The Metagame: Ana vs. Ben!

It's intern vs. editor, and things get absolutely ben-anas!

Two of the artiest art games ever are pitted against each other in a contest of artsiness! Do you think one of these two made a better case for their particular artgame? Let us know who you picked and why in the comments below! Gracias, homies!

It's intern vs. editor, and things get absolutely ben-anas!

Two of the artiest art games ever are pitted against each other in a contest of artsiness! Do you think one of these two made a better case for their particular artgame? Let us know who you picked and why in the comments below! Gracias, homies!

Braid vs Flower? Tough call for an art question.

Fortunately, it wasn't an art question but an elegance question. So now it's the elegance of a petal floating through the breeze to gentle music vs the elegance of a date-rapist hydrocephalic who constantly needs to reverse his clumsy-ass collisions with furballs so a blocky dinosaur can make fun of him. Sorry Ana. Though if we're just judging the arguments I'd say you both represented your games equally well (assuming Ana was making a case for an elegant narrative/presentation package.)

@Mento said:

Braid vs Flower? Tough call for an art question.

Fortunately, it wasn't an art question but an elegance question. So now it's the elegance of a petal floating through the breeze to gentle music vs the elegance of a date-rapist hydrocephalic who constantly needs to reverse his clumsy-ass collisions with furballs so a blocky dinosaur can make fun of him. Sorry Ana. Though if we're just judging the arguments I'd say you both represented your games equally well (assuming Ana was making a case for an elegant narrative/presentation package.)

Tim's just misunderstood.

I think Ben took this one. Flower's a very good card for that question as well.

games these days with there shootings and such, and young people these days, 10 miles in the snow barefoot back in my day.

I really wish Vinny was arguing against Flower...

Another Ben episode. I hope he gets a game he has actually played this time.

Ben got the automatic win here.

Should add a wild card to the three topics. So you play 3 face up and one face down. If you eliminate the wild, the other player gets to eliminate 2 cards total instead of one. (So if the first player gets rid of the wild, the second player can get rid of two face up cards; if the second player gets rid of the wild, the first player can get rid of another face up card - since player one already eliminated one face up already.) Then, if it comes down to a face up and the wild, flip a coin. Heads for the face up and tails for the face down.

Could also add a betting/victory points mechanic if you always play more than one round (3 rounds is probably a good number). Draw 5 then bet cards (play them face down to a "pool") from your hand ( 0 - 4 cards, since one has to be the card you use). Winner gets the cards as victory points and each player draws back to 5 for the next round. The victory point cards stay face down and aren't returned to the deck. If its a tie, the cards stay in the pool for the next round. Winner is whoever has the most victory points at the end.

I like how you play it now. The board games side of me can't stand the game not being more complex, that's all.

I think Ana won. But as a game Flower wins.

Ben had the better card and the better argument. Sorry Ana. Though there would have been room to argue Braid's elegance though fucking ingenius gameplay design, Flower is more easy to see, surface level elegant.

I think Ana has the better argument, but Flower is the winner.

Big Ben FTW.

You guys need new cards.

"ben-anas!"

Oh jeez.

Interns are often overkilled in these, but this one is pretty tough. I guess Flower wins?

I don't know.

Ana wins.

And fuck you nick, that pun was worse than anything in dog football. Should be ashamed.

Probably my favorite thing on this site right now. This should be some sort of main feature on the site. Keep it up, guys.

Ben wins this time .... sorry Ana ^^

I always like encouraging the young guns, and I thought Ben had it locked up.  However, Ana came back with her convincing portrayal of a seasoned player of both games and points about Braid's more unconventional approach versus Flowers "flight sim" to score the win. 

Ben made the better argument for elegance.

I think Ben is right on this one. It's a matter of minimalism, Flower might do less unconventional things with the control scheme but that's the point, it's very intuitive and relaxed. Braid can be elegant too but only if you have the context for the gaming conventions that are flipped around in the first place. I guess they represent both sides of a spectrum, however Flower seems more elegant in the sense that you can truly grasp it's whole point and aesthetic in seconds.

I've never played Flower, but Braid gets my vote for having maybe the most elegant and wonderful score I've ever heard. I haven't played Braid in a long time, and I could probably rep it with more than one track, but GOD DAMN THIS SONG is good!

I think Ana could have a stronger case for Braid's elegance in narrative, but she hadn't played the whole game so she couldn't bring up the ending which is elegant in how narrative mixed with gameplay and would be the perfect clincher for this argument. 
 
Ben made the better case for Flower.

Flower is the more elegant game, Ana was the better debater. I could easily tell Ben hadn't played much of Flower. He was speaking in generalities which didn't really make the case for elegance.

I have to side with Ana.  While Flower was minimalistic perfection, it lacked the cerebral stimulation of Braid.  As she said, Flower is basically a pretty flight simulator while Braid challenged you to change your perceptions in general.  Narrative, art style, everything about Braid was elegantly executed, and Ana was right to point that out.