Commentary: Originality in games.

Today I downloaded Smash Hit by Mediocre on my phone. And I was blown away by the originality! It was a much needed fun and interesting phone game! They took the contrite endless runner game mechanic combined it with break-out to create a first person smash to survive game. 

This game feels so indie, I love it.

Here's why it felt so original:

 

Mediocre improved upon the endless runner genre. As far as I can tell, the bulk of the world is not randomly generated, which plagues many runner games. As a result, Mediocre could handcraft the look of the environments and made sure it didn't become too hard too fast. They also created checkpoints, so when you die, you can start there. So nice! (It's part of the paid version.)

 

The world is art. Even with simple geometric shapes, Mediocre sets the mood with music, material shading, and lighting. This game is living proof that videogames are an art form. Even though there is no story, you can still sense it!

 

Everything is a game! There's even a level for the credits! If you smash everything in the credits, there's a secret minigame (Now that's attention to detail!).

 

Finally, this game is not a clone or money grabber. It's really refreshing. I can tell the studio loves making games for games sake.

 

 Oh, and the physics engine is AMAZING!

 

 Seriously, try it out! It's free to play on Google Play here.

Apple Store here.

 

If you've played it, let me know what you think about it in the comments!

 

P.S. Mediocre is based in Sweden and focuses on non-violent games. Now that's my type of studio!

 

Images courtesy of GooglePlay