By Quintin Smith on November 11th, 2010 at 5:19 pm.
Oh, Indie Games Blog, the gifts you give! Ahem: IGF 2011 entrant Octodad is a game where you play an octopus who is pretending to be a dad. A human dad. The tagline alone leaves me lost for words – “Loving father. Caring husband. Secret octopus.” That might just be the single best piece of games writing ever.
As you’ll see from the trailer below, the game’s quite forgiving as to what constitutes normal behaviour and lets you concentrate on the little things, like staying relatively upright and not smashing every single object in your house. Now, I won’t ask you to download this game. I’m just going to suggest you watch the following trailer, and then do what comes naturally.
Here’s that download link again.
11/11/2010 at 17:25 Noterist says:
Downloading!
QWOP meets Minotaur China Shop?
Here’s hoping!
11/11/2010 at 17:41 jeremypeel says:
I was about to tweet about its relation to the thoroughly-rubbish QWOP, but came here, saw the post and your comment… it’s all been said!
Can’t wait to get my hands on this. Yet another mad indie to blog about this week. How do I choose?
11/11/2010 at 17:42 Man Raised By Puffins says:
Yes, and hopefully with just a dash of Chicken-Boo, plus a soupçon of Hugh Man to taste.
11/11/2010 at 17:28 _Jackalope_ says:
Dalmation Rex FTW!
11/11/2010 at 17:28 Humble says:
Holy smokes! I don’t remember the last time a trailer made me laugh out loud! Well done people!
11/11/2010 at 17:31 Berzee says:
I watched the trailer and am now doing what comes naturally!
11/11/2010 at 17:32 AndrewC says:
Weeping with fear. It is what I am doing.
11/11/2010 at 17:38 kyyninen says:
Incomprehensibly mumbling and creeping out my roommates over here.
11/11/2010 at 18:33 westyfield says:
Rocking back and forth clutching my knees.
11/11/2010 at 21:17 Mr.Grim says:
Ordered some Calamari !!
11/11/2010 at 21:58 Bret says:
I’m just thinking of how cool the Great Escape is.
Such a cool movie.
11/11/2010 at 17:33 frags says:
Downloading NAO!
11/11/2010 at 17:37 Colthor says:
“Loving father. Caring husband. Secret octopus.”
So, um, I guess they kept the lights off then?
11/11/2010 at 19:29 Ballisticsfood says:
“What’s that Octoman? You want to buy fourteen packets of viagra? Whatever for?”
“Mrflrmggrbbl!”
Lovecraft would be… Actually I have no idea what his response to that would be.
12/11/2010 at 00:20 Haplo says:
Considering his abject hatred of the DENIZENS OF THE DEEP (not the eldritch ones)…
… Actually pretty much the exact sort of reaction one is supposed to get from reading his books, which is a little ironic.
11/11/2010 at 17:39 Incognito says:
Oh, an edit on that picture. Nice one Quintin. :) But I still know what you did in your last….edit.
11/11/2010 at 17:42 jeremypeel says:
If there was ever a Director’s Cut of I Know What You Did Last Summer, I hope it was called that.
11/11/2010 at 17:40 lhzr says:
sounds, and looks, excellent.
mixing sumotori dreams and must lead to something fun, so count me in for a download.
11/11/2010 at 17:41 lhzr says:
that was supposed to be “mixing sumotori dreams and calamari wrestler”. ah, well.
11/11/2010 at 17:41 WiPa says:
OCTODAD STRIKES AGAIN.
11/11/2010 at 17:44 Brumisator says:
That song is so awesome.
11/11/2010 at 17:50 Kast says:
I must be dead inside because that just looked as frustrating as hell.
11/11/2010 at 19:37 Man Raised By Puffins says:
A couple of bits are, the final “boss fight” perhaps justifiably so, but on the whole it’s enormously charming. It’s a quick half hour of silly-fun.
12/11/2010 at 09:00 frags says:
Frustrating controls actually make sense in this game. They didn’t say being a dad and an octopus was going to be easy.
12/11/2010 at 14:00 Man Raised By Puffins says:
I’m not sure it’s actually so much the controls that are the problem, more that the camera often goes for a burton and screws up what you’re trying to do. It certainly seemed easier to control Octodad’s flailing limbs in the credit sequence (which used a fixed camera) than when wrestling about in the confined spaces of the house.
13/11/2010 at 00:59 Shevy says:
@Man Raised By Puffins
We’ve got better camera behavior and it’s coming in the next update :)
11/11/2010 at 17:53 kutkh says:
If they assign a keypress to “RUE LIMBS” I don’t think I’ll have ever felt a more profound connection to a computer game.
11/11/2010 at 18:02 Alexander Norris says:
They missed a quality reference to 19th century pop-art by not making his wife Japanese, there.
12/11/2010 at 08:23 Lars Westergren says:
Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife?
13/11/2010 at 00:33 AncientToaster says:
I could NOT stop thinking about that print while playing this. It almost ruined the mood of childlike humor.
11/11/2010 at 18:10 invisiblejesus says:
Someone made a game of the monster in Possession? I’m down.
11/11/2010 at 18:10 Meatloaf says:
Wow. That’s one of the best things, that is.
11/11/2010 at 18:16 realmenhuntinpacks says:
As a species we have our bad points, but it’s this kind of thing that makes it all worthwhile.
11/11/2010 at 18:57 Lambchops says:
I wonder if his wife uses Octo-kleen and stars in cringeworthy mysogynistic adverts? (One for The Apprentice watchers out there!)
11/11/2010 at 19:55 James G says:
@Lambchops
Was the first thing that occurred to me on seeing the headline as well.
11/11/2010 at 20:01 Stu says:
I was all set to post a similar comment myself. So instead I’ll wonder aloud about the likelihood of a Germ-O-Nator game.
11/11/2010 at 19:00 demo says:
Added this to burnbit for a torrent…
http://burnbit.com/torrent/158331/OctodadInstallerV1_05_exe
11/11/2010 at 19:03 Pani says:
That game looks like they were trying to get some nice graphics together, great physics and game play. Then they botched the physics, laughed at what they’d created, decided to reskin it and make it into part of the gameplay.
I wonder what they were originally going for?
11/11/2010 at 19:46 ben says:
This might sound insane, but… this was our goal from the start.
11/11/2010 at 23:26 devon says:
No, Ben’s lying this was the original idea.
http://www.octodadgame.com/forum/download/file.php?id=1
12/11/2010 at 21:02 Pani says:
Well if that truly was what you were going for, then how the hecky-thump did you come up with this idea?
Don’t get me wrong, I;m not knocking you, it just seems so bizarre to be real. It’s awesome, but bizarre.
11/11/2010 at 19:26 Shazbut says:
Downloading this SO HARD
11/11/2010 at 22:56 Shazbut says:
Ok, so it’s somewhat unplayable but – pff. That doesn’t matter.
My favourite bit was when I was advised against holding makeup because men don’t wear makeup and it might look suspicious.
11/11/2010 at 19:36 Brumisator says:
I just finished playing it, and it’s by far the best game I’ve ever seen use this kind of wobbly physics thing.
Others games I mean include sumotori, QWOP, ragdoll kung fu and of course, minotaur in a china shop.
11/11/2010 at 19:46 pakoito says:
Catchy song is catchy.
11/11/2010 at 19:49 noodlecake says:
3 minutes to go! This looks ace! I’m giddy. :)
11/11/2010 at 20:10 Hydrogene says:
Great! All my tentacles are tingly with anticipation… downloading.
11/11/2010 at 20:36 Norskov says:
A great little game, highly enjoyable. I did have some trouble with the spiders though..
11/11/2010 at 20:49 AquaticVirus says:
Norton thinks its a virus, damnit.
11/11/2010 at 22:13 Wildcard says:
That’s ridiculous! Clearly Octodad is a trojan…
11/11/2010 at 20:53 Nyuu says:
DO WANT ! I’ll take one sir.
(love silly games)
11/11/2010 at 20:53 Evyn says:
Only problem is the spider part. I kept failing, and altho I found the game hilarious, its too frustrating to control to be of any real “fun”.
11/11/2010 at 20:56 Fetthesten says:
I played it and feel I can safely say that Octodad is possibly the best dapper-octopus-disguised-as-human game I’ve played this week. Good work.
11/11/2010 at 21:01 Martin Kingsley says:
I have to say, given the way in which, for a decade, on millions of computers worldwide, almost all Norton/Symantec products have inhibited the user’s ability to enact routine computational tasks, slowed systems to a crawl and caused vast and insurmountable irritation courtesy of the fact that in many cases the bastard thing is impossible to uninstall, one might almost suggest it’s high time we officially branded the thing what it so clearly is: insidious virus to (as I believe the kids are wont to exclaim) da max.
Mad game looks mad. +1 to invisiblejesus for Possession references.
11/11/2010 at 21:05 Jolly says:
And thus was born, the game to end all games.
11/11/2010 at 21:19 Davie says:
Yeah, this is pretty much the best thing ever. Stairs are a little frustrating, but it doesn’t matter because SECRET OCTOPUS.
11/11/2010 at 21:31 Berzee says:
It would be cool if there were Octohats
11/11/2010 at 21:31 thermo says:
A team of 19 students made this? Very impressive, I struggle to get 3 other blokes to work together on something at uni
11/11/2010 at 21:33 sinister agent says:
I am fighting back laughter and I haven’t even watched the trailer yet. Oh, mercy.
11/11/2010 at 21:36 The_B says:
GAME FACE!
12/11/2010 at 00:27 The_B says:
Let me just reiterate that: GAME FACE!
12/11/2010 at 08:18 Lambchops says:
Best game face ever.
11/11/2010 at 21:56 Spacewalk says:
Wow, free. I would have paid ten squid for this easily.
11/11/2010 at 22:22 phuzz says:
ouch!
12/11/2010 at 00:13 Dreaded Walrus says:
5quid, surely?
12/11/2010 at 12:43 Devenger says:
No, surely sixsquid?
11/11/2010 at 22:15 Army of None says:
Awesome. This was genuinely entertaining and amusing. Some places I actually laughed out loud (Octodad’s Game Face for example.) Would sooooo pay for this
11/11/2010 at 22:17 Olivaw says:
This game is adorable and lovely and charming and great.
I ended up wanting more adventures in the life of Octodad! Which is more than I expected by a wide margin!
11/11/2010 at 22:19 Olivaw says:
I have to say, though. There wasn’t any resolution on what Octodad was working on in the basement! I thought it would be a way to turn himself into a human and they all lived happily ever after or something!
11/11/2010 at 22:34 PTibz says:
We really want to continue the game with more adventures eventually, but with the IGF submission due date looming this is what made the cut. Thank you everyone for your feedback!
11/11/2010 at 22:20 DMJ says:
You laugh.
This is my life.
12/11/2010 at 00:23 jeremypeel says:
For my species: I am sorry.
12/11/2010 at 00:27 solipsistnation says:
Looks like basic parenthood to me, yep.
11/11/2010 at 22:33 Unaco says:
I didn’t even need the whole trailer… It had me at about 50-55 seconds in. Downloading, but slowly.
11/11/2010 at 22:37 Flobulon says:
Hahahaha, had a lot of fun with that, it’s made my day.
Best tentacle action I’ve seen since the Majesty of Colors.
11/11/2010 at 22:51 merc says:
Gloriously mental, charming and funny.
11/11/2010 at 23:31 MD says:
Oh, shit yes. I haven’t actaully played it yet, but man. GOTY
11/11/2010 at 23:32 MD says:
Curse my clumsy human fingers!
11/11/2010 at 23:31 MD says:
Oh, shit yes. I haven’t actually played it yet, but man. GOTY
11/11/2010 at 23:49 fuggles says:
That is the best thing I have ever seen.
11/11/2010 at 23:53 disperse says:
Kept crashing when loading new areas after cut scenes which wiped out my save and the tutorial is annoyingly unskippable.
What a shame.
11/11/2010 at 23:55 Jeff says:
The tutorial can be skipped by grabbing the journal. It tells you that in the beginning.
12/11/2010 at 18:21 disperse says:
Thanks Jeff, I’m an idiot.
11/11/2010 at 23:59 Maj says:
Hey, disperse, check out: http://www.octodadgame.com/contact.php and send us an email, so we can help you out.
12/11/2010 at 18:22 disperse says:
@Maj
Will do. It wouldn’t have frustrated me as much if I didn’t want to keep playing.
12/11/2010 at 00:32 Kurt Lennon says:
Best game ever made, by miles.
12/11/2010 at 01:42 panther says:
down loadin loadin loadin
27/11/2010 at 04:43 BonusWavePilot says:
Keep thum packets loadin’,
Hope it ain’t got trojans,
Rawhiiiiiiiiiide.
*whip crack*
12/11/2010 at 02:29 Langetc says:
I’m having an odd problem…
It works fine with the mouse, but crashes instantly upon any sort of keyboard input.
Shame, because it seems like a really cool game.
12/11/2010 at 03:37 ord teapot says:
music is yo la tengoish
moby octodad?
12/11/2010 at 04:22 Oak says:
I loved this. It makes me want to hug everybody.
12/11/2010 at 04:35 katinkabot says:
Me too. I also downloaded the song. Everything about this is just so happy.
12/11/2010 at 05:50 Pantsman says:
This is a wonderful thing.
12/11/2010 at 09:39 Miresnare says:
This looks absolutely fantastic. I haven’t laughed so much since Sumotori Dreams. Downloading now.
12/11/2010 at 15:13 Pony Canyon says:
Aboslutely hilarious. Favorite part was the chef in the closet. Gfflrglrffg.
12/11/2010 at 20:53 Baf says:
I was put off at first by the way that Octodad kept facing the opposite direction from the way I was trying to move him. But then I remembered that this is scientifically accurate! When octopuses in real life walk bipedally in order to prevent others from realizing what they are, they do in fact walk backwards
13/11/2010 at 01:25 Ed says:
OC-TO-DAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!
13/11/2010 at 03:42 fuggles says:
seriously, spiders – how the hell?
13/11/2010 at 03:49 negativedge says:
why would I ever play this for more than two minutes
13/11/2010 at 06:24 PTibz says:
To have fun?
16/12/2010 at 23:28 gpcxii says:
How do you climb the stairs in the bedroom? I end up falling down the steps and then I’m stuck.