This one has “niche” written all over it, but is well done for that it is. This 2010 release, and Dream.Build.Play finalist, has you drawing a graffito or two (“graffiti” is plural, “graffito” is singular, and yes I’m a huge nerd) on one of two well-rendered urban landscapes. “King Spray” harkens back to a time when paint programmes were cool. Don’t remember that time? It was back in the early days of the Commodore Amiga, when “Deluxe Paint” (‘D-Paint’ to its friends), when “IBM PC compatibles” (as they were generally known then) owners thought 16 colour EGA was state of the art, and most Macs were still monochrome. We Amiga fans revelled in the graphical capabilities of our systems, and that included messing with Electronics Arts’ (yes, *that* EA) paint programme. Colour cycling never looked so good.
Don’t have a lot of graphical talent? Join the club. King Spray manages to make you feel good about yourself all the same, by using pre-made outlines and clip art for you to colour in, letting you pretend you’re a better artist than you actually are. If you have dreams of public defacement to live out (and doing it virtually is the way to do it, I detest graffiti in real life), then this is well worth a trial. $2.99 if you choose to advance beyond the trial.
Here’s what the publisher (electronicshed) has to say about the game:
“Turn your xbox controller into a spray can and start creating masterpieces using spray paint, markers, rollers and stencils. Use the camera to take photos of your work to show your friends. The in-game old school Ghetto Blaster can be used to play your tunes. The Projector mode allows you to project and spray on real-life objects.”
Writings of Mass Deduction 