FEIST
Developers: Filthy Grip
Nomination: Excellence in Visual Art, Student Showcase
Platform: Mac and PC (still in development)
Website
Description: Journey into twilight in a 2D platformer that’s cast solely in silhouette. Presently only videos and stills are available, so details are scarce. FEIST is the only student showcase winner that is also nominated for another award. Winner of Unity Award’s Best Game Overall and Best Visual Design.

Adam’s Thoughts:
FEIST doesn’t have a playable build yet, but there are enough screenshots to see why it’s up for artistic excellence. Its style is uncommonly bold and cohesive for a 2D platformer. Everything is rendered in silhouette, and all you can see in the world’s twilight is the eyes of the monsters who hunt you. It’s moody and intriguing, so hopefully the gameplay will live up to the artistic vision.

The platforming looks pretty varied, with shades of Super Mario Bros. and Bionic Commando mixed in. More interesting than the blending of two established genre formulas, however, is the designers’ claims that the game will feature procedurally-generated levels. It remains to be seen if this ambition will result in a sort of Left 4 Dead level of replayability or if it’ll reduce the level design to a homogenous tepid mush, but if it’s the former, it’ll be a heretofore unseen gem of 2D platforming.

Katie’s Thoughts:
In FEIST, you seem to navigate a small woodland creature across the woods, coping with obstacles and enemies. Your small, furry body, however, is in silhouette, so you come across looking like a meatball with arms, legs, and a long tail, which is surprisingly cute. The silhouette effect is evocative of Nightmare Before Christmas, and is very striking–and guess what? It’s up for a visual art award!

From the videos available, the gameplay looks like a standard platformer, with the exception that you can use your tail to swing around, much like the ninja rope in Worms. The game website also references eating food to survive, but which food to eat being a crucial decision in the life of your little meatball (no, they don’t call him a meatball), indicating that there is additional gameplay that is more complex than “jump that pit” and “hit that enemy with that rock.” It will be interesting to see what that entails once the full game is available.

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