Hi friend!
In this issue, I will talk about:
- My new website - the new home to Tomato Club!
- A movie that broke my brain
- How playing Big Walk challenged and changed me.
FORKLIFT FLOWERPOT development is coming along - I've been refining the cameras and level design on each of the islands to make for buttery-smooth gameplay. I took the demo to Game & Geek Expo in Raleigh and met lots of awesome people there!
The game that made me stop talking
The 2026 mulitplayer cooperative smash hit, Big Walk, is not like the other Friendslop games. You might call it a FriendFeast, a FriendGem, or even a FrienDelicacy. It's co-op open world puzzler... like if the Witness had a bunch of silly guys running around on the island and all the puzzles were about Communication.
It differs from this most recent wave of multiplayer proximity chat games in that it is a persistent authored world that you slowly progress through in each session (ie: it's NOT procedural and NOT run-based). While this makes it more difficult to "jump into a round" with different groups of friends, what it earns is a depth of gameplay and shared knowledge and communication shorthand amongst the playgroup.
You see, Big Walk is all about communication. Upon spawning into the world you notice the "falloff" for the proximity radius in which your voice can be heard is a LOT more steep and sudden than other prox-chatter games. If you are far away, you truly can NOT hear your friends, and have to rely on visual cues or items to communicate. Your character (we call them ants) has an expressive set of arm positions, a squat, and a jump, that allow you to convey your thoughts effectively. There is such a wide avenue of ways to communicate other than using voice that become apparent over the course of a runthrough - and the game will keep encouraging you to discover new ways to communicate through a series of escalating challenge rooms where you are separated by sound-proof glass.
When you get separated from the group in Big Walk, you are truly on your own. The willingness of the developers to leave in this level of friction both astounds me and makes me incredibly glad that I get to experience something with such a strong sense of authorial intent. After the first time getting lost and spending a literal hour trying to reconnect with your group, you learn how important it is to plan for contingencies, like: bringing a light when you will be traveling in the dark, discussing your destination and getting consensus before setting out on a journey, and discussing contingency plans for where to meet up if getting lost. No other multiplayer game has ever required this amount of planning and navigational thinking from me, and I absolutely loved familiarizing myself with the map and planning out missions for the group.
I learned to treasure those moments where I was lost. I stopped the incessant yapping and just took in the world that was inspired by the Australian bush. The ambient audio and 3D art create an incredible sense of place. The "game-y" part of the game is all in this Playground-Industrial aesthetic, with strong colors to identify its gameplay implications. Outside of that, the world is surprisingly grounded in a realism that encourages you to take it in.
You can not do anything by yourself in this game. Even changing your character's color scheme has to be done by instructing a friend as to what color you want each section of your little rotund ant body to be. By default, you can only carry one item at a time. If you want an inventory slot, you have to have someone else put a backpack on you. And then, you can't even access that inventory slot because Surprise! You cant reach it on your own. I started thinking of these inventory slot items as like loading up supplies on a packmule, but the mule can talk and is telling you about how it's day went as you hike up a mountainside.
Play sessions feel planned to about 2-hour chunks where you can complete a satisfying amount of gameplay. Anywhere between 2-12 players, but 2-4 is best. I recommend you treat Big Walk like scheduling D&D or other campaign-based tabletop game, you want the full party to be available for most play sessions and you have to put your sessions on as calendar invites. It's worth it.
The Movie that Broke My Brain
Every once in a while, you engage with a piece of art that re-contextualizes what you thought was possible in the medium. I've had that experience a lot with indie games over recent years, but it happens more rarely with movies. This is one of them. Hundreds of Beavers is a cross between a slapstick silent film, a looney tunes cartoon, and a videogame. It blends these inspirations so fluidly into a cohesive work that is like nothing else I've ever seen.
At the time of writing, this movie is free to watch on youtube. I honestly don't know how this got made (or why it is free to watch?). I will likely be binging interviews and learning more about this film in the weeks to come.
It's a very physical comedy, consisting mostly of cartoon violence and gags. There is a ton of low-budget (but cohesive) use of VFX compositing, layering black and white images with video footage and cartoon overlays, like videogame UI. It feels very much like an indie game: it uses the strengths of being a low-budget creation to lean into a strong aesthetic vision that makes it really stand out.
Oh, did I mention that most of the characters in the film are actors in animal suits?
The Game Mechanics of Hundreds of Beavers
- A shopkeeper, complete with zelda-esque tune
- Side note: I'm not sure what the inspirations behind the zelda shopkeeper music is, and it's possible that this movie and Zelda both pulled from the same inspiration.
- Shopkeeper price list has a UI selection box that hovers over choices
- An inventory
- A weakness grid (ala pokemon)
- Currency earned by smashing environment props
- A stealth mission
- Environmental Storytelling
If you have any indie film recommendations, please let me know. I am very new to this world and would like some deep cuts that inspire me like this did! Movie-watching in 20-60 minute increments has been happening a lot for me lately when the baby wants nothing else but to hang out in the rocking chair.
New Website!
I have finally figured out a newsletter host and I am ready to make the jump from Substack. Tomato Club now lives on toomuchtomato.com and you can always catch up on previous issues there. There is also a shop on the website featuring Hoodies and TORSO TENNIS USB game tapes that I've been selling at conventions, but only now have everything ready to ship to folks in the US.
Upcoming Events
- I'm streaming on every Monday morning on my twitch channel
- We do co-working sessions and plan for the week.
- I'm thinking of doing 1-2 other mornings per week but starting slow
HISSSSS: Hidden Indies: Second Saturday Stream & Showcase Show - October 10th
- I'm doing a big monthly stream where I play indie games from the community and beyond.
- Lemme know if you want me to check out your project during one of these Saturday streams!
- Here is a discord event link for the stream on October 10th
Thank you so much for reading the newsletter and following the journey! Feel free to respond to this email if you’d like to get in touch, or leave a comment on the post.
<3 Michael
