Comments on: Bookworm Misadventures

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:16:40 +0000

Oh, you just did…

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:16:16 +0000

You bet!

By: Lucky

Lucky — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 00:27:43 +0000

“What? Wait, was I the only one that got this ending in Bioshock?”

I bet you’ve been pretty confused about all the complaints of the ending being bad then.

By: Martin

Martin — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 22:38:14 +0000

Lucky says:

“But they really should add a big reveal at the end where it turns out that you were a pig in a hat all along.”

Goddamnit! Why didn’t Ken Levine think of that?

What? Wait, was I the only one that got this ending in Bioshock?

By: Lucky

Lucky — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:47:09 +0000

“But they really should add a big reveal at the end where it turns out that you were a pig in a hat all along.”

Goddamnit! Why didn’t Ken Levine think of that?

By: Dinger

Dinger — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:41:24 +0000

There are some interface problems with it, sure. For example, left-click freezes your position, so if you move to the area, slide to correct and release, you put it in the wrong place. This problem derives from a cognitive mistake. As any librarian knows, when you’re looking to put a book back on the shelf (why do I hear that phrase in a lilting Irish sing-song voice?), you’re checking the titles of the books on each side, and not just one book.I also question the value of the last level. If you’re using the Library of Congress system, your library is way too big for you to file books by subject.File this one under “Serious Games”. It’s a training tool, and you could even get away with claiming “knowing how to look up the major subject headings will help librarians tell the users what floor to go to”. Maybe that pig-hat game is also a training tool: you know, to teach future whackos how to keep animals entertained in the post-nuclear diluvial period. My definition of a “serious game” would be: “A game that’s not as much fun as the real life equivalent, adopted solely because the real life equivalent is too costly.” Misfiled books are costly.(And as an aside, the biggest hurdle to “serious games” is explaining to the clients why they cost so much. Gee, maybe selling 1000 copies at $50/piece isn’t as profitable as selling a million of them…. Open source is your friend [/rant])

By: Mighty Jim

Mighty Jim — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:16:58 +0000

You know what’s great? I’ve got an old version of Flash, so the little box for each book just comes up blank. This makes the game unplayable, but also transforms it into a Absurdist challenge to the Dewey Decimal system and a powerful critique of man’s feeble efforts to struggle against oblivion. It’s the Flash version of “Waiting for Godot,” as you desperately try to put the books in some meaningless order while the clock ticks down and the buzzer keeps telling you that you’re doing it wrong.

But they really should add a big reveal at the end where it turns out that you were a pig in a hat all along.

By: Nallen

Nallen — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:43:37 +0000

That isn’t a game

By: Dan (WR)

Dan (WR) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:00:30 +0000

As a librarian, I feel I ought to point out that you’d be surprised at how rubbish people are at shelving things. We’d had a high turnover of Library ~~Minions~~ Assistants who have had all the reasoning and organizational skills of a cheese sandwich.

Also, you underestimate just how closely Librarians stick to our sad stereotype. If I post a link to this game on a Librarian mailing list, I’d bet good money that people come back saying it’s fantastic.

THE HORROR.

By: Phil

Phil — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:35:58 +0000

Big Rigs has merit – it inspired a gamespot review that was actually entertaining to read, well, sorta.

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:32:20 +0000

And Big Rigs is still /so/ much worse than Zoo Race.

By: John Walker

John Walker — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:23:44 +0000

I’m probably being hyperbolic somewhere though.