Despite all the cool games I saw at PAX this year, that was probably my highlight of the event.Īll of these memorable experiences are coming from a guy who mostly lurks on the Discord channel and has maybe 60 hours of in-game time with SpyParty. They were a bit shorthanded at the time so Chris Hecker and a community member asked me to literally run one of the demo stations and explain the game to new players (I think I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself!). Then I went to PAX West in Seattle and dropped by the SpyParty booth. Even as a spectator sport, SpyParty is fascinating. I even made it to the third round of the playoffs! Every weekend members of the community would broadcast the biggest SCL matches on Twitch, complete with expert commentary and slick overlays. It’s all a bit intimidating at first, but practically everyone is super nice and encouraging.Įventually I joined the SpyParty Competitive League and put up a respectable 5-3-2 record in the challenger bracket of the tournament. A lot of the technical jargon goes over my head, but there’s no question about his dedication to the project, especially with how long he’s been working on it. The main creator who does most of the work on the game – Chris Hecker – maintains a presence there and posts design thoughts and updates. Some of them have been playing the beta for many years and know each other in real life. Then I joined the official Discord channel and met a bunch of really cool folks who clearly love SpyParty. I wasn’t expecting this from a 1v1 multiplayer game. The next day a SpyParty veteran with thousands of games under his belt played a few rounds with me and gave me tips along the way. In between each round my opponent and I would chat with each other, trading jokes and strategies as we tried to carry out spy objectives or shoot party-goers amid screams and dropped cocktail glasses. I still remember my first few matches back in April. The dedication and kindness of the SpyParty community is why it’s my GOTY. I truly think SpyParty is a fantastic game and one of the best I’ve played in 2018, but that’s not the main reason it sits at the top of my list. On the surface it’s simple, but the room for growth is staggering. That novelty carries the experience a long way and offers tense back-and-forth matches with loads of depth and complexity. Yes, it’s been in development for a very long time and only came out in Steam Early Access this year, but the main conceit of 1v1 multiplayer competition in which a sniper tries to shoot a spy in a cocktail party remains novel in 2018. I simply admire and view those communities from a distance. Thus, I don’t consider myself to be part of a dedicated fan base. That’s especially true of competitive multiplayer games. I tend to bounce from one release to the next in an effort to see everything the industry has to offer, so very rarely do I stick with a game for an extended period of time. Despite playing video games for 20+ years, I’ve never truly felt like part of a specific game community.
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