“Okay, here’s your challenge: Make a game that emulates a genre and adds a bit of a funny twist to the genre. It has to be a really short game. Make it in 1 hour and 49 minutes. And then I’ll one star it anyway, because that’s what you did to me. Get some perspective on what a games shooting for, instead of thinking all game designers have to do the same thing as you or they’ve failed.”

Callan S. (on Gamejolt)

The Art of Stellar War was developed from the ground upwards (including all of the graphics and sound effects) within Callan’s specified one hour and forty nine minute deadline (spread a little over two and a half actual hours, but there were breaks to make coffee, take the dog for a walk and so forth). It would be somewhat pretentious to claim that it “emulates” a genre (since it sits rather squarely in the shoot ‘em up camp) but it adds a twist at least as amusing as Callan’s effort if only for it’s sarcasm. i hope that everybody will feel absolutely free to one star this on Gamejolt, considering the minimal effort required to create it i’d say it was worth about that.

[View with PicLens]

So the question has to be this; is Art of Stellar War a scathing commentary on the futility of war and mankind’s lust for self destruction or just a below average, rushed shoot ‘em up with some pointless message stapled on to make it “artistic”? i’ll leave that one to the philosophers, i just make games…