fastpath to IGF 2015: Desert Golfing
I will visit the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this year for the first time! :D I am very excited about visiting the Independent Games Festival 2015 and here I will write down some experiences with the games which were nominated or mentioned honorably in the context of the award. Additionally, I recommend the Road to IGF 2015 coverage from gamasutra, which includes interviews with the developers.
The picture above belongs to "Desert Golfing" (nominated for Nuovo Award) from Captain Games. It was released in August 2014 for iOS and Android. The creator Justin Smith is also known for the marvelous "Enviro Bear 2010"!
You are playing golf in an endless procedurally (not randomly!) generated desert! Most holes are challenging, because they are hidden behind sand dunes or on an upper level. The highscore just counts the number of needed golf swings to reach the next hole. Recently I reached number 500 and my highscore of 1500 documented an average swing count of 3 per hole. This alone is an interesting twist on current highscore games. I am not a big fan of live long stats e.g. in Counter-Strike :D but "Desert Golfing" carried me to the appreciation of long-term achievements. The end of the game seems to be a Fata Morgana... miles away...
The second remarkable feature is the simple touch control. You define the power and angle of your golf swing with just one tap'n drag gesture! This makes the game playable in every thinkable situation!
I think this game would be a perfect fit as a pre-installed game on every smartphone and a good catch for everyone who like a simple time-waster! And now I'll reminisce about the good old days with snake on my nokia phone <3