The Fourth Annual Coint and Plick Video Games Poll - Part One: #106 - AKA the 26 games that got one vote and five points

2010 saw the full blossom of the iPhone as a gaming machine and the "every man a gamer" explosion that we were warned the casual game would lead to. We saw the madness of crowds lead to motion gaming devices on all major home systems. It was the last full year of the DS as the dominant handheld. There was a narrowing of the playing field in sales for the big three and a resurgence of downloadable PC games both old and new thanks to Steam and GOG. The watchword, perhaps even more than usual, was "diversity"; the market is broad enough now to support a breadth of styles and approaches to game making and playing that would have been virtually unimaginable even five years ago.

Coint and Plick offers a peek into the mind of a cross-section of Joe Average gamers; thirty-nine guys (mostly) and gals from their teens into their forties who still enjoy a good orc rampage/brick busting/mecha flight/historical sim/plastic guitar concert. Far from giving the reader a definitive "top ten", Coint and Plick aims to offer a chance for the busy and broke gamer to acquaint him/herself with potential missed highlights. Every one of these games made someone's year end list and every one has something unique and meaningful to offer. My goal is to create a time capsule that we can refer back to when we want to remember what we were playing in that long ago year of 2010.

This poll was taken in Pazz and Jop style vote/point format: all voters had 100 points to divide among any ten games released in 2009. The maximum number of points each entry could receive was no more than thirty. In the end, 132 games were nominated. Rather than just peel off the top half, I’ve opted to list everything that got a vote here, along with a bevy of links, images and YouTubes of note to help introduce you to the games in question. In case of a tie breaker, I went by number of people who voted for a game first and number of people who listed the game as their #1 of the year second.

Bear in mind that not every voter used the full amount of points they had at their disposal, so the numbers don’t crunch exactly. User comments for these games come from individual ballots as well as from past posts on ILX or across the web; I’ve done a bit of editing to streamline but I’ve made every effort to maintain your meaning. My apologies if you feel misquoted; feel free to correct me on this thread.

I’ll be striving to list roughly three to four entries per day over the next two months. It's gonna be a long unveiling so get comfortable.

The inimitable jamescobo has taken it upon himself to immortalize this work on a lovely wordpress blog elsewhere on the web, so hie you there to look at past incarnations of the poll and the current one as it unfolds: http://cointandplick.wordpress.com/

To kick it off, here’s the first few low men on the totem pole: the games that got the bare minimum of five points and a single ballot cast in their favor.

#:106: Achievement Unlocked – PC – 5 pts – 1 vote - FREE
Official Game Site

http://www.webhostgames.com/stock_games/a/achievement_unlocked_2/small.jpg

Complete walkthru

http://www.leetgamesblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/achievement_unlocked_2.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LgBVJ700hY

jmtb02 interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uroudETR550

Euler: I spent a happy hour or so maxing out and feeling self-conscious about how I have been known to do dumb, unfun things to get achievements. So I guess the meta paid off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY8oA8tmwZk

Play it at Armor Games

http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2010/08/achievement_unlocked_2.jpg

#106: Bit.Trip.Beat – Wii/PC/Mac/iPhone – 5 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

http://kingrex32.webs.com/bit_trip_beat_wii_Ware.jpg

Pop Matters Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0Pl4sPurck

Buy the Soundtrack for six bucks

http://www.shacknews.com/images/generated/4c936cf06f9b3_featured_without_text_15896_4c936ce522c23.jpg

Nhex: Simply seizure inducing. I'm hungry for more games like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6cjZF7m6fU

Edge Review

http://myph.us/pics/98043_bit2.jpg

Zappi: One of the most frustratingly difficult games ever, but somehow i love it. It’s like a pong version of Rez.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdMiXcjUZmY

Metacritic

http://www.zacharyreese.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/bittrip01.gif

Bit.Trip.Beat for the TI-84 Graphing Calculator

#106: Chaos Rings – iPhone – 5 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUqYAdTOPOU

http://img.slidetoplay.com/screenshots/chaos-rings-ipad-game-hands-on-video_1.jpg

NY Times Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HxYHI0t7SU

http://www.whatmobile.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/chaos-rings_2.jpg

Among the highest rated Metacritic games of all time

http://www.whatmobile.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/chaos-rings_1.jpg

http://www.officialstrategyguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Chaos-Rings-1.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vi_BaN8fgM

Jim D: It's not really the full RPG it claims to be. It's story light, combat heavy and innovation free, but that all works in its favor when you're playing in 10 minute chunks. The battles are just tactically engaging enough to stay interesting and it all looks perfectly lovely.

http://admintell.napco.com/ee/images/uploads/appletell/Chaos_Rings_for_iPad_Screen2.PNG

nice presentation forks!

cool, glad this is getting underway. my first year to vote! and none of my games will be #106, i split 100 pts among 5 games O_O

same, i actually tried to give 100 points to one game but the tyrant known as forks made it known that that wouldnt fly

Wow, Bit Trip Beat looks great fun, and I didn't realise it had been released on iphone. So this poll has already cost me 59p.

Excited! Looking forward to this, and also looking forward to going home where I can turn images and youtubes on and see it in its full glory

good jobs forks! shall read this when i finally get internet at home, as at work i can't see images or Utube dammit.

Yay! So happy to see this kick off. Thanks forks!

ooh, a second Achievement Unlocked? There goes my afternoon....

huzzah!!!

speaking of bit.trip, the newest version's trailer just came out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEYW9SSWlJk

That achievement unlocked cheat really misses the point of the game

It was Achievement Unlocked 2, no?

I need to keep a better eye on the flash games thread b/c for time/enjoyment ratio maximizing those games are aces.

Yeah, but what does it let you do? Get more coins a few seconds earlier?

You mean compared to the first one? I have no idea, I only played the second one (no cheats afaik)

I'm referring to the YouTube vid forks posted.

ok watched the vid & don't understand the glitch; enjoying my 10 gamerpoints for watching though.

finally! i realize now that i'm probably gonna buy just about every iphone game on this list

awesome! good work, forks!

how many people have played Chaos Rings? It really piques my interest that Square is "getting in the ring" on the iphone platform.

i loved achievement unlocked 2 (which all those shots are from), especially for the meta ending. never played AU1.

Both Achievement Unlocked games are awesome.

ftr, I loved Achievement Unlocked (1 and 2) and I think it was on an early version of my ballot before it had to make room for more substantial games. But as a one to two hour diversion it's classic. (esp the hot coffee secret unlock scene.) Also curious about Chaos Rings but I keep waiting for the price to go down. $12 feels too much to me for an iPhone game.

sad that bit trip beat won't work on my poxy iphone 3gs.

Yeah, I think I'm the only person (at least in these parts) who played Chaos Rings, despite much evangelising. It's easily worth $12.

$12 tho! Is the story good?

Well, no, the overall story isn't - it's really short and very generic. But the cute touch in the writing is the fact that as you play through, you interact with other characters who later become playable themselves, so you get to see their personal character stories (which are much more interesting that the larger plot) both externally and internally. It works quite nicely. But that's still all incidental to the combat: in a sense it feels like square's attempt at a roguelike.

I'm actually somewhat intrigued by that, but would rather hope for a Mac/PC port

#106: Cut The Rope – iPhone – 5 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

http://cdn.pocket-lint.com/images/xqDY/app-day-cut-the-rope-0.jpg?20101014-145406

Walkthrough

Ledge: It’s a pretty bog standard puzzle game imo, far too dependent on timing and chance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1gf5UdYHwg

CNet Review

1 million sold in ten days, 2 million in three weeks

http://images.intomobile.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/cut-the-rope.jpg

a hoy hoy : Cut the rope is terrific and also incredibly incredibly frustrating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OCzpjvmyrg

Zero Punctuation Review (sorta)

http://viprasys.org/xfs/image/direct/GALCH4ygTZ/99657169b281791a25cd8907deed26f7.png

poop: How do you get a goth out of a tree?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkC8n6TntBs

IGN Review

http://pelwaves.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/cut-the-rope-game.jpg

Walkthrough

#106: DC Universe Online (Beta Demo) – PS3/PC – 5 pts – 1 vote

Official Game Site

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/dc-universe-online-release-date-is-november-2-2010.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7Nf-m6WGl4

Already it’s Sony Online Entertainment’s “fastest selling game,” whatever that means

http://www.cheatcodesgalore.com/playstation3/games/DC_Universe_Online/DC_Universe_Online-s2.jpg

Forksclovetofu: First I had to wait literally a full day and night for the 12 gig demo to download and when it finally loads, there's a gorgeous five minute CGI movie that seems like it's taken from some Geoff Johns script or other. Lex and the villains kill all the heroes then Brainiac comes and enslaves the human race but Lex survives and comes back in time to warn the heroes and also brings a gazillion space robot doohickeys that will infect the human populace with SUPERPOWERS so we can defend ourselves when brainiac comes. Blah blah blah. THEN! Character creation: very granular, great interface, loads of customizable fun. I spent a half hour making a guy who has acrobatic powers from doohickeys he creates and trains himself to fight with a bo staff and do acrobatics. He's got a skull mask, a paramilitary backpack and a polo sweater vest with a skull on it. Slacks, dress shoes, formal gloves. Calls himself Skully D. Then BANG Skully is on a ship in what's clearly a tutorial, killing bad guys, climbing on walls, doing backflips, levelling, getting POWER POINTS and generally being unkillable. Then (terrible looking) Superman shows up and wastes a shitton of guys. Oracle tells you to teleport to earth and BANG you're in a Gotham police station with 500 other losers called "THE FRAGMENT" and "COOLX" and so forth, flying and speeding and teleporting in various capes and tights. From there you’re off to the races. Having never played an MMORPG, the key opiates are fresh and very addictive. I put in two full ten hour days of play in a row and then made my 2011 resolution to not play this any more as this might otherwise be the only thing i do with my life this year.
Not that it's that great or anything but holy fuck the sugar drip of these online RPGs are painfully addictive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP6F3lkotRw

Taking aim at WOW

http://scrawlfx.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dc-universe-online_2009_04-14-09_05.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZZ4Vt8fH-M

The Curse of Superboobs

http://thegamingliberty.com/wp-content/uploads/DCUNIVERSEO.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIAZ1sdCzW8

”Trying to be Female Friendly”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK0eZnDxvy8

http://nerdreactor.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/DC-Universe-Online-Gotham-Metropolis-08.jpg

Jim Lee Interview

i enjoyed this -- got almost every star in the game. not quite as fun as angry birds but just as cheap. xp

and i'm VERY curious about DCU but i have no PC nor a PS. l4m3.

#106: Deathsmiles – 360 – 5 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

http://www.aksysgames.com/wp-content/gallery/deathsmiles_screenshots/deathsmiles_02.jpg

... you inexplicably blow on the tokens, sending them and the hapless girl's skirt into the air revealing her panties.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f0ucrsjn4U

Alan N: My first impression of this game is that it looks great but I really, really wish they went straight Castlevania instead of the Pedo-vania art style the designers decided on. Thrilled to see they went with the age info at the character select screen too… everybody’s 17 and under! Second impression: eh, who cares about all that? This game is a blast; easily the best horizontal SHMUP since Gradius 5.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/kotaku/2009/05/deathsmiles_cosplay.jpg

A Question of Value

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwWCH0rsCgA

http://blog.emegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/DeathSmiles-xbox360-03-600x450.jpg

1cc SHMUP Log Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shAm2oeWOjs

http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/189790-deathsmiles_header.jpg

Gamewit Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FACE5Bj4FQs

http://www.acparadise.com/cosplayers/10763/10763-36381-2f6aced7b3a9b991f5f2a2024a4332f7.jpg

can i suggest that you lump the links, comments, pics and vids together in their own sections? I hate to be a backseat driver and maybe everyone feels differently from me, but i find everything easier to take in that way. might also want to rehost some of the pics so that the thread will still be readable a couple years down the line.

eh, i like the diversity of it. And the Coint and Plick blog has been where this stuff gets immortalized.

fair enough. mb u should link C&P blog in the OP then?

so deathsmiles is what -- tyrian 2000 but with underage japanese girls instead of space ships?

xp I don't run the blog, but when/if it gets updated I certainly will.

not a fan of posting every single entry. seems overkill and makes points and places a little less significant. thats all my bitching. thanks for doing it forks.

I get more and more tempted to buy DCU. Tom Chick's write-up for Gamepro and enthusiasm over it in the latest Jumping the Shark podcast might have sealed it for me.

Anyone want to join me on PS3 and take the plunge?

the thing about Tom Chick is he has really unconventional taste in video games, which means I'm always interested in what he likes but keenly aware that it might not resonate for me at all. that said, i do want to try DCU really badly.

dont like mmorpgs because i hate people, but doing supervillan shit would be totally awes except i am also in the deprived of pcps3 camp so oh well.

btw i am now involved in endgame hatefuck with the game i was regretting not putting on my list, so im glad i didnt try to weasel forks into letting me change one of my votes.

jsut fyi chaos rings is so much less fun than the FFI & FFII remakes for the iphone that i wld rather play them, than the chaos rings. bcuz its p stupid.

Tom's totally an outlier, but I tend to like a lot of the same stuff he does (as you'll see with my #1 pick). Except for RTS games which can just piss off.

xp I don't run the blog, but when/if it gets updated I certainly will.

intro & first entry are up; I'll add them as my schedule permits.

he's definitely one of the few game critics with a recognizable POV

yer a sweetheart james

Boy is my red.

Is there any way we could do this all in one big thread? Think of the ILX LOL (list of lists)!

tried that method and people freak out because the media takes FOREVER to load.
I'll put a list of prior nominees and earlier threads at the top of each new thread so you can easily click through to older ones, a'la: Concluding The Third Annual Coint and Plick Poll: ILG’s Best Video Games of 2009 - Part Four: #1 through #20

do you understand how difficult it is to explain to people IRL what it is that I'm doing spending an hour a day on this? it's olympic nerdery

― الله basedأكبر (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, February 8, 2011 3:58 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

aw

seconded

#106: Sleep is Death – PC – 5 pts – 1 vote – Only two bucks (minimum)!
Official Game Site and Download Hub

http://pc.gamezone.com/images/sized/images/screenshots/SleepIsDeathfeature-630x218.jpg

Gamasutra Analysis

Forksclovetofu: It's a two-player only game where people take thirty second turns scripting, scoring and animating an 8-bit environment that they each play through together. My vote for Sleep Is Death is nearly a meta-recommendation; I wasn’t able to devote the time and energy it required you to put into it, but the concept and the quantum leap forward that it made even as a proof of concept deserves acknowledgement. If this had come out when I was in high school and had lots of free time, I basically would’ve eat/sleep/breathed this; as it is, I probably played it four times and backed slowly away. I blame myself, not the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGiBd1pTVCs

Stories

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2010/04/forever.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYdVDmfbwjI

Dev Blog

http://a.onionstatic.com/images/media/game/654/sleep-is-death_jpg_627x325_crop_upscale_q85.jpg

Mordy: This was really easy to set up; I made an interrogation room, a visitor's room for a prison, a house, a prisoner in striped pajamas and a hanging interrogation style lightbulb. Everything else I needed came with the game. I'm already working on something for my wife where I made an avatar that looks like her.

Onion AV Club Rohrer Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGZ73DBndx8

Wired

http://www.boingboing.net/oimages/sleepdeathpayanything.png

The Trend of De-Automation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsgNdoFnlHg

Shannon Galvin’s Worldbuilding Tutorial

http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2010/04/02/1.png

Brainy Gamer Recommendations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6QDJQOa5Lw

Boing Boing

http://www.gamesetwatch.com/100427-sid.jpg

GM: This is a thing that I will pay for and hardly ever use, I am sure.

Rohmer Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmYHd7fS78A

Hundreds of Resource Packs

#106: Slingo Supreme – iPhone – 5 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_TrXBRDgQciQ/TG1oQeM3Q6I/AAAAAAAALGU/gxUVcy3ZIn0/s1600/Slingo+Supreme.jpg

Play Online for Free

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmL7ADoJUBM

jeff: It's not even fun and only barely a game, but still very playable.

http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/027/Purple/28/52/85/mzl.zviqnjhb.480x480-75.jpg

Developer Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfk3zuUiVpk

Dev Blog

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/resources/images/1392365/

jamescobo: God, why can’t I stop playing this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d80rFtHYjbE

Touch Arcade Review

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/resources/images/1392373/

I played this a few times but I don't think I ended up voting for it. It was enjoyable but it was also a lot of work. When you get home in the evening you don't want to start creating objects and slaving over textures to make them look right. Also, there were way more people who wanted to play with your worlds than vice-versa, and it's much more satisfying being the player than the creator. xp

#106: Sly Cooper Collection – PS3 – 5 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l4e1n2HVpl1qbzf0vo1_500.png

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jiMBnzi0P4

Game Trailer Review

http://files.g4tv.com/ImageDb3/244260_S/New-Sly-Cooper-Collection-Comparison-Screens.jpg

”Which body part would you be?”

http://images.cosplay.com/photos/11/1151909.jpg

Eurogamer Review

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2010/06/5303gamesinone.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yfb6KF7B4M

Cozen: I’m claiming credit for this btw.

http://www.geek.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/sly3sl1.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqK319Kn3Cg

s1ocki: Is this like some british tea simulator or something?

700+ Sly Cooper Fanfic stories

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs20/f/2007/267/8/8/Pregnant_Female_Sly_Cooper__by_Virus_20.jpg

wtf is that

Pregnant_Female_Sly_Cooper__by_Virus_20.jpg

posting just so that i never have to see that again

can you put cozen's quote on that last pic? thanks

6. Sly and bentleys Happy time adventure! :3 by Neo the Otter
sLY AND BENT HAVE A HAPPT TIME ADVENTURE! NOT FOR KIDS
Rated: M - English - Humor/Horror - Chapters: 1 - Words: 490 - Published: 12-28-10

wow slingo is terrible!

so it's bingo and what now?

I can't believe you fuckers made me buy slingo, it's the worst game I've ever played for three hours straight.

hahaha i was just about to come here and bitch about slingo and how it isnt even a game and bitch bitch bitch and then i noticed that i had been playing the lite version for 2 hours without realizing it.

this is why people have gambling problems

Slingo effortlessly combines the thrills of Bingo with the fun of poking blindly at a screen

said the guy who's like three stars away from 100%ing it

that slingo is evil

played it for an hour on lite and then deleted it. why? bc it was simultaneously so addictive and yet every new round i played made me angrier and angrier that it was suckering me in

What the hell now I really want to NOT download slingo

i am worried that one of my voted before i had time to play it games isnt going to place at this point, but that wont really be the end of the world, although i looked forward to yammering about its strengths (and significant weaknesses). no spoilers tho, so you will all just have to guess.

I thought all votes were placing?

no im saying i didnt play it until after i voted, so unless someone else voted for it it wont make the list (and i havent really heard anybody talk about it on here so?)

http://www.blogcdn.com/news.bigdownload.com/media/2010/05/warrirosboxcovermay7.jpg

I forgot to ask if I could vote for Evony.

NAUGHTY BEAR! NAUGHTY BEAR! NAUGHTY BEAR!

Naughty Bear is definitely not the worst game I played this year fwiw.

wow

i am impressed that a) you played naughty bear and b) that there are worse games!

It was the first game I put on my Gamefly queue lol

;_; I didn't vote

RIP Cataclysm

just so peeps dont think im getting hoity toity over here, i bout the rerelease of conkers bad fur day AND harvey birdman for wii, so my taste is uh questionable

#106: Taberinos – Flash – 5 pts – 1 vote – FREE online
Official Game Site

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-8Z07M5MC8

Captain Lorax: I got to level 19 I think. It’s insane.

http://www.dweepspace.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/taberinos.jpg

More flash games from the same designer, Tonypa

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4463864148_680948d40b.jpg

Estela: I love Taberinos.

Downloadable .swf version

http://static-2.socialgo.com/cache/85560/image/549.jpg

Download an MP3 of the Tamberinos' theme: “Tango de Manzana” by Kevin Macleod

#106: Teppoman 2 – PC – 5 pts – 1 vote - FREE
Official Game Site

http://small-games.info/s/l/t/Teppoman_2_1.jpg

”Teppoman 2 is a freeward 2D action platformer that puts you in control of a caped assassin with a craving for bananas, specifically the brown-coloured ones which can only be found inside a heavily-fortified base under the command of a white-hooded man.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPlG1uoV_jQ

http://www.indiegames.com/blog/images/timw/teppoman5b.png

Download for free by clicking the fourth link down on this page

http://www.pixelprospector.com/wp-content/gallery/teppoman-2/teppoman-2-01.jpg

Ikiki appreciation page

http://www.pixelprospector.com/wp-content/gallery/teppoman-2/teppoman-2-05.jpg

Bamcquern: I love this tiny naked ninja series and game developer Ikiki’s work in general, and this might even have rated higher if I could get past that really high wall that requires a string of difficult moves performed in about one second with precision timing to move on.

http://img806.imageshack.us/img806/9199/newbitmapimage.png

That'll do it for the #106 collection. We'll see about starting a new thread tomorrow.
Just looking over all these games, I'm a bit astonished at the diversity of visual styles, platforms, subject matter and tone. You'll see that's going to be something of a theme for this poll; we're all over the map.

how come my dn gets capitalised but slocki's doesn't I ask you

can't load this thread, reminds me why I never vote in stupid polls

yeah this thread's a bitch to load

That'll do it for the #106 collection.

thank god, Teppoman 2 was 106z

Brown bananas?

http://paxarcana.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/rotten_bananas.jpg

how come my dn gets capitalised but slocki's doesn't I ask you

http://www.overviewhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/baby-cry.gif

can't load this thread, reminds me why I never vote in stupid polls

http://www.overviewhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/baby-cry.gif

The Fourth Annual Coint and Plick Video Games Poll - Part Two: #80 - 105

if you want to taste the true depths of pointless ocd gambling the full version of slingo is now available for free fyi

Slingo owns, haters gonna hate

my god i can't believe i paid for those endless hours of anti-fun when i could've had them for FREE.

holy shit

why did I download Slingo

goodbye free time