Indie Game Appy 1000mg Has Excellent Art, Touching Story

For those unaware, Ludum Dare is a contest that challenges developers to create a game in 48 hours. As you can probably expect, some intriguing indie projects make their way into the contest, and while most of the titles aren’t very long, they’re certainly meaningful. One of the standout entries in Ludum Dare, which recently ended, was Appy 1000mg from developer Sebastian Benard.

In the game, you play as a robot-like character who wakes up with a bad case of amnesia. It’s your job to guide the little character through a small world to recover his memories. The game tells its story through dialogue boxes, but because of the short length of Appy 1000mg, nothing is overly drawn out or exhausting to read.

Appy 1000mg features simple platforming mechanics and a couple of pick-ups here and there. As you draw closer to the game’s end, the story becomes a bit darker, and thanks to the beautiful and effective art design, you don’t need words to tell you that things are looking grim. You should be able to beat the game in a matter of minutes, and once you reach the end, you’ll discover the touching tragedy of this tale.

Benard’s distinct visual style is heavy on pixels and shading, and it looks absolutely stunning. There is no sound whatsoever, and while that’s not a big deal, a melancholy theme would have definitely fit perfectly with the game’s mood. Because you’ll likely get done with this browser-based title in under 10 minutes, the lack of sound doesn’t hamper the overall experience.

Check out Appy 1000mg on the official Ludum Dare website. There you can play both the official version of the game and the enhanced version, which adds a few fixes and an extra item for exploring the world.