FREE GAMES STUFF FROM THE WEB DownloaDs
WEBGAME
HOSTILE TAKEOVER
Pu T CAPITALISM INTo ACTIoN
IN SAVING THE COMPAN Y
6
Not every game protagonist can save the world or rescue
a princess. The hero of Saving the
Company just wants to keep his job,
but he’ll have to complete a fast-paced, self-referential platformer in
order to do so.
Saving the Company likes to play
with gaming tropes. Every room
spells out what you have to do in
great big letters, but not always
obviously. one room, for instance,
is titled “control freak”—to proceed
you have to mash the control button, which raises a platform that
takes you to the exit.
The puzzles are pretty easy
and the platforms safe, so you’ll
finish Saving the Company in a few
minutes. There’s not much reason
to replay it, but its clever tricks
should keep you smiling throughout
the game. TH
Thankfully they decided to use “throw” instead of “toss.”
Fort knight 7
FREEWARE COFFEE BREAK HERO was made in Two weeks
size Browser-based
link bit.ly/savetheco
Well, at least take me
out to dinner first...
People do crazy things for charity. Some swim lakes, others take a bath in baked beans, and some people, like the guys at
Big Block games, make a fully fledged
browser-based RPG in two weeks.
Coffee Break Hero was developed openly. In order to raise
money for Child’s Play, the
developers livestreamed the
entire process, working in shifts
so there was always someone
online and constantly blogging
their progress. They even put their
design documents into a Google document ( bit.ly/cofdocs) for all to see.
A great experiment in game design, but how
does it play? Very well actually, as the developers
have created a brilliant one-button combat
Josh says... Good games are even better when they’re for good causes.
system. Moving your mouse maneuvers your
shield, and clicking uses your weapon. Pointing
your shield in the right direction is crucial to pro-
tection, with enemies often trying to sur-
round you or fire arrows up over your
head. It also has an excellent critical
hit system that lets you throw
your enemies around for some
bonus damage.
There’s an impressive amount
of in-game text for a game made
in such a small time frame, and
nearly all of it is some sort of joke. If
you like Coffee Break Hero, consider sup-
porting their cause by donating your wallet
contents to childsplaycharity.org. TH
Browser-based bit.ly/cofbreak
Dead man walking 8
FREEWARE Take a scenic sleepwalk Through BRAINDEAD
www.pcgamer.com amer.com
Actually controlling your character is so cliché, don’t you think? Braindead does away with this tiresome concept, instead
the main character is an unthinking husk of a
man who simply shambles forward on autopilot.
Instead of directing him, you use the environment to safely shuffle him past drops, spikes,
and other hazards to ensure his survival.
This concept might be familiar to those
who’ve played LucasArts’ Lucidity, but Braindead
is slightly different. There’s only one button, Z,
which activates whatever mechanisms are on
screen at the time. Yet the platforming
somehow remains fiendishly difficult. Timing is
critical. Navigating a series of floating rocks
requires you to use a set of small fans, but leave
them on too long and the main character will
smash into the spiky ceiling; don’t use them
enough, and he’ll plummet to his death.
Oh well, at least he won’t
really feel the horrible pain.
The backgrounds are
seriously psychedelic.
www.pcgamer.com
www.p
