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Alt.Ctrl.GDC is aregularfixtureat the Game Developers Conference, and this year I spotted some properly incredible creations from its largely student-led group of exhibitors. There was a big focus onco-op gamesand time trial demos in this year’s cohort, with nearly every stand having some sort of whiteboard pinned up that was constantly being scrubbed out with new fastest lap times and corresponding visitor names. There was also lots of friendly hooting emanating from them as well, as mates and strangers attempted to co-ordinate their gaggles of limbs to steer various game characters in the right direction.
It was excellent fun, and I sampled a bunch of games that used toasters, intricate pulley systems, papier-mache tree stumps, bike wheels and more in place of your typical controllers and mice and keyboard. There were also plenty more I didn’t get to try out, mainly due to time, and you can see the full list over onGDC’s website. For now, though, here are some personal highlights of what I saw, including the largest bowler hat I think I’ve ever seen in my life.
We Played Games Using Weird Bespoke Controllers At EGX London 2022While you’re here, why not check out some of the great Alt Ctrl games we played at EGX last year as well?Watch on YouTube
We Played Games Using Weird Bespoke Controllers At EGX London 2022
Gilliams Great Escape
Don’t ask me why this toaster only fires fish out of its bread rack, but this cute toaster-fishing-golfing game is a real delight. You use the timer dial to aim your toaster down its series of abstract obstacle courses, hold down the spring to charge your shot, and then release to propel your fish (who I’m assuming is the Gilliam of the game’s title) towards the kitchen sink at the end of the road. There are slopes, wind blasts and rotating turbines to navigate, as well as sheer drops into the void and out of bounds gaps in the scenery you’ll want to steer clear of, too. It has bigWhat The Golfenergy, and I’d have happily played another dozen courses of this, easy peasy. All gamepads should have a clicky toaster dial from now on, please.
Paper Glider
If you can believe it, Paper Glider was not the most complicated Atl Ctrl game I saw at GDC this year. It certainly comes close, with its intricate set of pulleys, ropes, weights and modular frame, but playing this lovely little hang-glider game felt more like a mere warm-up for some of the other games on show here. In it, you control a cute, tiny box boy hanging precariously from a paper aeroplane, pulling down on the ropes to alter the flight trajectory of your fragile aircraft. The aim is to make it to the end in the fastest time, flying through golden rings that give you a speed boost while also dodging pesky tree branches, barrels, fences and obstructed open windows, pulling down to raise the plane, and raising them to divebomb below. It’s wonderfully tactile and responsive, and the sense of immersion was exceedingly good for a busy showfloor. A (paper) cut above the rest.
Stump’d!
Haber Dasher
Cosmic Crew: The Game
YettiBebbis: Puppet In A Cult
The level of craftsmanship on this year’s Alt Ctrl games was just phenomenal, and nowhere was this more evident than in YettiBebbis' puppeteer controller. Here, players had to use both their hands to control a virtual puppet, much like you would do a physical one - that is, moving their fingers to lift the puppet’s arms and legs, and the other hand to control their body movement and lift them up and down. In the game, you’ve got to use your puppet to mimic the movements of the devilish YettiBebbis, who are performing a ritual dance for their lord and master. Again, lots of intense ‘concentrate’ faces on this one, and no wonder. It was like suddenly being mistaken for somebody famous and having to adlib awkwardly in front of a crowd to maintain the illusion because you’re too embarrassed to say otherwise, and cor, I was glad to go back to crashing into cows with a rotating car when I was done. My creaking joints ain’t what they used to be.
