The RPS Advent Calendar Guessing Game - 2017 Edition

[Tikey]

Finally a game that some people guessed!

[Aerothorn]

I’ll hold off on committing seppeku until the end, but I am filled with shame over my clearly inferior, poorly considered picks.

We finally have a four-way tie for the lead! Place yer bets - early leads are going to be worth a lot since people were pretty consistent in picking the obvious games (did anyone NOT pick Plunkbat or West of Loathing?)

[Ffrog]

I’m surprised i’m contending. Apart from some obvious ones, my list consists of “things I put on my wishlist at some point”. A tactic which got me last place last year!

[vinraith]

my tactic of picking games that have actually been written about on RPS has proven rather weak

I’m having the same basic thought. I don’t recall ever having seen an article about today’s choice, for example.

[Aerothorn]

I mean, it had a glowing RPS Recommended review, so we can’t really accuse them of being total stealth on this one. It’s just that only John played it, as is the case with the majority of the games he reviews (though I think Katherine may have as well? I can’t tell if her general absence of commentary notes is indicative of a lack of voting for it or if she’s just not doing writeups). https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/05/12/rakuen-review/

[alms]

I almost got Rakuen this fall in its (first?) sale since launch. It’s exactly the type of game I expect to see on a RPS end of year list, so I don’t have to keep my trap shut today. I’m sure Bennett Foddy’s game is plenty of fun but if you expect me to play a game because of the narrator, I’ve already paid my share in full with Bastion and The Stanley Parable and please have fun with that one, for me too.

[MiniMatt]

I suppose, being less grumpy, we should note that previous years have similarly served up surprises - in 2014 we had 8 doors which 2 or fewer entrants guessed, in 2015 there were 4 which 2 or fewer guessed, and in 2016 there were 5.

So at 5 doors so far guessed by 2 or fewer entrants this year, we might be doing a bit crap, but we’re probably doing a bit crap within an expected deviation. Especially if we enter a phase of more obvious picks as we hit the entries supported by more Horace cubs (I think this is the first year that sort of ordering has been noted - previously all days were equal except the last which was more equal than the others).

[LTK]

One does not simply ‘have fun’ Getting Over It, that’s practically the entire point of the game.

[MiniMatt]

An interesting corollary of all those zeros being picked is that games which many of us picked - sure things we thought - will now not make the list. The laws of mathematics always conspiring to ruin our fun.

Kingsway? John liked it a lot, but have we hit the quota of games John liked a lot but few other cubs have played much?
Cuphead? Definitely looks like an RPS game, but too new, perhaps not as widely played as we hoped?
West of Loathing? This week’s Weekend Playing post saw Graham reveal he hadn’t played it yet, what if others haven’t played it much either? The same was revealed about Edith Finch though I feel a little safer of that ground.
Ass Creed Oranges feels almost certainly doomed? I mentally had a slot for Autumn AAA games, Wardor, Oranges, and Wolfenstein - I chose… poorly. Surely Oranges can’t make the cut now as another 7-but-a-good-7 autumn triple A.

From my list I’ve a lot of long shots left which, but I fear we’ve moving beyond the days of the longshots and toward the more obvious so I suspect I’ve blown it. Most grumbly about Bomber Crew - every year I expect Tim Stone to at least convince some of the voting staff to play something hexy and every year I leave disappointed. This year I know he got at least one playing Bomber Crew, and it’s FTL - the core crew love FTL. But I fear its place will be limited to the aftershow party lists the freelancers throw.

[vinraith]

Isn’t the “entire point of the game” getting visibly frustrated for the amusement of others on Twitch? The main reason I was so surprised to see this on the Advent calendar is that it’s very clearly designed to be a showcase for streaming antics and little else. I can’t recall RPS ever putting such a thing on the calendar before, though my memory may be failing me.

Most grumbly about Bomber Crew - every year I expect Tim Stone to at least convince some of the voting staff to play something hexy and every year I leave disappointed.

It’s a lovely idea but a bad bet, I suppose. Personally I’d like to see Tim’s advent calendar picks, I suspect there’d be a lot of profoundly interesting stuff I missed completely.

[MiniMatt]

Read Tim’s columns for the writing rather than the games. The man has a golden word processor. Or perhaps the one thing Clippy really can help with is wargame reviews - “it looks like you’re writing a Napoleonic after action report, and I am fucking on it”

He does a great job of catering to the hard core grogs whilst making suggestive glances to those of us who stand at the wall coquettishly flirting with the more approachable dancers on the hex gridded dance floor.

[alms]

One does not simply ‘have fun’ Getting Over It, that’s practically the entire point of the game.

Imagine someone proclaiming that sleeping on a bed of nails was one of the best experiences they’ve had this year and they’re trying to cajole you into the same, but you don’t want to hurt their feelings too badly. Or add air-quotes around the word fun.

Isn’t the “entire point of the game” getting visibly frustrated for the amusement of others on Twitch? The main reason I was so surprised to see this on the Advent calendar is that it’s very clearly designed to be a showcase for streaming antics and little else. I can’t recall RPS ever putting such a thing on the calendar before, though my memory may be failing me.

The fighting-against-controls genre makes those games appealing for streaming, however Sexy Hiking and QWOP both pre-date the launch of Twitch by a few years.

This remark by Graham seemed crucial, to me, to understand why, while the genre is hardly new, we should be paying attention to this particular game:

It’s the narration that takes it from diverting novelty to sublime physical comedy. Foddy explains the philosophy of the game, drolly remarks upon your setbacks and comforts and mocks in equal measure. You can best get a sense of it and the game via the trailer, which is the best of trailers.

Sounds to me like another the ‘narrator makes the game’. I might give it a try if it falls on my head, via bundles or something like that, but that’s it.

[alms]

Today’s choice (shameless plug) should make lots happy?

[MiniMatt]

Today’s choice (shameless plug) should make lots happy?

Yay! (ten chars) (damnit, twenty chars)

[and_its_man]

In this day and age of what has been coined “frustration marketing”, a game about what mysteriously keeps us coming back to hostile mechanics seems fitting.
In a way, Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy reminds me of last year’s Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor by Sundae Month, which I took as a caustic commentary on the time-consuming routine of daily quests. A zaelous hunt for digital non-valuables, here appropriately presented as ‘trash’.
(iirc, Bennett Foddy also drops a few lines about digital objects being trash, during the game)
Or, it’s like a close-up on the baby+fire sequence in The Stanley Parable.

[Aerothorn]

Also, let’s not overlook the fact that the developer of Getting Over It is behind Super Pole Rider, one of the greatest local multiplayer games of all time.

Given that the game is free to anyone who subscribes to even one Humble Monthly, I’d say most of us probably have the opportunity to spend some time playing it before dismissing it.

[Aerothorn]

Also, for today’s pick: YOU GET A POINT! AND YOU GET A POINT! AND YOU GET A POINT!

[Aerothorn]

(I think this is the first year that sort of ordering has been noted - previously all days were equal except the last which was more equal than the others).

In previous years they’ve ‘held back’ obvious GOTY contenders to keep up the tension, but yes, it’s rarely been this sort of straight move from obscure to obvious. It really does seem outright stack-ranked this year. May be because with all the new staff that’s the only manageable way to do it.

[vinraith]

Also, for today’s pick: YOU GET A POINT! AND YOU GET A POINT! AND YOU GET A POINT!

Funny, though, that the few that didn’t pick it were largely those that were in the lead. The result is that we have Deekyfun and Ffrog as clear frontrunners now - at least for the moment.

[DeekyFun]

I’m not expecting this to last, in my case. I keep looking at my remaining list and thinking… Hmm, not bloody likely.