6 Games to Get Out Your Creativity

by Kris Pigna

Hey, did you know you're living in the era of Game 3.0? Exciting, huh? Or wait a sec... maybe it's the Remix Generation we're living in. Eh, whatever -- it doesn't matter either way, because both are silly titles that Sony and Microsoft coined to describe the same new focus in videogaming: giving players more options to design their own unique gaming experiences. And while it may sound like phony marketing talk, that doesn't change the fact that it's true: If you're the creative type, there are a number of great recent releases that give you the tools to let your imagination flow. Here are six options to get you started.

Animal Crossing: City Folk
It may star animals, but Animal Crossing is all about everyday humanity. There's no real "point" to this game. A play session involves the ordinary activities of day-to-day life: buying stuff at the local market, paying down your absurdly large mortgage, talking with the neighbors, and -- the reason it makes this list -- obsessively and meticulously designing your home décor. That includes arranging furniture and accessories (go for a Feng Shui design for better in-game luck), and even creating your own wallpaper and rugs.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Like LittleBigPlanet, Nuts & Bolts has a big focus on creativity, but you're not constructing levels here. Rather, you make your own vehicles to complete levels filled with various challenges. Building just about any type of vehicle is possible (cars, tanks, helicopters, planes, boats, hovercrafts), and sure, you could design them based on what would logically work best for specific challenges at hand. Or, you can forget the challenges, and have even more fun designing fantastically useless contraptions of your own whimsically ridiculous design. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts comes closer to being a true Lego game than any of the official Lego games ever have.

Forza Motorsport 2
This is the best racing game ever made for anyone who's wasted hours of their life doodling in MSPaint. No, there's not much room for personal expression on the track, but get your cars into the awesomely extensive "livery" editor (in other words, paint and decal editor), and you can create just about any design for your vehicles by applying tons of different decal layers. The downside here is that the livery editor isn't very user-friendly, but the upside is there truly doesn't appear to be any limit to the possibilities -- which you can see for yourself by ogling the mind-blowing contributions on the official Forza forums. It may not be easy, but any racing game that lets you design a car with the Hulk on it is tops in my book.

LittleBigPlanet
The game that compelled Sony to invent that "Game 3.0" label in the first place (a play on the concept of Web 2.0), LittleBigPlanet is above all about creativity. It plays like old side-scrolling Mario and Sonic games, with the key distinction that you're making your own levels. Creating is as simple as opening a menu and placing an object in the world, but the fact that everything behaves according to real physics (wood floats, a skateboard will increase in velocity when pushed down a hill, etc.) allows for some incredibly inventive possibilities. You can then "publish" your masterpieces (or terrible, but fun monstrosities) for other players around the world to download, play, and even rate. It's daringly innovative and tons of fun.

Second Life
Think World of Warcraft, but less Lord of the Rings and more MTV's Real World. Second Life is a massively multiplayer game that offers many ways to "play" it, and perhaps no game offers a better window into your soul depending on the path you choose. You could, for instance, play the game the "right way," creating an accurate virtual image of yourself and interacting and behaving with other people cordially and in good faith. Or if you're a total jerk in real life, feel free to be a jerk in the game by creating grotesque caricatures and harassing everyone you come into contact with. This approach comes highly recommended for a cruelly fun time, but don't blame us for any trouble you get into. Playing Second Life can be bizarre and surreal in many different ways, but when it comes to creating your own personal experiences, few games offer this many options.

Soul Calibur IV
Here is a fighting game that doesn't force you to play as any of the "real" characters if you don't want to. Soul Calibur IV offers a robust character creator that lets you tweak your fighter's look using tons of different clothing options, and the results can be spectacular, be it your own unique design or one modeled on a favorite fictional (or non-fictional) character. The best part is you can then take your custom fighter online and play against other people's creations from around the world. And hey, it doesn't hurt that Soul Calibur IV is a fantastic fighting game to begin with.