Little Shit Planet

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Free Crap

Submitted by the99th on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 01:32.

Type:

Flash

Developer:

Farbs

No Longer Available

From the maker of ROM Check Fail comes a parody of Little Big Planet that subverts the gameplay as well as the nameplay -- like a lit'ol something I did when I was high.

How does it subvert the gameplay? Instead of offering analog control of platform/object physics manipulation, it offers one single verb -- jump -- which executes no matter which arrow key you push. From that, however, is startlingly good gameplay, where your skate-boarding shit-punk escapee avatar (Crap Boy) uses timing to make the most of the environment and build crazy momentum. I don't know if there's enough depth to it to keep up an episodic series, which is what the blog format the game is embedded in seems to imply, but whatever, it's pretty good as is. I'd take out a leveraged derivatives bet that Farbs was just playing with the user-created content lovefest fetishism that Sony is trying to rake with LBP -- if only Goldman Sachs would sell it to me (I've got a peso coin on my desk here, how much notational value could I get if I put that down?).

Because the gameplay subversion works, the aesthetics come tumbling forth like an enema of freedom. You are breaking out of the pirate ship you've previously called home, making play out of it, turning its black and white stark-scape into a skate-park. The music gives the pacing due diligence, and the speed cannot be denied. Giddy like Bart Simpson yet somehow slightly relevant.

"Subversive?"

Submitted by tconkling on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 07:42.

This is a cool little game with a clever aesthetic, but I'm totally confused about how it's at all related to LittleBigPlanet - a game I haven't played, but which seems to be all about a playful, physics-enabled level editor that anyone can use. Does LBP have a ridiculously complicated control scheme that is being parodied here? It being a 2D platformer, that seems unlikely. Is there something else I'm missing?

Re: this game - is it possible to get out of the giant half pipe that you drop into? I can't seem to build up enough speed to escape.

Um...

Submitted by Farbs on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 12:31.

Actually the name is a hangover from the original design. I'd originally intended it to be a means of tying together community built flash games with low production values. It was a mix of LBP and the fabulous The Shit Game. The design moved on, but the working title became intertwined with the fiction and I couldn't bear to let it go.

Regardless, I think an author's intentions are irrelevant in the analysis of their work. the99th may have come up with a completely different interpretation to what I'd intended, but that interpretation remains completely valid. Good show!

The title certainly isn't a dig at Media Molecule's amazing work. I think LBP is fantastic, and I highly recommend that people try it out.

Oh, and yes you can get out of the half pipe :)

Next episode drops soon.

Well, alright then. :) Just

Submitted by the99th on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 17:35.

Well, alright then. :)

Just to make it clear, Mark Healy is a super-talented dude and LBP, while being a well funded corporate investment, comes from indie roots (with Rag Doll Kung-fu).