Hidden Gems of Game Design Volume 29
Plenty of amazing games go unnoticed and are not played widely for various reasons. Maybe it’s a diamond in the rough, or the marketing wasn’t there, or it could be a game ahead of its time. For this monthly series, I’ve asked my fellow writers on SUPERJUMP to pick a game they think is deserving of a chance in the spotlight. Let us know your favorite hidden gems in the comments.
Josh Bycer
24 Killers (2023)
We’re getting weird and wacky for this month’s pick. 24 Killers feels like a fever dream of mechanics and vibes that will make you either love this game or quit in 10 minutes or less. You play an interdimensional being known as Moon, who has been trapped in the body of what appears to be a janitor, on an island of misfits. To free yourself, you must make friends, eat food, and perform many weird tasks on the island, day after day.
Each day you are free to explore, looking for items and money needed to buy food, as you have to keep your strength up. By bringing up an elevator, you'll be able to rescue the various people trapped underground who will then start to wander around the island. By helping them and becoming their friend, you'll be able to take their picture and use it to transform into them to solve puzzles or gain access to other explorable areas
The main progression revolves around rescuing everyone, but you'll need to explore and find people to help you at certain points. 24 Killers starts slow, as you won't be able to do much or spend a lot of time out in the world before you run out of energy. But as you dig deeper, literally and figuratively, gameplay begins to open up. In an interesting touch, finishing the game will unlock the option to replay using a different save file/alternate universe, to which you can add new conditions and challenges, giving you even more to do.
24 Killers is amazing, though it can be hard to describe exactly why that is. If you only play this for 10 minutes, you won't see anything it has to offer. Still, if you enjoy imaginative and unique games and have the patience to let the experience come to you, you should really give it a try.
Antony Terence
Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed (2000)
The fifth racing title in the Need for Speed franchise, Porsche Unleashed, featured cars from a single manufacturer; true to its name, that brand was the venerable Porsche. It makes perfect sense considering that no one else had the license to add Porsche cars, letting EA take a victory lap. Despite sounding like a marketing ploy, it served as a showcase of Porsche’s rich history of setbacks, experimentation, and refinement.
The game offered 70+ cars across three eras. From the Porsche 356 to the elegant 911 and iconic 550 Spyder, even its car list was a history lesson. Its Evolution tournaments kicked off in 1950, letting you rack up cash to purchase new models for subsequent events that take place years later.
This was a clever way to draw your attention to a constantly changing car landscape. Vehicles from the '60s couldn’t compete with those of the '80s by merely swapping parts. If you wanted Porsche’s fastest cars, you could play as a tester in Factory Driver mode at their headquarters in Germany.
Screeching tires and revving engines did a great job in selling Porsche Unleashed’s sense of speed. Its techno soundtrack is equal parts serene and kinetic, enhancing hair-raising chases and slow, indulgent drives. Watching sunlight or street lamps reflect off these cars was a stunning experience once they hit the track, but you could dent these beauties if you weren’t careful.
From a mountain pass in the Alps and Normandie’s farmland to dimly lit docks at night, the game’s open-road courses remain memorable to this day. Over time, I discovered alternate routes and even ignored the race timer to explore the neighborhoods. While most racing games today segregate cars into tiers, Porsche Unleashed’s cars grew over time from twitchy mounds of metal to responsive beasts. It stands as a monument to Porsche’s progress, one I recollect fondly today.