"InCARceration: A Complimentary Mini-Game Offering a ‘Car-Inspired Adventure’ for Aspiring Parole Escape Artists"

Soberly breaking down the plot, mechanics and presentation of InCARceration would be like trying to cook a meal, win a spelling bee or perform a sneak-attack after being welded inside a car. So I will say only that this is an amusing bizarro take on WarioWare that makes me yearn for other, bizarro takes on WarioWare.

You may find it cathartic if you’ve had any dealings with obtuse legal systems lately. A Kafkar sim, perhaps. Yeah, that’ll do. Play it in a browser here. If you’ve already tried it, there was an update this week that (possibly?) adds a new ending and does away with some unintended quantum physics.

The dignity of journalism requires that I drag this news piece kicking and screaming past the 300 word mark, so let me add that the release of InCARceration continues a promising year for unhallowed “carlike” experiences. It was created for this February’s automobile-fixated TFR Gamejam, which harbours a few other roadsters of note – the comparatively sheeny RedShift, in which your debt increases when you crash, and the gloomy pizza delivery sim High Road, of which we may jovially and unforgiveably say “Paratopic-esque, is it? Paratoppings, more like!” You can find the jam on Itch.io.

Question for the thread: what makes a minigame collection more than a minigame collection? Decent variety between minigames? Not actually being called a “minigame collection”? An overarching theme to stop it feeling like you’re pointlessly fishing different shapes and colours of marshmallow from a bowl of Lucky Charms? Some actual craft, so that the component games are more like exquisite snowflakes than soggy cereal pieces endorsed by racist leprechaun imagery? Or alternatively, a full embrace of the disposability of minigames? Let the players have their fill of politically incorrect breakfast comestibles. They deserve nothing better.

It turns out RPS has some Background Reading to share. Here’s Brendy on the seven most needless minigames, and here’s Alec Meer (RPS in peace) sticking it to rancid hacking games in particular.