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Grimm Episode 16 – Christmas Carol

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2008 Christmas Card

Ugly Christmas Baby

It’s that wonderful time of year again – time for another episode of Grimm! And something else… oh yeah, CHRISTMAS! And wouldn’t you know it, Grimm has a special treat for you! Is it a lump of coal? A stick? Nah! He’s cooked up a special presentation of “A Christmas Carol”. Not only does this episode deliver some critical commentary on the commercial “celebration” we call Christmas (joyful alliteration!), but it wraps up this “season of 8” – bringing us to 16 episodes in total! How’s that for weekly episodic content?!

But as usual you don’t have to take my word for any of this. Take a read at what David Craddock over on BigDownload has to say:

“In fairness, when Grimm Season Two was good, it was great. Episodes such as The Master Thief, The Pied Piper and Iron John are some of the most enjoyable casual gaming romps I’ve experienced — quite a feat, considering the plethora of free flash-based games available within the Internet’s many tubes. The conclusion of Season Two, A Christmas Carol, isn’t one of the series’ best offerings, but its excellent art direction, as well as its depressingly truthful analysis of the true meaning of Christmas circa 2008, does make it quite entertaining.”

So there you go. When it was good, it was great. And when it was just released, it was FREE. On top of all that, it was predictable, easily accessible, and unlike anything else out there. Pretty good first year of Grimm if you ask me. More fun stuff in store for next year.

In the meantime, check out Grimm, Episode 16, “A Christmas Carol”.

Now with all that Grimm stuff out of the way – I just wanted to take a moment to say, “Thank you!”. To all the people at GameTap who made Grimm happen. From Ricardo who gave it the green light to Roger who watched over its production. From Trent and Wendy who publicized it and marketed it. Of course MANY huge thanks to the dedicated team at Spicy Horse. Without their creative vision, process-driven production, and technical brilliance, Grimm would be nothing more than a little grumpy dwarf twinkle in my eye.

Last but not least, thank YOU! The Grimm audience. You guys have been great – providing feedback, praise, and criticism in all the right places. You made Grimm a truly interactive development process. Your comments were read, they mattered, and they impacted the product we were building in a real (and real-time) way. It’s been great to have you along.

Here’s wishing everyone a happy, safe, and healthy Holiday!

Grimm

Grimm Episode 14 – Iron John

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Iron John

He said he’d be back!

Another week, another Grimm, another review. Episode 14 revisits the tale of “Iron John”, a convoluted, confusing, and somewhat dissatisfying tale in its original form. Of course Grimm is all about getting satisfaction and it seems the duller the original tale, the more interesting the Grimm result. John Callaham over at Big Download seems to agree and says,

“It’s been a long time since I have genuinely enjoyed an episode of American McGee’s Grimm. That’s not to say that any have been terrible, but rather that the formula seems to have run its course. American McGee’s Grimm: Iron John doesn’t stray far from the established mechanics of the series, but the way it deviates from the titular fairy tale, as well as how the world changes based on direct player interaction, makes it an enjoyable casual adventure.”

Mr. Callaham’s “dissatisfaction” with some of the more standard episodes is understandable. Grimm as a game has been finding its feet, exploring different game play ideas, and all the while trying to keep the promise of fresh weekly episodic content. Delivering on some areas of this promise is easier than others – innovating on game play can be difficult once the concept gets locked into a core mechanic.

I think a large part of the fresh infusion of cool new ideas has come out of the increased involvement of the studio’s latest Creative Director – Ben Kerslake. With fresh blood comes new ideas and the results are obvious. You can see for yourself in this latest and greatest episode.

Remember, episodes of Grimm continue to be offered for free on the day of launch (for 24 hours), and are then available for free to Gametap subscribers. You can also find Grimm on other download sites like Stimulus and TryGames.

General, Grimm

Grimm Episode 13 – The Golden Goose

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Turkey Chomp

Turkey Chomp Action!

Gobble, gobble! It’s time for the Golden Goose – and not just the one on you featured on your typical American thanksgiving dinner table. Grimm’s got some Goose action to share too! But I’ll let you try first – something tells me a goose cooked by Grimm might not be the thing to get your stomach in a holiday mood.

Here in China we’re far, far away from anything resembling a “traditional thanksgiving dinner”. A few years back we tried to create an approximation of the event with roast pigeon, Chinese greens, and yam-like sweet potatoes. But there’s something about eating thanksgiving dinner in a Chinese house older than the United States that doesn’t ring quite so true.

For those of you NOT in China, try some Grimm-style Goose with Episode 13 – “The Golden Goose”! GameTap released this one early and are running it for FREE through the holiday weekend. Actually, I have no idea how long it’ll be free since no one at GameTap bothered to tell me they were doing anything special with the episode – but hey! It IS Turkey Day after all!

And be sure to stayed tuned – the next couple of Grimm episodes are really cool. Next week we’ve got “Iron John”, which I can assure you is one of the more … insane … episode of Grimm we’ve ever created. And following that – the big Christmas episode, “Christmas Carol” which aside from containing a lot of Scroogey goodness, also pushes the Unreal 3 engine to all sorts of awesome visual effect.

I hope everyone out there has a happy holiday!

Grimm

Grimm on Direct2Drive

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Queen Crone

More ways to access your apples

If you’ve been looking for an alternative method of downloading episodes of Grimm, your options just increased!

As you know, there’s GameTap – where Grimm episodes are free for the first 24 hours after their initial release – and where Grimm is free all the time for subscribers. Additionally, you can purchase and download individual episodes from GameTap without being a subscriber.

And then there’s Trymedia and various affiliates, where you can purchase and download episodes of Grimm or entire bundles of 8 episodes.

And now you’ve got even more freedom: Direct2Drive is offering Grimm episodes and bundles for purchase and download. So far they have the first 8 episodes on offer here:

Episode 2 – Red Riding Hood
Episode 3 – Fisherman and His Wife
Episode 4 – Puss in Boots
Episode 5 – The Girl Without Hands
Episode 6 – Godfather Death
Episode 7 – The Devil’s 3 Golden Hairs
Episode 8 – Beauty and the Beast

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and play some Grimm!

Oh, and stay tuned for more news on alternate platforms for playing Grimm. Soon we’ll announce Grimm on something “other” than PC.

Grimm

Grimm Episode 10 “The Singing Bone”

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The Singing Bone

The Singing Bone!

Once again we’re singing the praises of Grimm. And this week we’re getting help from a very special bone – “The Singing Bone”!

David Craddock over at BigDownload has already posted a review of this week’s episode in which he says:

Just like The Master Thief, The Singing Bone allows players to craft a darker version of the tale that is different from the lighter version. The light theater doesn’t depict the boar terrorizing anything, for example, but lazing around like the fat sloth it is. After sufficiently darkening enough of that particular level, Grimm hops aboard the beast, which has been altered to reflect its nasty, vicious nature. Players are then able to ride the boar, whose ability to plow through villagers and livestock is met with satisfying sprays of gore.

Nothing satisfies like a spray of gore! If you want to experience the spray of grim, gore, and goodness for yourself, head over to GameTap and check out this latest version of Grimm.

And stay tuned – Next week we’ll present one of my favorite episodes, “King Midas”. This episode is particularly interesting because we really push the “transformation” idea to some new places. Check it out and you’ll see what I mean!

Asides

Master Thief – FREE for Halloween

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If you didn’t catch mention of it last time, here’s the news again:
The latest Episode of Grimm, “The Master Thief” isn’t just free for 24 hours – but for several days.
Yep, you can play Episode 9 of Grimm for free between Oct 30th and Nov 1st on GameTap.

And not only is this episode free, but it’s another kind of special: Halloween Special!

So, if you’ve been waiting to dip your toe in the stinky pool that is Grimm, this is a perfect time!