Commonplace Book Competition Results Announced

The TIGSource Commonplace Book Competition didn't really receive as much attention, mostly due to IGF and the fact that everyone's super busy around this time of the year (seriously, other than IndieGames and TIGSource, every other indie gaming blog/site stopped updating, this one included, lolz). All that is about to change, for below is a look at some of the games from the competition!

Before we begin, let's talk a little bit about the competition first. The goal of the competition is to design a game based on one of the ideas from H.P. Lovecraft's Commonplace Book. From TIGSource:

Renowned horror novelist H.P. Lovecraft kept a notebook, called "The Commonplace Book, in which he jotted "ideas, images, & quotations hastily jotted down for possible future use in weird fiction. ...Their sources are various—dreams, things read, casual incidents, idle conceptions, & so on." As you might expect, these notes are fragmented, cryptic, and extremely creepy.

Anyway, there were 35 entries, and below is the winner and the first 9 losers (j/k but true):

1. Verge by Kyle Pulver
2. From Primordial Egg by Fifth
3. Eversion by Zaratustra
4. This Cursed Rock by deadeye
5. Lost in Eldritch by Bob le Moche
6. My Entry by cactus
7. Herbert West in ‘Carrion Re-animating!’ by captainbinky
8. The Clatter of the Keys by Pishtaco
9. The Lake by agj
10. Doorror by Pencerkoff

*Note all screenshots are from their respective game threads.

Herbert West in 'Carrion Re-animating!' by Zombie Cow Studios in association with Lemmy & Binky

'Tis the story of one Herbert West, and his macabre, unholy experiments. Deep down, in his dark, dank basement he feverishly works away on re-animating the dead!

His experiments go well until -- most inconveniently, it must be said – the friends and family of the deceased begin to come a-knocking at the door, in a desperate search for their missing loved ones.

Clutching the re-animator serum in his trembling hands, poor Herbert rushes to the basement in a vain attempt to convince his visitors that their loved ones are live and well...

From the dudes who are working on The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, something you can tell from the graphics of both games. Basically you're running around trying to stick a big needle into hordes of zombie wannabees. The control is a little bit weird, especially with basic actions like jumping, but the game is still fun, try it out!

This Cursed Rock by deadeye

186 Thing from sea—in dark house, man finds doorknobs etc. wet as from touch of something. He has been a sea-captain, and once found a strange temple on a volcanically risen island.

An old ship captain wakes in his home one night to strange noises. When he goes to investigate, he's greeted by a horror from his past. The story will span ten years. Most of the gameplay will take place as a flashback.

A VERY SIMPLE platformer...the only reason I included this in here is because of the end, which is one of those WTF endings, worth the 15 or so minutes that you invested to beat this game.

Lost in Eldritch by Bob le Moche

Begin story with presence of narrator--inexplicable to himself--in utterly alien and terrifying scenes (dream?). Man with lost memory in strange, imperfectly comprehended environment. Fears to regain memory--a glimpse. . . .

I'm not sure what the creator was thinking when he made this game...but the control is just weird, especially the part where you have to "speed up" in order to run...but hey, the game's starry night background look great!

Verge by xerus

27 Life and Death
Death—its desolation and horror—bleak spaces—sea-bottom—dead cities. But Life—the greater horror! Vast unheard-of reptiles and leviathans—hideous beasts of prehistoric jungle—rank slimy vegetation—evil instincts of primal man—Life is more horrible than death.

The competition winner, a nice platformer, good graphics and interesting game play.

How come the closer I'm to the end of the article, the less I say about the game? Getting too tired perhaps hehehe, it's much more fun to read other people's writing than write something yourself, sigh.