Viewed – 18 January 2014  Netflix

I had heard good things about this, and let’s face facts the videogame themed documentary isn’t exactly a packed genre.  So it was very interesting to sit down and learn about the struggles and stresses of getting small, independent games made and released.

Following the stories of (for the most part) two games as they are developed, hyped and eventually released, namely Super Meat Boy and Fez … I really felt for the albeit slightly nerdy game designers as they argued and fell out, in their quest to release a small game and get some sort of credibility for it all.  To anyone aware of what goes into games, especially independent ones this doc sheds little new light, but if like me you only have knowledge of games once they appear on XBOX Live etc, then this is eye-opening.

I would have liked some insight into just how these games are made, how the programmers go about putting their vision together, the coding, the art design, but much of that is glossed over and the focus is all about getting the game out there.  Candid interviews and behind the scenes footage with Phil Fish (Fez), Edmund McMillen (Super Meat Boy) and Jonathan Blow (Braid) amongst others are welcome and I did enjoy my time with these guys, even if I came away still not knowing all that much about game design  

Made me immediately go and purchase Fez though.

Verdict:  3 /5