Have You Played? is an endless stream of game recommendations. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.
Starwhal [official site] – a game where you play as a space narwhal trying to stab other space narwhals in the heart. There’s also a single player challenge mode which I dip into occasionally but the meat of the game is the competition aspect. Tusks jamming into aortas as you waggle about the arena.
RPS Feature Brendan is the Andrew WK of Nidhogg
Every month, we dispatch Brendan to some of gaming’s best blowouts to schmooze and play games with the partygoers. In part four, some lessons for holding your own shindig.
We’ve been covering a lot of party games at different events over the past few months but what if you don’t want to go out? Let’s say you prefer to sit in your cosy house and have pals over instead. Picture the scene. You’re sipping on a spicy bourbon next to a nice warm fire with a few special friends, enjoying the flow of easy-going conversation and, wait, now that you think about it, you don’t have a fireplace. FIRE. FIRE. SOMEBODY PUT OUT THE FIRE. See, it’s not so easy, is it?
What you want is some sort of RPS guide to party-making, based on our own recent experience. So here you go: how to host your own party without suffering deadly immolation.
First Nidhogg finally became a reality for all and sundry, and now Starwhal has decided upon a release date too. It’s quite the month-ish for offbeat, high-skill melee games. Two-to-four-player, QWOPish, psychedelic whale-battler Starwhal: Just The Tip has gone from gamejammed quickie to decent Kickstarter success to A Thing That Is Being Released On February 17.
Put your horns in the air to celebrate. Missus.
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Here I am again, caterwhaling on about Starwhal, the QWOP-ish multiplayer narwhal fencing sim. Where once it was a simple yet deceptively skill-based jam game, its intergalactic ‘whals have since smashed all walls standing in their wha– er, way. The result? A full experience with single-player, AI opponents, more multiplayer modes, narwhal customization, and more things that developer Breakfall apparently hasn’t thought of yet. The catch? Oh, why do I even bother with the koi lead-ins anymore? It’s the same catch as always: Starwhal: Just The Tip is asking for a little shove off shore (and into space) on Kickstarter.
I’ve had a tab for Just The Tip open all day, and I keep accidentally clicking over to it and getting punched in the ear with blaring techno music. So now I have to post about it, because it’s haunting my browser – as neon space narwhals apparently do – and I need to exorcise it. But that’s far from the only reason I’m bringing this floppy, QWOP-y fighter to your attention. Unbelievably, it’s actually quite good, if a bit barebones. See, in addition to being woefully inept at moving about their Tron grid gladiatorial prison, the starwhals can only inflict lasting damage if they pierce each others’ hearts. Near-misses abound, so matches actually become pretty tense! Let’s get to the heart of the matter after the break.
