Electric Nightmares

Our four part series about generative AI and its use in video games

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Stuff Wot I Have Played Yesterday

Small, weird, and free

As I lamented yesterday that I'd spent the working morning playing games I probably wouldn't write about, Alec suggested that I stick 'em all together into one short post. Hey, that's a good idea!

I play a load of small games every day, and most of them are free, but I only end up writing posts about a few. So here's what I played yesterday morning, from wandering a labyrinthine hotel to leading a jazz band in a rhythm-based beat 'em up.

Circle of Fifths [Game Jolt] by Alexander Howard, Max Wilhemi, Travis Nichols, and Donald Li
Free

I really dig the idea of playing a beat 'em up as a five-piece jazz band, rolling down the street en masse flinging notes at burly blokes. Attacking and moving must be done in time with the beat, but I got too into the jazz spirit and was punished. I'm not really one for rhythm games, and I found the obnoxious string-twanging noise for mis-timing moves pushing me out of the grooving. It does otherwise look and sound quite pleasant though.

Hotel Paradise [Itch] by Kai Clavier
Pay-what-you-want

You hold in your hand the key to a room numbered between 1 and 999 and must find it. Unfortunately, the hotel has a seemingly illogical layout, a maze of corridors with random numbers, lined with banal art and piping in muzak. It is wearying. I hear that something unusual happens when you find your room, but I quit after wandering for ages then stumbling across room 666. It seemed a fitting enough end.

Sunset Spirit Steel [Itch] by Kitty Horrorshow
Pay-what-you-want

Explore an eerie mountain village, finding unsettling notes and strange singing sculptures.

Vapor [Game Jolt] by Jeron Braxton
Free

Explore a surreal landscape, admiring sculptures, listening to chill music, and leaping through portals. Also, you can fling arcing bridges by clicking, just because. Some parts are jolly pretty and relaxing, but sadly it runs so very slowly for me.

Your Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Itch by Jun Shen
Free

"Is this Cara fanfic?" I asked of this Twine game at one point, reminded of her Sacrilege. No, her game about drinking and dancing and flirting and sexualintercoursing didn't have a path leading to an all-action karate-kicking ending.

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About the Author
Alice O'Connor avatar

Alice O'Connor

Associate Editor

Alice has been playing video games since SkiFree and writing about them since 2009, with nine years at RPS. She enjoys immersive sims, roguelikelikes, chunky revolvers, weird little spooky indies, mods, walking simulators, and finding joy in details. Alice lives, swims, and cycles in Scotland.

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