As of Tuesday, Microsoft’s building game, Project Spark, has officially left BETA and landed on XBOX One and Windows 8. Project Spark is a sandbox creation game that is absolutely packed with the tools and materials needed for players to create their own worlds and games.
As with every sandbox game users have really brought their A game in terms of imagination. Here are some of the coolest creations we’ve seen and played so far:
Oakvale by Mr Xbob
This world lets you play through the first bit of Fable, you know, up until the point where the hero’s family is brutally murdered. The Oakvale world is a perfect example of how Project Spark tools surpass just world building. Mr Xbob has managed to create and film entire cutscenes in his world. Cutscenes that recreate the iconic opening and ending sequence of the Raid on Oakvale in the original Fable, a pretty impressive feat.
Super 16+ by Defco
A mini-Mario experience has been built from the ground up in this world. Super 16+ shows us exactly what users can create using the basic objects in the game. There’s no pre-made Nintendo items available (for the obvious reasons) but that hasn’t stopped Defco from filling it up with everything from Piranha Plants to Warp Pipes, all “handmade” using available in-game items.
Link’s Adventure by AnteRehn
Link’s Adventure is an awesome mini-RPG based off of, you guessed it, The Legend of Zelda. AnteRehn took advantage of all of Project Sparks’ available tools and successfully created a full fledged game, including quests, NPCs and even a boss battle. Exploring the Islands of Midrule while completing tasks, looting chests truly feels like a complete (yet simple) game experience.
Game of Thrones by Modern07
In this Game of Thrones themed world players can choose to play either Melisandre or Jon Snow and then proceed to explore and wreak havoc in the aforementioned character’s slice of Westeros. The concept and implementation are basic and the world is small compared to the rest on this list, but it’s incredibly cool to see such familiar characters and fantasy landmarks brought to life.
Slender by B4Z1NG4XF2D
While not quite as unnerving as it is in it’s original form, B4Z1NG4XF2D’s has still managed to capture and recreate the atmospheric setting of Slender. An impressive feat, given the Project Spark’s bright and happy exterior. By using decorative items and tweaking the atmosphere of his world, searching for the mysterious pages (replaced by coins in this rendition) is a neat example of the different directions in which Project Spark creations can go.
And if you need a break after all that exploring, check out The Keys to the Kingdom a cool choose your own adventure game written by Jennifer Warnick for Microsoft Stories. As you play you’ll learn more about the inspiration behind the idea, how Project Spark came to be and the folks over at Team Dakota.