Wired has an interesting article that takes a look at some free independant games out there that are trying new twists on gameplay.

One that really caught my eye (I haven’t tried it just yet, but im looking forward to it) is Cloud.

Cloud is a “flight sim” where you are a boy who can fly around in an idyllic world. You are corraling clouds, and shaping them, and trying to remove the dark clouds, by surrounding them with light clouds. The Wired author indicates that the game produced in him a sense of calm and well being. He then asks why more games don’t seek to do this. I think I agree with him.

Most games are based on some sort of conflict. In the end, its the conflict that makes games have.. drama. But I think there is a simple genre of games that could exist where the point is simply to derive fun from pleasureable experiences. Maybe sandbox games come to mind, as playing a god, or messing with a system can certainly be fun and exploratory.

At any rate.. check out the article for Cloud, and some other new game concepts.

FYI.. on the total opposite subject of peaceful relaxing games. I just tried the “Arcadia” game mentioned in the article. In that game you play simple classic style arcade games…. only you play 4 at once. Its pretty frenetic.. and its awesome ;p