Bookworm Misadventures

TOO EXCITED. GOING TO EXPLODE.

If only Kieron hadn’t already turfed up an unbeatable champ yesterday, this would be a strong contender for Worst Game In The World.

So instead, let’s call it the Worst Game In The World Not Featuring A Pig In A Hat.

20 Comments

  1. 18/01/2008 at 12:36 AbyssUK says:

    Library Hero…my dreams answered!

    Suuuuuuuush!!

  2. 18/01/2008 at 12:37 Phil says:

    Only according to FARK – though depending on how you define ‘Worst’ surely the stormfront mod for Doom has to be in the running, that or Custer’s Revenge.

  3. 18/01/2008 at 12:39 Man Raised By Puffins says:

    Heh, they seem to be channelling Steve Carrell in Michael Scott (the David Brent of the US Office) mode for the ear-rending voice acting.

  4. 18/01/2008 at 12:44 Flint says:

    Maybe I’m a sad loser but this somehow appeals to my love for organising things.

    That doesn’t however save the game from the maddening music, annoying sounds and general dodginess.

  5. 18/01/2008 at 13:01 Kieron Gillen says:

    Walker’s being hyperbolic. It’s not that bad.

    KG

  6. 18/01/2008 at 13:07 Mouj says:

    Duh. Took me a good deal of time to actually understand what i was supposed to do here. When i finally grasped it, i just had to close the browser window…

  7. 18/01/2008 at 13:18 Emil says:

    Oh god.

  8. 18/01/2008 at 13:19 Alec Meer says:

    All these years, and Gillen still can’t tell me and John apart.

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    18/01/2008 at 13:23 John Walker says:

    I’m probably being hyperbolic somewhere though.

  10. 18/01/2008 at 13:32 Richard says:

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

  11. 18/01/2008 at 13:35 Phil says:

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

  12. 18/01/2008 at 14:00 Dan (WR) says:

    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.

  13. 18/01/2008 at 14:43 Nallen says:

    That isn’t a game

  14. 18/01/2008 at 17:16 Mighty Jim says:

    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.

  15. 18/01/2008 at 20:41 Dinger says:

    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])

  16. 18/01/2008 at 20:47 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?

  17. 18/01/2008 at 22:38 Martin says:

    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?

  18. 21/01/2008 at 00:27 Lucky says:

    “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.

  19. 21/01/2008 at 20:16 Martin says:

    You bet!

  20. 21/01/2008 at 20:16 Martin says:

    Oh, you just did…