Are you obsessed with typing to a somewhat unsettling extent? Then Icarus Proudbottom Teaches Typing, a parody arcade game made by Holy Wow Studios for SomethingAwful's "Subversive Edutainment" Game Jam, should be right up your carpel tunnel-stricken alley! A pitch-perfect parody of educational software, Icarus Proudbottom Teaches Typing sometimes gets off-color, but never unentertaining.
Welcome to the life of a teaching assistant (and/or editor)! The Grading Game by Mode of Expression is a beefed-up version of the arcade-style browser release First Person Tutor. It puts you in the unenviable role of a TA grading papers for a grumpy proffessor who wants his students to get the grade they deserve: a perfect F! Since you're a bit strapped for cash you have no choice but to capitulate, sifting through papers and marking every error you see with a big red pen.
Sixty levels of smooth block sliding puzzling goodness can be a little bit too relaxing, perhaps? Well don't fret, because if you want a little snark to keep you on your toes, Woodhead serves up subtle Onion-style satire with every new level. Taking full advantage of the iPhone's interface strengths, this is a great little time-waster to keep in your pocket.
The original Lee Lee's Quest left players with a lot of unanswered. Will platforming hero guy Lee Lee ever make peace with his cubey neighbors? Will Marcus Richert ever run out snarky fourth-wall breaking dialogue? Answer: APPARENTLY NOT. Just as hilarious as the first installment, Lee Lee's Quest 2 is the laugh-out loud sequel every fan could have wanted.
Witherworth University Professor Nathaniel Paynuss believes that proof-reading is meant to be a weapon to get back at those snotty collegiate brats making fun of him on "The Face Book". In First Person Tutor, an "educational" arcade game developed by Big Blue Boo Labs for the 7 Day FPS Game Jam, you play the role of beleaguered TA to the evil professor, held captive by a huge pile of student debt. You have a stack of papers to mark, and a score of professorial grudges Paynuss would be happy to settle by GPA proxy. You know what you have to do. The unique premise of First Person Tutor should appeal many on the internet, but it's very polished for a Game Jam work. The dark satire of college politics should give it wider appeal.
Come to Siquijor, Philippines, and stay at our lovely inn! Yes, we have a bit of a reputation for aswangs, a kind of vampiric beastie, but who would go to Loch Ness without Nessie, right? Besides, no one seems to stay here at night, anyway... A delightful tropical hotel simulation sprinkled with creepiness, Innkeeper balances local color and global appeal.
Marcy and Justine just want to do a good deed, handing out free personal safety alarms on campus. How dare those stupid students feel so safe that they refuse this offer? Clearly they don't understand the danger they're in. It's time to teach them, brawler style, in this former Ludum Dare action satire entry.
No wait, come back! This one is satire, I promise! For one, there's its pedigree: Anna Anthropy, master designer of such games as Mighty Jill Off and Redder, someone who clearly knows from killer pixel art, engaging concepts, and uber-difficulty minus uber-frustration. Then, there's its sponsor, adult swim a network that time has shown to have quite the track record in promoting works that capture just the right blend of retro aesthetics and modern sensibilities. And, last, but not least, there is the fact that Lesbian Spider-Queens of Mars is a heck of a lot of fun to play. It's a high-quality throwback to 80s arcade-style risk-reward action whose gameplay sucks you into a frantic world of patterns and rhythms, scratchy sounds and blocky graphics, high scores and extra lives. And Lesbian-Spider Queens, of course.
Two years ago, Antony Lavelle released Upgrade Complete. A mix of shoot em up and space invaders, the games main purpose was to unsubtly parody one of the more obnoxious aspects of modern gaming: the inclusion of unnecessary and convoluted upgrade systems. Everything came at a price and had to be bought: weapons, graphics, music, buttons... even the pre-loader and Armor Games intro animation. However... it turns out that the developers weren't quite done... After all, what is an upgrade system without a sequel that requires you to restart your progress from the beginning? Thus comes Upgrade Completer, a game that advances the original's premise as much as its humor.
Who could ever be satisfied just upgrading weapons systems and defensive towers? In Upgrade Complete, a shooter from Tony of Shift fame, you can upgrade practically anything you can think of. The title logo, the menu screen background, the user interface buttons... and oh yes, your weapons systems, too. How fast can you upgrade everything?
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