Playing Every Game in the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality
PEGBRJE: ‘Served’ and ‘Enc and the Flying Machine’
Page 51 Starts with some DUNKS
Served is a multiplayer dunkfest created by tippedchair, the solo indie dev name for Rocco Commisso, with assistance from Micheal Trentchev, Max Hunt, and Rory O’ Connor. Players will select one of four chefs who are ready to duke it out in order to become the best by any means necessary — even by throwing the food around.
While the goal is somewhat dependent on the game mode chosen, the ultimate goal is to score more points than the opponents by the time the round ‘ends’. The rudimentary way of scoring points is by creating dishes, but one might notice that the plates seem to be in the air and in a ‘net’ of sorts. That is because this is a sports game, and players will be dunking or throwing the ingredients they find in to the nets to ‘plate’ the food.
Each ingredient tossed in gets a single point for the player, but each plate only requires three ingredients to make a dish. The third ingredient will seal what the dish will be, and grants an extra point to the player who creates the dish with that last ingredient. This is where the conflict arises as players jockey to get the last ingredient, and why the toss button doubles as a tackle when the player doesn’t have anything in their hands.
The other thing to note is that plates may have a specific dish above them, which gives a ‘special’ bonus if completed; but that also means that players can sabotage a plate if they think that someone else will get it instead of themselves.
Since there are numerous plates as well, players will have to constantly be on the swivel for specific recipes, other players, where the food is spawning, and even where random items are placed to avoid accidentally picking them up. To be fair though, throwing those utensils is quite satisfying, especially when it is at an opponent.
With three distinctive modes and more than half a dozen arenas to explore, Served is a strangely hilarious amalgamation of competitive cooking and basketball. It can technically be played solo, but that just puts you in an arena alone to score points which is not all that fun.
The fun comes from the chaos of getting a +3 special and then getting swiped as soon as you grab a new ingredient. The fun is intercepting a throw, only to get tackled. The fun is watching the lettuce ping pong off so many salt shakers it disappears. It’s all about the chaos, and if you love multiplayer chaos then you’ll love it here.
Enc and the Flying Machine is a visual novel created by TangledVirus, an indie dev based in Brasil. Players will follow the whimsy of Enc, a mushroom that writes tomes for the Creator to document all knowledge one tome at a time.
Following her completion of a tome about plants, the Creator tasks Enc with a new tome; machines. Unfortunately this appears unpopular with the little shroom, for it means interacting with objects that are used within the current Bug v Shroom war. She protests, but the Creator is firm; knowledge must be retained, after all.
This conflict in question has gone on seemingly forever, and has caused many individuals to have jobs that they don’t necessarily enjoy such as Enc’s best friend Sinal who runs a watchtower. Sinal would prefer reading and voicework, but knows the importance of her job (even if she’s bored out of her mind).
Enc’s research for the tome takes her to the factory where she meets Torze, a spunky mechanic with a secret; she wants to build a flying machine, something unheard of for mushrooms. This is where much of the story revolves as Enc and Torze discuss plans for how to make such a device while grappling with the reality that it will probably be used for war upon its completion. Both of them are staunchly opposed to the war, but are also aware of just how much is on the line — and that there does not seem like any end without destruction. Nevertheless, they work at it tirelessly to ensure that each part grows correctly and is created with detail. Enc’s knowledge, thanks to her tome writing, comes in handy as well, and even Sinal helps out.
Are they successful? Well, you’ll have to read it yourself. Enc and the Flying Machine is only ~30 minutes long depending on your personal reading speed, and I don’t want to give that many spoilers. There are no decisions to be made, which is a nice change to just read a story as intended.
There are a lot of little themes going on that may hit a tad close to home, but the general aesthetic is lighthearted and jovial, meaning it is a fun read for all ages. If you love fun aesthetics, mushrooms, machines and a great soundtrack, this might be a good read for you.
