Bytten Ernie Awards 2008

Strangest Game Experience - Sheeplings by KarjaSoft

Throughout my time as a Bytten reviewer I have been cast as many things - a detective, a cactus, a space fighter (numerous times), a fashion designer, a sorceror, even a ball of animated fire. Some of these were strange experiences, yet beyond that the games themselves were generally pretty sensible. This year I took on the role of a sheepdog, in a game that I cannot resist describing as barking mad.

Sheeplings saw me in charge of a flock of sheep, barking at them to herd them about the screen. Attacks by wolves and bandits were problematic. Attacks by eagles (!) were worse. The particularly weird thing was the way that I could bark at fences and trees to reveal bonuses. An intriguing game concept which struck out for that elusive destination, originality, and got considerably closer than most.

Most Addictive Game - Conquest by Sean O'Connor's Windows Games

In this category I had another choice in front of me. Which of the games I've reviewed this year have proven difficult to write up because I couldn't stop playing them? There have been several - Wicked Defence prompted many replays before, during and after review, as did Band of Bugs, Home Sweet Home, FASTER and, of course, Professor Fizzwizzle. Yet all of these have since died down with the pressure of work and new review games.

One has not, and still eats up an alarming amount of free time even now, with a quick game here and there between other tasks. Conquest, a computerised version of Risk, satisfies the global dictator in me and even prompted me to design my own map. Well done Sean O'Connor!