Digital Dave

I absolutely love finding a new independent game release to try out.  Independent games tend to breath some fresh air into a clouded triple A title industry.  More importantly, for me, it lays out a great base of inspiration for my personal development. I remember being a part of the release for Morning’s Wrath and feeling a great sense of accomplishment, even though my main concern for the game was to provide reliable beta testing. I learned an incredible amount of things in those few months. I can only imagine how the guys who put Aquaria together feels now that the game has been released and how it’s been welcomed to the community.

So, what’s special about Aquaria?  Well, if you haven’t heard anything about this game, it was developed by a lone wolf programmer/musician, an incredibly talented paint artist, and a beautiful voiced voice over lady.  They spent roughly two years on the project, and it ended up taking first prize at the Independent Game Festival in 2006.  They didn’t end up going the publishing route, and formed their own LLC as Bit Blot (Creative, eh? Programmer/bit, Artist/blot).

I rather not spoil any of the story, so I’d like to direct you to a link to download the demo of the game.  It’s the first part of the game, and if you do decide to purchase it, your save file will transition to the full version.

Move to the Aquaria Demo Download Page

A few things I would like to note about the game.

The Audio. The programmer is also a musician via the piano, and has created a very, very intriguing sound track to follow this game. I find absolutely nothing wrong with the way he blends his sound into his own creation, which is something I am completely envious of. I incorporated my own audio with Breakout Returns, and I can only hope to become this good.

The Control Scheme. While you can opt for traditional play via the keyboard, or a gamepad, you would be missing a very unique experience to control the game with only your mouse. They came up with a really cool way to activate power ups for your character, via a song menu. You play certain notes to activate special abilities, which is just cool. Here is a glimpse:

The Depth This game released on the 7th of December, and people that have rushed through the game have been tallying up the hour count at around 17. This game is deep. There is a vast world to explore, which is great in my opinion.

So, for those that didn’t know about this project, now you do. Enjoy the demo, feel the well designed vibe, and use it for your own personal motivation.