Homebrew developers often create games that companies would probably shy away from. Case in point, Shotgun by itch.io member, ecdhe. They have basically taken the idea of Pac-Man, mazes and avoiding enemies, and given your character an offensive weapon, guns in this case. On top of that, it is up to four players compatible.
Pac-Man Gets Violent
Anyone not familiar with Pac-Man, I mean it could happen, here is a quick rundown. You control a character that runs around a maze eating things on the screen, ultimately your goal is to eat all the dots while avoiding colorful enemies.
Shotgun removes a bit of that, replaces other things, and turns up to four players loose in a maze, with guns.
Scattered throughout the maze are guns to collect and use on your opponents.
Interestingly, Shotgun for the Atari 7800 is based on a game of the same name for the Commodore 64. That version has received many updates from the developer including a Christmas edition and a physical release as well.
Both the Atari 7800 and Commodore 64 versions support a four player option.
I do want to point out that the Commodore 64 version is freeware. Copying and sharing is encouraged by the developer.
Fans Doing What Companies Won’t
This is not a game I could see a publisher paying license fees to release back in the day. I could easily see one releasing something like this as an unlicensed release though.
It is interesting to see what fans create when they have no restraints such as an overbearing TPS report requiring bosses hover over them. Shotgun is just one example of this.
Shotgun looks like it would be a great party game to play with friends.
What is your favorite maze style game? Any suggestions for fans of the genre? Leave a comment and let’s celebrate the fun games.
#hive #posh