Recent reviews by J. Kyle Pittman

An intensely economical Lynchian nightmare. Loved it.

It's Cookie Clicker, but it's on Steam, and it has a soundtrack by C418. What more do you need to know?

Dropsy gets my nomination for the "Villain Most in Need of a Warm, Damp Hug" award. Having grown up in the golden age of Lucasarts and Sierra adventure games, Dropsy appeared tailor made for my sense of nostalgia. Happily, its appeal goes beyond its gorgeous pixel art backgrounds and animations; it's a brisk, rewarding, charming, and surprisingly moving work of art. Its characters communicate clearly through actions and emoticons, and only on the rare occasion did I feel that the lack of written or spoken dialog made it difficult to infer a goal. I never had to resort to a walkthrough to finish this game, which puts it head and shoulders above the majority of adventure games I've played. I did find myself reaching the point of having to try every possible combination of actions towards the latter half. Despite a quibble or two, it's highly recommended and an absolute must-play for fans of the genre.

It would be difficult to talk about GameLoading: Rise of the Indies without making comparisons to 2012's Indie Game: The Movie, so I'll just go ahead and do that. Where that film took a focused look at three developers and the emotional struggles of launching a game, GameLoading takes a broader, more diverse look at the culture surrounding indie games, in particular those of the experimental/art/alt sort. The strongest narrative thread to be found here is the one following the development and launch of The Stanley Parable, but the individual stories take a back seat to the larger discussion and exploration of why these games appeal to their developers and players, what function they serve in modern culture, and where they are going in the future. The tone is less dramatic doom-and-gloom than IGTM; although there are some common themes of uncertainty and fear of failure, the resonating message is one of hope, excitement, and community.

GameLoading assumes its viewer has some pre-existing knowledge of indie games and omits any fluffy stage-setting introductions (e.g., "Let's talk down to our audience about what an indie game is and how it's different from a AAA game") in favor of getting straight to the good stuff. The interviewees range from AAA industry veterans to indie heroes to up-and-coming developers you might not have heard of yet. The viewpoints and topics of discussion vary widely as well; it's interesting to hear so many different facets of gaming and development discussed with the love and attention they deserve.

If Indie Game: The Movie is a film that I watch to feel commiseration with developers and the occasional hardships of game development, GameLoading is one that I see myself watching to remind myself how supportive and welcoming the community can be. It's easy to only see the negativity when observing games culture through the filter of a Twitter feed, so it's nice to see the positive elements represented in this way. This is a movie that makes me excited to keep making games.

If you have any interest in indie games or in taking a look behind the scenes of game development, I highly recommend GameLoading.

Full disclosure: I contributed to the Kickstarter campaign for this film.