Impressions from Cooperative Gaming Co-Op #1: ARCADE GAMES curated by Zach Gage

This is how the installation looked from the outside

Okay everyone, so here is  my first in a series of posts giving my impressions of the games I played at the San Jose Cooperative Gaming Co-op's Arcade Installation.  As I mentioned in my previous post, this show was put on by my friend John Bruneau and James Morgan.

There were tons of games there, and they were all set up in Arcade Cabinets.  Each cabinet was curated by a different person.  The curators chose what games would be available to play, and also had a hand in the design of the cabinet.  I don't really have any pictures, so I can't show you, but there were some pretty cool designs.  Check out the cooperative gaming co-op's page for any updates or information.

The installation was essentially a free arcade featuring experimental and indie games.    Many or most of these games had an 'arcade' feel.  Games where the action starts instantaneously, and I died, I wanted to play again.  Given the chance, I would feed a bunch of quarters into machines featuring these games.  There was also a game-swap on site where you could take a game as long as you also left a game.  I didn't participate in this, but I imagine I will at some future date.

The Arcade was in place from Sept 28th to Oct 20th, but I was, unfortunately only able to visit once in the second to last week.  So there is a touch of Irony that I am going to be spending this time promoting an event that has already ended.  However, I also got to play lots of great games, and they will live on!  As will John and James, and the great artists, programmers, curators and appreciators of this event.  The next time I hear about something like this, I'm going to try to get out there sooner.

So, for now, I'm going to dedicate my time to talking about the games I played.  Many are available to play online-- for free!  So I will provide links to that.  It's not the same as an arcade, but we can't have everything all the time.  So, without further ado, on to the first cabinet:

ARCADE GAMES: curated by Zach Gage

• Shoot First by Teknopants

Shoot First is a two player co-op game with action that reminded me of Gauntlet.  It was really tough though, and I died really fast.  There were some subtleties to the control I didn't quite figure out.  You can collect stuff and upgrade weapons and all those sweet RPG elements. Randomly generated levels, like Diablo. I heard you can also call this genre: rougelike.    
Shoot First is available for Windows and there is a download link.......here.

• Chang Chang by Michael Brough

I really liked playing this game.  This is another 2-player game.  It is kind of like a variation on Chess, or like a very low-fi tactics game.  It pays in real time, and each piece can move in any direction while the time is running, destroying any opponents pieces that come into contact with the fuzzy bars protruding at different angles.  
Available for Mac and PC.  You can download it here as part of a package called kompendium, containing nine different two-player games, all by Michael Brough.  What's really cool about this game is that it is tailored for two people to be able to play on one screen with one keyboard.

• Rescue: the Beagles by 16 x 16

Rescue: the Beagles was interesting.  The visual was really nice; I like the art style.  The gameplay was kind of frantic, and pretty harsh and unforgiving.  I just kept dying!  I think, perhaps, once I get a hang of the gameplay, I'll have more fun.  In the meantime, I enjoyed the graphics and the challenge.  I dont know what platform it's available, but you can download it here.

• Super Puzzle Platformer by Andrew Morrish

This game is tons of fun.  Highly intuitive but very challenging.  Charming graphics.  This game feels like an idea that was waiting to be made real.  Let me tell you the idea, and you'll see:  You are a little jumping platform guy with a gun, trapped in a puzzle game.  There are blocks falling from the ceiling and you have to shoot them to destroy them.  Combos and weapon upgrades follow.
You can play it free in-browser, so go do that, it's fun!   Also available to download for PC and Mac.


ARCADE was a fun cabinet with great variety. Entertaining, interesting and challenging.  I think to really crack into these games would require at least one dedicated weekend of hardcore gaming. 



I will mention, again, the irony that I am essentially promoting a show that is now over.  This has not escaped me, and I have briefly wondered if this is something I "should" do.  If you don't think so, let me know!  Otherwise, I'm going to go right on promoting these games, their creators and the awesome curators over at the Cooperative Gaming Co-op in San Jose.  

y'out,

Davoid