Enviro-Bear 2000

Last updated
Enviro-Bear 2000
Enviro-Bear 2000 Cover.gif
itch.io version header art
Developer(s) Justin Smith
Composer(s) Roberto Ricioppo
Engine Haaf's Game Engine, Box2D
Platform(s) Windows, iOS, Android
Release4 April 2009
Genre(s) Action
Mode(s) Single-player

Enviro-Bear 2000 (subtitled Operation: Hibernation in later releases) is a 2009 video game by Canadian independent developer Justin Smith. The game is a mixture of action, racing and survival genres as the player, who is a bear, attempts to drive a car around a forest to collect enough food to hibernate for the winter.

Contents

Gameplay

A screenshot of Enviro-Bear 2000. Enviro-Bear 2000.png
A screenshot of Enviro-Bear 2000.

Using the cursor, the player must single-handedly operate the vehicle using the gas pedal, brake and steering wheel. The objective of the game is to eat enough food to hibernate over the winter by hitting or running over objects that fall into the car, such as fish in a lake or berries from a bush. Colliding or running into some objects creates clutter in the car that the player must throw away using the cursor to prevent interference with driving. Each round of the game is time-limited to represent the onset of winter, by which time the bear must have consumed enough food and find shelter. Described as "purposely awkward to control", the challenge in the game is based on attempting to complete multiple tasks at once whilst using one hand at a time. [1] If the player is successful in hibernating, the time limit restarts and the bear returns for another round of seeking food for the following year.

Development

Enviro-Bear 2000 was developed in two months in response to a game jam on TIGSource titled 'Cockpit Competition', in which developers were invited to create a game centred around cockpits in less than a month. [2] The game was initially uploaded to Game Jolt on 4 April 2009, [3] and received the most votes from TIGSource users as the favorite from the competition. [4]

Enviro-Bear 2000 was originally intended by developer Justin Smith to be a game involving "driving a car through a post-apocalyptic wasteland, attacking other squirrel cars to take their nuts. [5] Due to the one-month time constraint with the game jam, Smith decided to narrow the scope of the game to focus on one bear. Smith stated the hand-grabbing mechanic of the game was inspired by a test application in the engine Box2D, which allowed him to "grab simple shapes with your mouse and fling them around while experimenting with all the features of the physics engine." [6] Smith drew the game's art by hand in Microsoft Paint, allowing the rudimentary visuals to be a reflection of his expectation that the game would be a "complete failure". [5]

After a month of further development, the game was also released on iOS on 8 July 2009 as Enviro-Bear 2010. [5] The app version of the game was periodically updated in 2011 to add support for the iPad and in 2014 to add support for widescreen devices. [7]

Reception

Enviro-Bear 2000 received positive reception from critics. Writing for Kotaku , Heather Alexandra praised the game's "mixture of comedic gameplay and complicated controls", stating the game was a "silly but smart experiment that's a ton of fun". [8] The website later listed the game as the "weirdest car video game" of all time. [9] Sean Bell for DarkZero praised Enviro-Bear 2000 as "the funniest game of all time", praising the "ridiculous amount of humorous touches waiting to be discovered" in the game. [10] Adam Fimio of Indie Game Reviewer stated "the graphics aren't great, but they do what needs doing", though noting "the scaled back visuals actually sell the (pretty goofy) concept", but stated the game was "high on fun". [11]

Accolades

Enviro-Bear 2000 was a finalist in the 'Nuovo' category at the 2010 Independent Games Festival, [12] a category intended to "honor abstract, short-form, and unconventional game development which advances the medium and the way we think about games." [13] The jury panel praised the game for its "joyfully off the wall, grin-inducing concept and art direction", and the "genuinely novel gameplay idea of having a time management approach to limited player controls". [14] The game also won the 'Most Fantastic' award at the 2010 Fantastic Arcade Festival, [15] an independent games festival presented in Austin, Texas, as a parallel event to the Fantastic Fest. [16] Enviro-Bear 2000 received a cabinet display at the event and was attended by developer Justin Smith. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Independent Games Festival</span> Annual video games festival

The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers, and innovation in video game development by CMP Media, later known as UBM Technology Group, IGF is now owned by Informa after UBM's acquisition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reflexive Entertainment</span>

Reflexive Entertainment was an American video game developer based in Lake Forest, California. The company was cofounded by Lars Brubaker, Ernie Ramirez, James C. Smith and Ion Hardie in 1997. They developed nineteen games independently, published two games, started distribution of downloadable casual games on their online Arcade, created a division of their Arcade entirely devoted to Mac games for Mac users and started hosting ad supported free online web browser games. In 2005, Reflexive's Wik and the Fable of Souls won three awards at the 2005 Independent Games Festival which included Innovation in Visual Art, Innovation in Game Design and the Seumas McNally Award For Independent Game Of The Year. In October 2008, Reflexive Entertainment was acquired by Amazon.com. On February 3, 2009, Amazon.com began hosting casual game content for internet download.

<i>Strange Adventures in Infinite Space</i> 2002 video game

Strange Adventures In Infinite Space is a roguelike video game created by the indie developer Digital Eel and released for Windows and Mac on March 15, 2002, by boardgame developer-publisher, Cheapass Games. Releases for Pocket PC and Palm by British developer-publisher Astraware followed. In 2020, the game was updated to run on current computer operating systems of the day. It remains free to download and share.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petri Purho</span> Finnish video game designer

Petri Purho is a Finnish game developer and a cofounder of the game studio Nolla Games. He has previously also worked at Finnish independent video game developer studio Frozenbyte. He is best-known for the roguelite Noita and the puzzler Crayon Physics Deluxe, which won the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the Independent Games Festival in 2008.

<i>Fez</i> (video game) 2012 video game

Fez is a 2012 indie puzzle-platform game developed by Polytron Corporation and published by Trapdoor. The player-character Gomez receives a fez that reveals his two-dimensional (2D) world to be one of four sides of a three-dimensional (3D) world. The player rotates between these four 2D views to realign platforms and solve puzzles. The objective is to collect cubes and cube fragments to restore order to the universe.

<i>Clean Asia!</i> 2007 video game

Clean Asia! is a freeware vertically scrolling shooter video game. It was developed by Jonatan "Cactus" Söderström and released for Windows on February 1, 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twisted Pixel Games</span> American video game developer

Twisted Pixel Games, LLC is an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas. Originally a contractor, Twisted Pixel releases games based on its own intellectual properties such as The Maw and 'Splosion Man. The company uses its own proprietary engine, known as Beard, to power its games. On October 12, 2011, it was announced that Twisted Pixel had become part of Microsoft Studios. However, Twisted Pixel separated from Microsoft, and became an independent company again on September 30, 2015. In November 2021, the company became a subsidiary of Oculus Studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonatan Söderström</span> Swedish video game designer

Jonatan Söderström, also known as Cactus, is a Swedish video game developer. He is best known as the co-designer and programmer of Hotline Miami (2012) and Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number (2015), but had prior to those games developed over 40 small freeware games, many of which were positively received. His game Clean Asia! was nominated for both Excellence In Visual Arts and Excellence in Audio at the Independent Games Festival in 2008. In 2010, he won the IGF's Nuovo Award, which honours unconventional game development, for his puzzler Tuning.

<i>Retro/Grade</i> 2012 video game

Retro/Grade is a video game developed by 24 Caret Games. The game is about ace pilot Rick Rocket, who must repeat his last space battle in reverse in order to protect the space time continuum. The game play is rhythm-based and timed to original music by Skyler McGlothlin. In January 2009, it was nominated for two Independent Games Festival awards: Excellence in Audio and Excellence in Design. In October 2010, it won the Audience Choice Award at IndieCade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmund McMillen</span> American video game designer and artist

Edmund Charles McMillen is an American video game designer and artist. He is known for his Adobe Flash games with unconventional visual styles. His works include 2010's side-scroller Super Meat Boy, 2011's roguelike game The Binding of Isaac, and its 2014 remake The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.

<i>Indie Game: The Movie</i> 2012 film

Indie Game: The Movie is a 2012 documentary film made by Canadian filmmakers James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot. The film is about the struggles of independent game developers Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes during the development of Super Meat Boy, Phil Fish during the development of Fez, and also Jonathan Blow, who reflects on the success of Braid.

<i>FTL: Faster Than Light</i> 2012 video game

FTL: Faster Than Light is a roguelike game created by indie developer Subset Games, which was released for Windows, MacOS, and Linux in September 2012. In the game, the player controls the crew of a single spacecraft, holding critical information to be delivered to an allied fleet, while being pursued by a large rebel fleet. The player must guide the spacecraft through eight sectors, each with planetary systems and events procedurally generated in a roguelike fashion, while facing rebel and other hostile forces, recruiting new crew, and outfitting and upgrading their ship. Combat takes place in pausable real time, and if the ship is destroyed or all of its crew lost, the game ends, forcing the player to restart with a new ship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Remo</span> American video game designer

Chris Remo is an American video game designer, composer, writer, podcaster, and former journalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simogo</span> Swedish video game developer

Simogo is a Swedish independent video game developer based in Malmö. The company was founded in 2010 and is best known for creating games for mobile devices, including Year Walk and Device 6. Its name comes from the name of its founders Simon (SIM), and Gordon (GO); the 'O' from the Swedish word "och" meaning "and".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seumas McNally Grand Prize</span> Main award given at the Independent Games Festival

The Seumas McNally Grand Prize is the main award given at the Independent Games Festival (IGF), an annual event that takes place during the Game Developers Conference, one of the largest gatherings of the indie video game industry. It was first awarded as the Independent Games Festival Grand Prize to Fire and Darkness in the 1999 edition of the festival. The next year, it was awarded to Seumas McNally for his game Tread Marks; following McNally's passing from Hodgkin's lymphoma shortly after, the award was renamed in his honor in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broken Rules</span> Austrian video game developer and publisher

Broken Rules Interactive Media GmbH is an Austrian independent video game developer, publisher, and creative collective based in Vienna. It was founded in 2009 by Peter Vorlaufer, Jan Hackl, and Felix Bohatsch, and is known for critically acclaimed and award-winning games such as And Yet It Moves, Secrets of Raetikon and Old Man's Journey, as well as a number of game ports to Nintendo's Wii U.

Development of <i>Fez</i>

The high-profile and protracted five-year development of the video game Fez led to its status as an "underdog darling of the indie game scene". The 2012 puzzle-platform game built around rotating between four 2D views of a 3D space was developed by indie developer Polytron Corporation and published by Polytron, Trapdoor, and Microsoft Studios. Over the course of the game's development, Fez designer and Polytron founder Phil Fish received celebrity status for his outspoken public persona and prominence in the 2012 documentary Indie Game: The Movie, which followed the game's final stages of development and Polytron's related legal issues. The game was released to critical acclaim as an Xbox Live Arcade timed exclusive, and was later ported to other platforms. It had sold one million copies by the end of 2013.

<i>Harpooned</i> 2008 video game

Harpooned is a video game by Australia-based Irish developer Conor O'Kane for Windows and Macintosh computers. It is a serious game which questions the Japanese government's claim that their whaling program is scientific in nature. The game's website describes Harpooned as a "Cetacean Research Simulator, where you play the role of a Japanese scientist performing research on whales around Antarctica".

The Nuovo Award or Innovation Award is an award given at the Independent Games Festival (IGF), an annual event that takes place during the Game Developers Conference, one of the largest gatherings of the indie video game industry. The award is given to honor "abstract, shortform, and unconventional game development which advances the medium and the way we think about games". The award was designed as a way for art games to compete with traditional indie games, and the winner was originally selected from a group of finalists and given a prize of US$2,500. In 2011, the IGF increased the prize money to US$5,000 due to the increased quality of the entries.

<i>Tetrageddon Games</i> 2016 video game

Tetrageddon Games is an online compilation of video games and digital art by alienmelon, the pseudonym of independent developer and net artist Nathalie Lawhead. First published as a website titled Tetrageddon, hosting web games designed by Lawhead from 2008. Lawhead combined the releases into a compiled form on the website from 2012, receiving several iterations and revisions over time, and released a downloadable desktop release titled ARMAGAD in 2016. Following release, critics praised Tetrageddon Games for its eclectic mixture of aesthetics and gameplay styles. The project received several awards and nominations, including a Webby Award for the website version and a Nuovo Award at the Independent Games Festival.

References

  1. ↑ Rose, Mike. "Enviro-Bear 2000 - Operation Hibernation". 250 Indie Games You Must Play. CRC Press. p. 24.
  2. ↑ "Enviro-Bear 2000 - Operation Hibernation". TIGForums. 25 February 2009.
  3. ↑ Crackerblocks (4 April 2009). "Enviro-Bear 2000". GameJolt.
  4. ↑ "Cockpit Competition Voting". TIGForums. 14 April 2009.
  5. 1 2 3 Rigney, Ryan (2011). Buttonless - Incredible iPhone and iPad Games and the Stories Behind Them. CRC Press. pp. 76–78.
  6. ↑ Graft, Kris (12 January 2010). "Road to the IGF - Justin Smith's Enviro-Bear 2000". Game Developer.
  7. ↑ Nelson, Jared (14 February 2014). "Enviro-Bear 2010 Updated With Widescreen Support...and Otters?". Touch Arcade.
  8. ↑ Alexandra, Heather (28 February 2018). "Is That Bear Driving A Car?". Kotaku.
  9. ↑ Petrany, Mate (14 May 2013). "The Ten Weirdes Car Video Games". Kotaku. Archived from the original on June 11, 2013.
  10. ↑ Bell, Sean (7 July 2009). "IndieZero - Enviro-Bear 2000".
  11. ↑ Fimio, Adam (11 July 2010). "Enviro Bear 2010 - The Fast and the Furriest". Indie Game Reviewer.
  12. ↑ "IGF Finalists". Game Developer Magazine. 17 (2): 4. February 2010.
  13. ↑ "Independent Games Festival 2010 Announces Main Competition Finalists". Game Developers Conference. 4 January 2010.
  14. ↑ "2010 IGF Nuovo Jury Releases Finalists Statement". Independent Games Festival. 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-01-06. Retrieved 2022-12-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  15. ↑ "Enviro Bear 2000". Fantastic Arcade.
  16. ↑ "Fantastic Arcade". Games Industry.biz. 12 August 2010.
  17. ↑ Johnson, Jason (19 November 2010). "Bear Theft Auto - The Indie Adventures Of Enviro-Bear's Justin Smith". Game Developer.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.