Its a weird thought to have, but about halfway through my play session of egg a thought entered my head - "how long is inbetween each turn?" Is the game real time, or do the machinations of these egg gods fighting it out take place over eons, their civilisations living their lives under the shadows of the eggs, that only move occasionally to distribute destruction and bountiful life all the same?
Of course, there is no answer and it's not important really. But I bring it up because this weird-ass strategy golf-god game about eggs legitimately wormed quite deep into my head. As you knock your egg, raising and destroying huge cities as lovely music plays on weird abstract playfield, there's just the right amount of time left for you to think, the gameplay is just the right pace, for the ambience to really get to you - in my experience at least.
And the aesthetic here is just great. There's your obligatory excellent 1990s pre-rendered CGs which go hard as hell and are particularly fitting, but the sprite art is also excellent, particularly the remarkable amount of effort that's gone into giving the various stages of your civilisation different animated sprites, which really makes it feel alive.
And the end result is a bit unnerving, which I think is the point. I know it's a bizzare comparison to make but it reminds me a lot of Flower, Sun and Rain in how it makes and treats a semi-real bizzaro logic world, and how it gets the mind racing. It's hard to make much of a statement on an art piece that people are going to take very different things away from, but I just really like this kinda shit.
Also in the ultimate plot twist, its actualy a pretty good strategy game? The combination of golf, city building and conquest with a fucking egg actually works really well. The key really in my opinion is that there's a good number of different win conditions which overlap with each other just enough, and are generally enough in reach at any one point to make for frankly, really interesting gameplay. And the egg golf itself is just a thing of genius - I think without it the game's strategy could get too "worked out", but with the layer of chaos that comes with smashing eggs all over the place mistakes and misjudgements are inevitably made, and capitalising off them and changing your plans on the fly is where the gameplay really shines.
It is too slow, the mission mode is shite and the enemy AI isn't great, but it's still a pretty great time for what it is. I think the main thing i'd change is making either the maps smaller or making the egg shots a bit more powerful, because things can really get drawn out if you allow them to - but honestly with a bit of adjustment would make an absolutely fantastic board game.
Perhaps the most baffling thing about Egg then, is how cohesive it all is. There are frankly, plenty of cool as hell aesthetic games of this era which are captivating on a conceptual or visual level, but the gameplay in Egg turns out a perfect compliment as something to get the mind racing. It's engaging and honestly fun, but also fundementally extremely simple, and it just makes it oh so easy to immerse oneself in it, get in the headspace it feels like the devs want you in - at least in my experience.
It is a very limited work, granted. Exceptionally cool and well worth a look, but it's hard to imagine this truly captivating anyone for too long, and it's more of a thought provoker than something that will truly linger in the mind, but for what it is, it's an exceptionally cool time, and well worth the sub-hour it really takes to get the whole gist of it all.
The egg can create. The egg can destroy. The struggle of egg never ceases. is also peak tagline, and also honestly represents the game quite well.
Of course, there is no answer and it's not important really. But I bring it up because this weird-ass strategy golf-god game about eggs legitimately wormed quite deep into my head. As you knock your egg, raising and destroying huge cities as lovely music plays on weird abstract playfield, there's just the right amount of time left for you to think, the gameplay is just the right pace, for the ambience to really get to you - in my experience at least.
And the aesthetic here is just great. There's your obligatory excellent 1990s pre-rendered CGs which go hard as hell and are particularly fitting, but the sprite art is also excellent, particularly the remarkable amount of effort that's gone into giving the various stages of your civilisation different animated sprites, which really makes it feel alive.
And the end result is a bit unnerving, which I think is the point. I know it's a bizzare comparison to make but it reminds me a lot of Flower, Sun and Rain in how it makes and treats a semi-real bizzaro logic world, and how it gets the mind racing. It's hard to make much of a statement on an art piece that people are going to take very different things away from, but I just really like this kinda shit.
Also in the ultimate plot twist, its actualy a pretty good strategy game? The combination of golf, city building and conquest with a fucking egg actually works really well. The key really in my opinion is that there's a good number of different win conditions which overlap with each other just enough, and are generally enough in reach at any one point to make for frankly, really interesting gameplay. And the egg golf itself is just a thing of genius - I think without it the game's strategy could get too "worked out", but with the layer of chaos that comes with smashing eggs all over the place mistakes and misjudgements are inevitably made, and capitalising off them and changing your plans on the fly is where the gameplay really shines.
It is too slow, the mission mode is shite and the enemy AI isn't great, but it's still a pretty great time for what it is. I think the main thing i'd change is making either the maps smaller or making the egg shots a bit more powerful, because things can really get drawn out if you allow them to - but honestly with a bit of adjustment would make an absolutely fantastic board game.
Perhaps the most baffling thing about Egg then, is how cohesive it all is. There are frankly, plenty of cool as hell aesthetic games of this era which are captivating on a conceptual or visual level, but the gameplay in Egg turns out a perfect compliment as something to get the mind racing. It's engaging and honestly fun, but also fundementally extremely simple, and it just makes it oh so easy to immerse oneself in it, get in the headspace it feels like the devs want you in - at least in my experience.
It is a very limited work, granted. Exceptionally cool and well worth a look, but it's hard to imagine this truly captivating anyone for too long, and it's more of a thought provoker than something that will truly linger in the mind, but for what it is, it's an exceptionally cool time, and well worth the sub-hour it really takes to get the whole gist of it all.
The egg can create. The egg can destroy. The struggle of egg never ceases. is also peak tagline, and also honestly represents the game quite well.