Dharma Bums/Desolation Angels
August 15th, 2006, By Duncan Gough
// Kinda like Verlaine and Rimbaud
Having recently downloaded the first PSP demo, locoroco, (see these instructions on how to install and play it) it reminded me of a game prototype I’d been working last year. One that, to me, brings together Bob Dylan, Jack Jerouac, Dean Moriarty and Casual Games. Honestly, I can keep a straight face and say that.
Having played a lof ot Jelv recently, I’m convinced that, besides the awkward control mechanism in Jelv, the action of throw and catch makes for the perfect MCO, Massively Casual online Game. There’s a passage in one of Kerouacs’ books about watching football players running along the beach, tossing the ball to one another and enjoying the synchronicity of it all. It’s an image that stuck with me and that shared enjoyment, the element of fun in knowing the skills of the person you’re throwing to, that’s multiplayer gaming.
I want to play a simple pick-up-and-go game that is easy to understand. The best casual games have no obvious rules to learn. The best multiplayer games pair you up with people of the same skill level. The best online games, the best candidates for online casual games, are the ones in which you team up with other human players, not the ones that pit you against them. If catch is the oldest game, with the simplest rules and the largest number of people who understand how to play, then this prototype game needs to combine that mental image from Kerouac with the magic of the rolling ball. After all, someone needs to do it.
