I recently heard about a 48-hour game jam for lo-fi RPGs over here at RPGDX, but unfortunately I haven't heard much about the projects that resulted -- with the exception of this one, Sophie Houlden's Linear RPG.
It's kind of cool in terms of concept -- since it's tough to explain, I'll recommend you just learn by doing, which will only take you a few minutes -- but since the primary game mechanics come down to running back and forth while trying to read tiny text, I'm not sure it's all that much to see. Which is fine, of course -- no one's ever going to make a mindblowingly perfect finished product in a 48-hour jam, and the primary takeaway of game jams tends to be new concepts more than new games, per se.
Similarly, the reason I'm into the idea of a lo-fi RPG jam is less because of the specifics and more because of the concept. Last time on SVGL, we were talking about similarities between the games biz and the music biz, and when I think about the lo-fi scene enjoyed in each arena, I discover yet another cool connection!
Whether games or music, the term "lo-fi" has come to encapsulate something of an independent movement that rejects big budgets and high production values. It originates as a financial necessity for indies with few resources -- and then it becomes an art form in and of itself, as audiences develop a taste for not only the rough and simple, but for the integrity behind it.
Without fancy development tools -- or, in the case of music, fancy recording tech and studio time -- artists of both disciplines adapt by getting fascinatingly creative with the way they produce. The results can be so much fun that fans of some bands often reject the music once it stops sounding like it's been recorded into a tape deck.
Similarly, video game fans often have a hard time dealing with the way technology's onward march affects their favorite franchises, preferring pixelated originals to the flashy remakes. I like how Capcom got wise to this and made Mega Man 9 with scanlines and all.
Of course, neither Capcom nor the Mega Man mega-franchise are indie, nor were they ever -- in the days of early Mega Man, that was high-fidelity. But it's that particular aesthetic that seems to inspire the stylish popularity of today's Cave Story and Spelunky, to name just a couple.
Like Capcom, you can bet more than a few music acts with the bucks to burn deliberately fake the DIY vibe. When it comes to "true" lo-fi music acts, I'm actually vaguely nervous about listing the ones I like for fear the music nerds will descend on me and peck out my eyes (little help here, Dahlen?). It's safe to say The Kills and Vivian Girls, right?
But just a quick glance around Google shows that even music connoisseurs have the same kind of "what is true lo-fi" arguments that mirror the heated "what is true indie?" discussions that we often have in the games biz (I am looking forward to GDC. Really, I am).
People are passionate about it -- because on both counts, it's a "scene." Consumers are connotating a morality to it, a hipster sensibility that only serves to make both lo-fi indie games and music alike painfully cool.
We've even got our own Pitchfork of sorts in clever-cute-cool Offworld, now. Which if you're not reading, you seriously totally should. Don't wanna be left out, now, do you? All the cool kids are doing it.
What are your favorite lo-fi games? And can anyone point me to some other games to have come out of this RPG jam?
