Dudes Who I Want To Pay But Can't
by Tupperwarez
Posted on Tuesday, March 11, 2008What, you'd rather read ten fucking paragraphs of "Yeah, what he said."? Here's your list.
Neil Manke
Some of you might have heard of They Hunger, a zombie outbreak themed single player mod for Half-Life 1. They Hunger was essentially a series of episodes, before the industry latched onto the term. It was very polished work that rightfully earned Neil and his collaborators positive press. Well, it turns out Neil has a game studio, Black Widow Games. And they are perilously close to releasing They Hunger: Lost Souls, which will be a purchasable, stand alone game based on the Source engine. The trouble is, they've been 'almost done' since last year. I hope this thing isn't stuck in QA limbo, because I'm really interested in checking out the final result.
Konjak
This guy isn't just a great artist. He also makes games that are both fun to play and look at, like Chalk and Noitu Love. Also, Noitu Love 2 is coming out soon, and it's looking really rad. He has worked on commercial games before I believe, doing sprite work for Contra 4 and such. But the fact remains that his work is definitely worth your time and money.
Nifflas
This is the guy that gave us mellow, exploration-themed platformers like Knytt and Within a Deep Forest. I find these games relaxing and laid back, and Knytt has the added bonus of odd looking critters and people(?) going about their business in the foreground and background. I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. It's like having an aquarium, but without the mysterious green scum that kills all your fish and makes you cry. Oh, that's right, he has a Donate link on his homepage. Does this still count? Oh who cares, I still think I should give him money in an official capacity, like a retail/online purchase of some kind.
Cactus
This guy. This guy is a machine. He cranks out all these bizarre little games with alarming frequency. Please, go poke around his site and give one of the many little doodads he has made a try. Cactus himself admits that they are more like experiments dressed up as games. And like most experiments, not all of them are successful. Still, his enthusiasm for trying new and strange things is certainly noteworthy. I would be really interested to see what he would turn out were he paid for his time.
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