It's that time again already, thanks to the usual end of the year rush. Asie is uploading recently discovered worlds, and variants of known ones. Oktrollberfest entrants are getting their Museum editions ready to go, and the wildcard streams of unpreserved games relentlessly continue.
For new material, it's all Oktrollberfest uploads still, so if you're kept yourself up to date there, there won't be anything mind-blowing here. Although one shouldn't discount kristomu's post-jam variant of Chicken Shock, cleaning up some bugs for a smoother experience now that the game has been properly scored since its original release before the jam's deadline.
Expect another pack before the year ends!
Contents
“Sonic and Friends” by DRG4 (1997)
What if Sonic the Hedgehog gave YOU a tour of Knothole village? Well, get ready to finally cross that one off the bucket list. Another DRG4 Archie Sonic comic inspired fan game takes players to Sonic's house, the taco hut, King Acorn's palace, the floating isle, and unplanned detour to Robotropolis.
“Snoozefest” by Dr. Dos (2023)
A loose parody of Nightmare, created by yours truly for Oktrollberfest. Collect the pieces of your consciousness to foil the plan of Dozer to keep you asleep forever. Simply answer the trivia, run the ping-pong-path, and put some dishes away, and you'll be home free! (Almost.)
“The Mewtonia Expedition” by Agent Orange (2023)
Idaho Gino and Frida journey to the land of Mewtonia to visit the latter's homeland. The Mewtonians these days don't take kindly to outsiders, nor to those who chose to leave in the first place, resulting in the fellow Kaiserkatzen being quite hostile to the two. Journey into the depths to make a few memories, and a few incidents before making your great escape.
“Dufus's Adventure in Space 2” by METAL97 (1995)
Uh oh! The power crystal has been stolen! It's up to Dufus to recover the artifact or else all life on Mars will perish after 24 hours!
This means walking around in space touching buttons that tell you to push them only to be punished for it, touching buttons that tell you not to push them only to be punished for it, and making a break for it through a bunch of guards with buggy code that makes them (thankfully) not throw stars endlessly while chasing the player down.
“Space Farce” by John Doty (1993)
A Star Trek parody that ticks the boxes when it comes to changing the names. A number of important ship parts have mysteriously disappeared, and it's your job to figure out where they went, and who stole them. Investigate the deliberately not named star ship, speaking with Captain Thickard (lmao), Lt. Sueyou, Dr. Beverly Crushed and stop the nefarious Mr. Rogers from broadcasting his show across the universe!
“The Space Way (1996)” (1996)
A-hem. Starting on a space station that's just seconds away from exploding, our intrepid hero must find an escape ship, return to their base, and then move on to a new mission to save Mars from unknown invaders. Easier said than done when there are so many spinning guns at point blank range shooting you, but at least the hyperspace visual looks nice (if a bit static).
“City of the Darned Trilogy” by Patrick Cheng
The start of the unexpected bewildering block of unpreserved games for the end of the year. A trilogy of yellow-border heavy titles in which the player must defeat the notorious player-hater (as in ZZT player) Harty Mock.
This is a game that works around its limitations, resulting in things like the "Steal Store" where everything is free.
You'll be framed for murder, have your town set on fire, watch MTV, accidentally kill Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat, and get Forrest Gump's autograph in a series that makes little sense, but is fun to see where it will take players next.
“La Vie Moderne de [IV,+I]” by Agent Orange (2023)
AKA Anserganger, a shoot em up starring Snorb that begins with an unofficial unsanctioned rocket launch. When an unexpected space warp sends the ship outside the solar system, Snorb needs to fight his way back home, which is easier said than done thanks to the ship's weapons using a free to play model to juice some payment out of any occupants. Blast your way through a few levels before confronting the sinister Melon Rusk.
“Touchdown! (earlier version)” by Apple McTom (2001)
An earlier version of the classic ZZT take on American football by Dutch ZZTer Apple McTom. Mostly identical to the other release which is dated just a few days later. You still get all that great art of cheerleaders, tackles, and field goals as you try to win the big game.
“The Legend of Zelda: The Land of Gannon Demo (original upload)” by EvilMario (1997)
Another minor revision! This time of a demo that exploded during the super locking process. In this release, the last board is toast while in the other one, it's toast where you kind of scrape away the burned parts in an effort to make it tastier. Other than the final board though, it's a straightforward Zelda adventure with Link other than when Link holds a sword to a dude's neck when he tries to cheat him out of a reward. I don't think they let you do that in Tears of the Kingdom...
“Peter's World” by Tyler Johnston
More "what the heck is this" unpreserved ZZT worlds! Peter's World is a semi-melted title screen that will melt your brain if you try to play it. The story is only suggested in the vaguest terms, so players mostly wander into buildings hoping they have exits. Often they don't, and when they do they'll frequently lead players somewhere else entirely, making this game impossible to follow from beginning to end in whatever manner the author may have intended. It's 100 boards long and has two sequels!
“Chicken Shock (Post-jam edition)” by kristomu (2023)
Another Oktrollberfest entry that makes a shaggy dog story into a ZZT game. Your quest for some wire cutters to cut some chicken wire is constantly being stymied by broken ethernet cables, the US armed forces, angry zookeepers, aliens, and avalanches. Try not to get run over. Try not to step on a landmine. Try not to turn into a pile of radioactive goop.
This release is a post-jam version that cleans up some of the bugs found in the original for a smoother trolling experience.
