he Xbox Live Marketplace is a crowded strip of road, and the Community Games section is located over a fence down a dark alley. These hidden selections attract gamers who find themselves comfortable in the arms of unique titles that go uncelebrated. To promote this feeling, Microsoft will soon change the name Community to Indie, but will that be enough to alert the crowd?
While games that imitate popular Xbox Live Arcade offerings can be found here (get your home-brewed Geometry Wars), more often I'm treated to original ideas. Regardless, you will find experiences that personify their creators, of whom are sometimes solo. Games that are untouched by marketing, and, in turn, bustling with creativity and quirk reside in the Community Games section.
The following is a list of my top finds:
200 Microsoft Points ($2.50)
Artoon
Spy Chameleon
Miner Dig Deep
Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp
Groov
Light's End
400 Microsoft points ($5)
CarneyVale Showtime
Colosseum
Blow
Light's End has the player choosing which crowd member to control in the hopes of moving the fantasy-based story along. Its well-written dialogue is a pleasure to puzzle through and offering no other tacked-on mechanics keeps the experience pure. Artoon is like Q-bert but trades beasties for a three-dimensional space where missed landings mean restarts. Its clean visuals, sound and local multiplayer stand up to some of the best XBLA options, and the game-specific achievements are welcome.
Achievements that XBLA games bring promise a possible 200 points to a player's Gamerscore. This cumulative reward is absent from Community Games, but many have an in-game equivalent. This is preferable because it lets developers add style to their awards menu. CarneyVale Showtime features well-designed trophies with engraved accomplishments for the player to scroll through. Any excuse for developer Gambit to dip freaky clown-doll art in bronze is all right by me.
What's in place is motivating passionate developers to produce content at a consistent rate.While Miner Dig Deep spends the afternoon mining for precious metals, instead he cashes in his finds. And outside of lamp fuel management, conflict is scarce. This creates the perfect game to accompany a podcast listen. With items like elevators and grappling hooks, the experience is both crafty and sublime. On the other hand, Colosseum will awaken your reflexes. This pick features cel-shaded fighters in large 3-D stages. Attacks are tightly mapped to the right stick while buttons execute special actions. Colosseum features a colorful way to kill and die.
In less than a year, Community Games are at almost 400 titles. Questionable apps exist and games a bit too experimental are around, but each comes with a quick-loading trial. Microsoft is working to fulfill promises of a rating system and advertising choice games on the front-end. But what's in place is motivating passionate developers to produce content at a consistent rate. It can be an adventure finding those indie darlings in the dark, so it's up to the brave to tell their friends what they have found.
