Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style
Steam's curator feature is the most helpful addition to the service introduced in its latest overhaul. It's easy for me to make such a definitive statement in this case, because the other "helpful" features introduced are recommending that I buy games that have been removed from sale because their devs vanished, or games that have been on my wishlist for quite some time already. If it wasn't just a poorly programmed algorithm I'd mistake it for the sales guy at a local game store who likes to condescendingly recommend games that I've "probably never heard of". You know, like Assassin's Creed.
But curation is different. Curation has potential. Curation presents everyone with the opportunity to find someone whose taste matches theirs, but who has perhaps a little more knowledge of or experience with what's out there. Even gaming sites are now curating their own "official" collections and although some are wasting space on large titles that don't really need the promotion, most are peppered with a solid array of indies and niche titles too.
If you'd like to scope out a few choice Steam curators, here are a few of my favorites to get you started:
Pyrodactyl
If you read my write up of Unrest, you may recognize the name Pyrodactyl. They developed the aforementioned story-driven, India-inspired adventure RPG, and their curated list is exactly what you might expect it to be. Their primary concern is good games that provide a great storytelling experience. Yes, Unrest is in this collection (alongside a courteous little note for the sake of transparency) but it only comes after absolute gems like Shadowrun: Dragonfall, Analogue: A Hate Story, and Dominique Pamplemousse.
Rock, Paper, Shotgun
Among the collections curated in the name of popular gaming websites, RPS' stands out. If you're familiar with the site at all, you'll know it's probably very safe to trust them to shine a light on more obscure titles. That is what makes their site a favorite of mine; they can always be relied on to put the almost unheard of independent releases on the same footing as monolithic blockbusters. Their collection demonstrates this pretty well, with Hitman: Blood Money and Call of Juarez: Gunslinger rubbing shoulders with the likes of Crypt of the Necrodancer and Hatoful Boyfriend. They also link to the reviews they've written about each game, so if something catches your eye and you'd like to read more than a Tweet-length blip of text about it, you know exactly where to go.
Rami Ismail Recommends
Rami Ismail is known for his work with Vlambeer, the developers behind Ridiculous Fishing and Luftrausers. It might be this more technical background that inspired his curated collection of, in his words, "games that are flawed in an interesting way." It's a very different angle on this curation business, but one that makes for a pretty interesting browsing experience. And he doesn't sugar-coat the truth about any of these titles. Of the hideous-yet-fascinating Mount & Blade, Ismail writes, "Turkish title Mount & Blade (2008) offers no purpose beyond 'doing well' even though it suggests it does, but still manages to be an interesting game."
Venus Patrol
Venus Patrol's mission is simple: They're looking for beauty in games. That beauty can come in all different forms, but that general idea is the glue that holds this particular collection together. Maybe that beauty is in the art of a game like Botanicula, or the story of a game like Gone Home, or maybe it's in those "beautiful" moments of triumph in a game like Gang Beasts. It's the sheer variety of those "beauties" that makes this collection interesting.
If that's not enough for you, don't worry. Someone out there has already answered the question "Who curates the curators?" You can head over to The Unofficial Steam Curator Curator for an array of both silly and serious curator recommendations.
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