and agressivity, along with the increasing number of defending walls, weapons and and other tools, the game offers a wide range of possibilities to rescue these poor little brain cells of infected people. And how could we play games like these if we'd lost the few ones we've had? Limited time and money ensure that the player will be kept in suspense and eagerly takes every new challenge that comes along with the next level. We must admit that the music is not really what you'd call "groovy" and we gratefully took the chance to turn the volume to zero. The sounds and graphics fit very well. What we really missed sometimes was the option to save a state and being able to replay a level without being forced to start from the beginning again. But it also makes you laugh: shoot traffic lights or cars and they wobble under the fire before they finaly blow up. Throw a grenade and kill several of these attacing guys at once and you'll get applause from a background audience. If you kill an innocent pedestrian however, they will boo at you. (But why the heck do they run around in these dangerous streets?)      
The game runs reliably, the graphics are are o.k., you can save and load and choose your levels. If the full version keeps the promises of this demo and too comes up with some more of these little side gimmicks, you will have a lot of fun playing this game. And ask about the music? They have removed it for contest purposes. We'll probably have to cancel the size limit of the contest entries in the future. Let's come to the "almost winners" who just barely missed a price. There are many we want to mention and encourage to continue, among them:

PSlider - looking very good so far, but due to missing cheats too hard to test for us clumsy people. We just gave up after the second level.
Shoot the Chief - great intro! A complete, consistent, funny time waster if the boss is not around. The margin to a 3rd prize was thin.
Biyu Biyu Rocket - an ambitious cartoon adventure with well working cartoon shaders and excellent graphics. Could have won if it were fully finished and a walktrough included. Once they fix the moving-into-wall problems - of the player as well as the camera - and let us know how to solve the puzzles (or how to find the puzzles at all) their chances in a future contest are quite good.
Sailing Greece - the idea of a sailing simulator was taken enthusiastically! The graphics are ok, the wake looks really good, and tacking and jibing works so far. But why does the captain always give you the same two advices? Why does the boat sometimes come to a grinding stop when we raise the spinnaker in a strong wind from behind? Why has trimming the sails sometimes quite the opposite effect than we would expect? We'd love to test this demo again in a future contest when those little flaws are overcome.
Corb Attack - a very nice game idea. Peppered up with goals like gaining further levels with increasing difficulties, limited time, and may be a high score this game could become addictive.
Shape Zapper - an even better game idea. If only that game had graphics like the above Corb Attack, we could have had a winner.
Dragon Rise - a very promising beginning of what wants to become a great isometric adventure. Far from being finished though. If the quality of graphics and gameplay can be kept up until completition, this will be quite an impressive game, and hard to beat in a future contest.
Bull Race - it had it's fans! It's just fun running that bull, the music urges you on and the limit of time does the job of keeping the excitement and playing over and over again. Adding some more complex and different levels and some little gimmicks will this game make a success.
Pachinko - well made simulator for those who love that game of little balls and pins.