Parodeus: Pippin Barr's Brilliant Mumble Indie Bungle
This is just magnificent. Pippin Barr - he of clever little pieces of interactive braincode like Art Game, Hot Coffee, Pongs, and Epic Sax - has released a gleefully hilarious concept series. Titled Mumble Indie Bungle, the six game set wriggled forth from the following idea: "It’s meant to be this set of crappy indie games that someone perhaps bought for you, mistaking them for the originals. The challenge for me is to make the game that fits the title, and that is also somehow 'wrong' and would fit into this odd, misshapen bundle." From that twisted test tube, then, was born 30 Flights of Loathing, Gurney, Proteas, World of Glue (my favorite), Spy Parity, and Carp Life. Seriously, play these. You will laugh heartily through your anguished sighs.
It's difficult to discuss each game too thoroughly without spoiling their respective jokes, but for the extremely uninitiated, I can at least draw lines between Barr's lurching Franken-games and their real-life counterparts. 30 Flights of Loathing, obviously, comes from Thirty Flights of Loving, Gurney somehow converted Journey into a nightmarishly psychedelic hospital freakout, Proteas contains trace elements of Proteus, World of Glue bears incredibly little resemblance to World of Goo (but is completely amazing in its own right; stick with it hohohohohoho but no seriously), Spy Parity puts a brilliantly impossible co-op twist on Spy Party, and Carp Life is as beautiful, fragile, and tragic as its namesake, Cart Life.
Most of them are quick gags, but Carp Life is only available as part of an exclusive one-time not-for-free deal. Personally, I found it to be worth $1, but I am perhaps the world's foremost fan of silly jokes taken way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way*, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way too far. So maybe I'm biased.
At any rate, give the Mumble Indie Bungle a go. It will make you chuckle until you decide to stop chuckling and do something else.
*Also whey, weigh, and Wei.