If you find yourself perpetually saying that Singapore has no talent, think again. The following five games were created right here in sunny Singapore, and they’re actually pretty fun!
1.Straw Hat Samurai
In Straw Hat Samurai, you play as a samurai who looks a lot like Samurai Jack of Cartoon Network fame, who goes around striking fear into the hearts (and the heads) of evil. Literally.
Straw Hat Samurai’s only rule of play is using your mouse to draw a line across enemies’ bodies or heads to hurt them. Its simplistic nature belies multiple levels, and in Straw Hat Samurai Duels’ case, dynamic quests and multiplayer options. Created by Explosive Barrel, an independent local games studio that has been running for over five years, it promises hours of fun.
2. Orcganic
Originally designed by Angler Pte Ltd to make Chemistry classes more interesting for school children, Orcganic has since earned itself a more adult friendly version, without the complications of organic chemistry (Get it, Orcganic, organic?). Touted as a fast-paced capture-the-flag first person shooter, it has two Orcish factions duking it out in an arena.
Think of it as an FPS with Orcs and spells that you can pick up off the ground. The spells are similar to the ones you find in various racing games – they disable, they blind and they damage. One gripe I have about the game is that you need to lock onto your target first before you can hit it with spells.
3. Battle Stations
Battle Stations was one of the first to put Singapore on the map when it came to Facebook. It’s a Facebook game, naturally, and in it, you’re the captain of a ship. You start by picking a class and levelling your captain up, so that you can get resources to upgrade your ship and sink those of other players’.
Like most Facebook games, Battle Stations does utilise real-world cash, so watch out or you might end up spending lots of Facebook credits in attempt to zhng your ship!
Battle Stations was developed and produced by Singaporean developers Tyler Projects, and has hit a high of 60,000 users as of publication time.
4. Rocketbirds series
Rocketbirds: Revolution was the first in the series by Ratloop Asia, and was originally built for the browser. It was a phenomenal flash game, winning three finalist nominations at the Independent Games Festival 2010. Its success proved it was meant for greater things, and Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken for the Playstation 3 was conceived.
Hardboiled Chicken builds on the storyline of Revolution, and expands the universe with new characters, missions, puzzles, exclusive videos, cutscenes and more. There’ll be lots of puzzle play, a solo campaign, a co-op campaign, tons of guns and 3D support!
5. Monster Evolution
Monster Evolution is a smart little browser based flash game where you go around eating. And eating. And eating. And growing larger as you eat people! It might sound a little macabre, but the design and feel of the game is very cartoony and lacks detail, and looks like it’s more for kids than anyone else!
The aim of Monster Evolution is to start off as a small monster in a town of panicky people. As you eat more folk, you grow and evolve into a larger monster. Unfortunately, so does the army. By the time you’re at your largest, the army will have brought down their entire arsenal. You are equipped to deal with them though; different monsters get different abilities, so there’s a lot of replay value in this.
