BestGameEver Creator Talks Weekly Gaming

Thanks to GamersWithJobs for its interview with Dylan Fitterer of BestGameEver.com, a site which offers a new 3D-engine, freely downloadable Windows PC game every week, one which "either incorporates a new idea or is a refinement of a previous release based on feedback by the players." The FAQ on the official site explains: "The first mission of this site is to prototype all kinds of different games as quickly as possible. So - there will be a new game prototype up for you to try, love, hate, whatever - each Friday", and Dylan says of this: "The constant pressure keeps my productivity up and the regular releases keep me... releasing" - highlights of the many downloadable titles include Riders On The Board, a hoverboard game where the player "flies around the terrain by firing your harpoon into hillsides and giant lava lamps", as well as parking-attendant related "RTS hybrid" Free Parking.

Comments

Re:I'm all for originality...

[escher]

Some drugs are bad.

Some are really, really fun.

I don't want to put down the efforts of the site

[mike_lynn]

... but I'm beginning to wonder how closely they're following their own mission.
They've released 11 games, 3 of which are sequels of prior games. I *know* there's more than 8 categories of game listed at http://www.mameworld.net/maws/
I think they're falling into the trap of 'game improvement' instead of 'game development'. Please excuse me while I go play Mario Party 5 now.

Building on Basics

[MiceHead]

When I first began writing shareware games for Palm OS, I created a number of small puzzle games, among other things, and found that it was pretty difficult to come up with an interesting concept every week or so. So, I can't begrudge BestGameEver if some of their new games build on their previous efforts. Besides, sometimes the most enjoyable games come about as refinements of previous (and possibly less-commercially-successful) ones.

But along those lines, Ludum Dare hosts 24- and 48-hour competitions to investigate innovative gameplay; folks who are interested in BGE's offerings for that reason might like to check them out.

Mirroring some of the games

[skywalker404]

Riders on the Board
Very fun game. It does remind me a lot how I'd think 'pooning cars would be, although the speed you gather was unexpected. Try 'pooning one of the mountains; you start moving fast. I think it'd be more interesting to create an urban/cityscape to explore this way, though. And to not have 'pooning an unmoving object (ie: the ground) give you any momentum. Instead, only be able to pickup the momentum of the [moving] cars you 'poon. (Just make sure the cityscape has lots of them!)

Loop Hoops
Interesting idea (reminds me of a flash game that was out about a year ago, I think called Kick-ups), but gets boring fast. Might be more interesting as an arcade game, with lots of different tracks to "mix" with.

Free Parking 2
Controls are kinda weird, but seems fun & innovative... Although I don't see a way to cancel after you've bought a tower. Oops.

You can check the directory itself for more, as I keep downloading them.