Spin Spinner 101: Deuteroscopy Edition – X2 Evolved (cheap knockoff)

fizzhog's picture
screenshot01.jpg

A fangame for tininsteelian's Spin Spinner series. I've recently played all of these again. I really like them. They seem so very GT, I'm surprised that they didn't get commented on at the time. It seemed a bit pointless to comment on such old games at this point so I thought I'd make something inspired by them instead. So this is in part a plea for people to have another look at these things.

Like a lot of things I make, this was a weaving together of various strands of thought going on at the moment. An interest in broken game physics. Use of randomness in making design decisions. A fascination with knockoffs or cheap clones especially related to things like tamagotchi.

A quick note about 'deuteroscopy' in the title. It was spat out at me by an online random word generator I was using; I'd never come across it before. One of the meanings of 'deuteroscopy' is "that which is seen upon a second view". So it's partly about what you might see if you look at these games a second time and also about the fact that when I first 'played' them I didn't realise they were interactive. 'Deuteroscopy' also means 'second sight' in the sense of clairvoyance - the two images in my game relate to this sense.

That's a lot of words about not much of a game. Sorry to waffle on but - even more than usual - I felt I had to justify this one to avoid seeming completely bonkers.

Controls: z and x

@ timinsteelian if you're not happy about this in any way then I'll take it down. It is meant as a thankyou for the fun and inspiration I've had from playing your games. If all is well then I may even consider looking at who else might be getting a fangame ... hmm. Or a jam maybe?

Made For: 
testing

Comments

Kate B's picture

3 years ago

3 years ago

bpseudopod's picture

loud and weird and happy

Oh man, this shit brings me WAY back. The discordant music, strange sound effects that overlap each other, and the constant, ceaseless motion reminds me of "game, game, and again game", this old flash artgame that blew my fucking mind when I was like 8 years old.
Even though I'm not sure there's any real mechanics to grasp here (besides the struggle of orienting your objects in 2D space), I spent a good few minutes poking around, trying to figure out what exactly you were supposed to do, or if you're supposed to do anything at all. I don't think you're supposed to do anything but fiddle?

Kate B's picture

follow up:

this felt like it was made by an algorithm out of found images and sounds. This isn't an insult it's a high compliment. it feels completely detatched from preestablished genres and tropes while still having a logic to it, like playing with an alien's computer

fizzhog's picture

There was a lot of use of

There was a lot of use of randomness. Random word generator gave me 'deuteroscopy'. Images were taken pretty much at random from the google image search rabbit hole that the word sent me down. Position of images on screen was done by clicking with my eyes closed. Sounds from a website that serves up random youtube videos. But the words did fit with wanting people to play timinsteelian's games from three years ago!

very annoying game

very annoying game

everythingstaken's picture

lol!

I laughed out loud really hard at this in my empty apartment.

Yeah, I think I'd also say this game is annoying. The interaction is so like inscrutable that I find it intriguing in a way. The combination of images and these popsicle looking forms. It's random but in a very specific way. Like, I'm not really sure why these things were combined? My favorite aspect is the default Clickteam Active Objects. I almost always think those things are funny.

tininsteelian's picture

I love it!

I love it! This game really captures the spirit of the original Spin Spinner games of barely controlled randomness, in terms of both graphics/sound and playability. I'm glad they were an inspiration for you!

I made the Spin Spinner games for KotM #100, where the challenge was to make 100 games in a weekend. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to spend much time on each game, I used the same base game for each of them, and then pulled graphics and sound effects almost at random to make each game different*. That sort of "literally anything goes" approach was necessary to churn them out so quickly, while still giving each of them a unique feel and experience. I still only managed to make 25 games; the 25th Spin Spinner has 76 levels, starting at level 25 and going to 100. I also streamed making them - the VODs are out there on YouTube somewhere if you're curious.

*Spin Spinner 4 and Spin Spinner 5 are the exact same game uploaded two times.