I love games, and when you love games as much as I do, you enjoy looking beyond the flashy exterior and deep into a game's soul. And while I spend plenty of time playing big-name blockbusters like BioShock or Halo 3, longtime readers know I'm also a big fan of the indie scene. That's where you find the really wild experimentation, that's where you see new ideas that play around with what it means to be a 'game.'

But I'm not going to get too deep on you, I'm just going to drop a couple of cool games onto your lap. Today's lesson? Good games don't have to be complicated. There's a lot you can get out of a game if you just explore a simple idea or two.

First up I bring you Knytt Stories, a little indie game that I discovered thanks to Danc's awesome Lost Garden blog. You can Download Knytt Stories from FilePlanet.


Knytt Stories is basically a 2D platformer, but instead of focusing on the immensely difficult challenges that became the mainstay of the genre (making impossibly-timed leaps onto tiny moving platforms, weaving your way between hundreds of instant-death projectiles, etc.), Knytt is all about exploration. You'll slowly discover a series of powerups that allow you to gradually explore more of the level. And the levels are beautiful in a kind of minimalist way: accented by haunting music and populated with (mostly) harmless wildlife, it's more of a relaxing adventure than a challenge. Knytt proves that there are more ways to have fun than by testing your reflexes. If you enjoy it, try building your own levels with the nifty level editor (bundled with the game).

Here's another great example: Download the Bridge Construction Set Demo, developed by Chronic Logic. A new version of the demo just came out this week. Here's an example of a game where you can use a simulation (and almost nothing else!) to create a great game. Bridge Construction Set presents you with a river and a budget. Your goal is to build a bridge over the river, using iron or steel beams, girders, and cables.


Then it gets nifty. Once you've erected your masterpiece, you can click a button to test your structure using cars or trains. You'll see the different stresses on the parts of your bridge, and you can watch in horror (or glee) as your magnificent construction folds in on itself like a house of cards, sending a locomotive plummeting to the river. It's the second-most fun thing I've ever done with an erection.

What's great about Bridge Construction Set is that it's simple enough that anyone can play, it sparks your creative side, and you actually learn something. Should that even be legal?

Download Knytt Stories and Download Bridge Construction Set to enjoy the simpler side of gaming. Don't worry; you can still go back to playing Halo 3 when you're done.

      -Fargo