Heart of the OHR 2010 Results
Compiled by Jeremy Bursey

From July 1, 2010 to November 30, 2010, the OHR community was given the opportunity to relive the days when random battles were accepted and game design was about visiting towns and crawling through dungeons, and get rewarded for the throwback design. The contest, called Heart of the OHR, had a simple rule: make or finish a traditional OHRRPG.

Twelve people rose to the challenge. Four brought us updates to games we’ve played at some point in the past; eight brought us brand new entries. All of them helped 2010 go out with a bang.

But in the end, only one of those twelve could reign supreme, and the other eleven had to fight for second place.

Here is the story of that battle for the Heart of the OHR:

Please note that rankings are listed from worst to best, and based on average votes, not rosters or quantities of total players. For this reason, abstained votes did not count against games, but in many ways helped their averages.

12. Hero by ncw64
Fuzzy Description: The story of a hero who traveled through towns and rescued friends from their own drunkenness. Fight the kittens today!
Average score: 2.3
Total Voters: 10
Achievements: Waist Level Champion, Newbie Sensation
Highest Rating: 5 Lowest Rating: 1	Audience Consensus: Don’t give up. Use this as your learning game and take what you’ve learned to make something better.

11. Chronoboy Adventures by Chronoboy
Fuzzy Description: Boy falls down a hole. Boy wakes up in alternate universe. Alternate universe still lives by our real time clock. Boy makes money shearing sheep.
Average score: 3.09
Total Voters: 11
Achievements: Spiral Vote, Simplicity Evasion
Highest Rating: 7 Lowest Rating: 1	Audience Consensus: Ambitious game that fails from its numerous bugs. Possible problem: scripts for simple things that should’ve just been done in the engine.

10. Tales of the New World 2 by msw188
Fuzzy Description: An old school romp featuring elves, wizards, trolls, and grindfests. Lock the door, turn off the lights, and unplug the phone, for the textboxes are about to begin.
Average score: 4.11
Total Voters: 9
Achievements: Lonely Sequel, Throwback Warrior
Highest Rating: 9 Lowest Rating: 1	Audience Consensus: Too many walls of text bog down the playing experience.

9. Apophenia Demo by guo
Fuzzy Description: Wake up in a hospital just in time to dodge the assassins. Run through the sewer, but get your gun. The shootout’s about to begin.
Average score: 4.82
Total Voters: 11
Achievements: First Person Shooter the RPG, Shortest Man on the Totem Pole
Highest Rating: 8 Lowest Rating: 2	Audience Consensus: Much shorter than the 30-minute deadline, and the menus are a bit awkward. Lack of music improves atmosphere, though.

8. Okédoké! La Leyenda Mexicana by FnrrfYgmSchnish
Fuzzy Description: A quaint 8-bit Mexican tale about a swordsman, death, and a flatulent fighter on a mission to find the swordsman’s father. See the country through the eyes of two illegal aliens, death, and a girl with big….
Average score: 5.38
Total Voters: 8
Achievements: 8-Bit Palette Hero, Topsy-turvy Voter Range
Highest Rating: 9 Lowest Rating: 1	Audience Consensus: Top-notch graphics and solid map design. Poor execution of direction, and one-note jokes a turn-off. Battles still yield too many misses.

7. Viridia Chapter 2 by Baconlabs
Fuzzy Description: While Chapter 1 is a mystery, Chapter 2 takes us along for the doomed ride of healers and warriors getting a beat-down in the desert.
Average score: 5.73
Total Voters: 11
Achievements: Walkabout Master, Longest Battler, Expectation Shocker
Highest Rating: 8 Lowest Rating: 3	Audience Consensus: Beautiful game with battles too big for the OHR’s breeches. Based on the trailer from months ago, everyone feared this game going in. Maybe release that missing chapter soon to ignite the fear again.

6. Eternity Fragment Prelude by NayusDante
Fuzzy Description: Relive the memory of that one 80’s RPG you played but couldn’t beat. Grind, grind, and grind some more.
Average score: 6.17
Total Voters: 12
Achievements: Most Voted On, Meta Maker
Highest Rating: 9 Lowest Rating: 3	Audience Consensus: The metagame feature is well done, but the cost of the boat is ridiculous. The only game to receive a vote from every voter.

5. Skyfall by Mystic
Fuzzy Description: A green chunky thing falls from the sky, causing monsters to rise up and take a bite out of heroes. Two factions meet up and combine forces to…well, we’ll see what happens in the next installment.
Average score: 6.3
Total Voters: 10
Achievements: Old School and Lovin’ It, Surprise Hit from First-time User
Highest Rating: 9 Lowest Rating: 2	Audience Consensus: Parties that meet in the middle equals awesome. Cloud city is a little bland, but still, not bad for a first game.

4. Legendary Heroes by Spoonweaver
Fuzzy Description: Fight monsters in every town you encounter. Trade pelt for cash or prizes (weapons and armor). Have Spoonweaver’s girlfriend join your party!
Average score: 6.91
Total Voters: 11
Achievements: Traditional Awesomeness, Subquest Harboring
Highest Rating: 10 Lowest Rating: 2	Audience Consensus: Speed of battles sets this game apart from most traditional RPGs. Incentive to return to past towns also helps. Trading feature is bonus fun.

3. Do You Want To Be a Hero? by Mogri
Fuzzy Description: Race against time as you fight enemies, find items, and try to clear each of eight worlds.
Average score: 7.43
Total Voters: 7
Achievements: New Content Warrior, Fan Favorite, Village People RPG Sympathizer
Highest Rating: 10 Lowest Rating: 3	Audience Consensus: Time limit increases replay value. Battle system solid. Battle system also antiHeart, but what can you do?

2. Vikings of Midgard by FenrirLunaris
Fuzzy Description: The story of the Viking class on a mission to dethrone Bob the Hamster for OHR Mascot Glory!!! It also has a bunch of cameos from other OHR characters.
Average score: 7.8
Total Voters: 5
Achievements: Lowest Voter Turnout, Living Proof that Voting Matters, Motrya’s Boot Heel, Snatcher of 2^nd Place, Mogri Shanker, Gatherer of Achievements
Highest Rating: 10 Lowest Rating: 4	Audience Consensus: Abbreviated dialogue and stylized Fenrir graphics make this a standout. No one really knew how to judge it, though, so most people abstained from the vote. This, of course, helped its average score enough to take the lead from DYWTBAH.

1. Motrya by JSH357
Fuzzy Description: Lyte Snap is a card game where you learn abilities and steal cards from opponents if you beat them. There’s also a game about magic students called Motrya in there somewhere.
Average score: 9.5
Total Voters: 10
Achievements: Owner of Best Minigame, Virtual Clean Sweep, Highest Consistent Vote, Candidate for Best of 2010
Highest Rating: 10 Lowest Rating: 6	Audience Consensus: Pleasant graphics, strong characters, meaningful battles, and an awesome card game rightly places this game on the Heart of the OHR pedestal.

And there you have it, your lineup for the 2010 Heart of the OHR Contest.

Excellent work to the contestants, and special kudos to JSH, Newbie, and VampiDucki for winning the contest with their collaborative game.

Thanks also to James Paige, Inferior Minion, Fenrir-Lunaris, and Mogri for helping with the prizes.

Heart of the OHR 2 begins on June 1^st, 2012 and runs until November 30^th, 2012, so get your entries started now if you want to top this year’s winners.

P.S. For anyone who cares, here is the explanation for select achievements:

Waist Level Champion

-No vote broke the midpoint barrier.

Spiral Vote

-When placed in a straight line by order of votes received, the variant numbers cycle around 5 like a hurricane.

Topsy-turvy Voting Range

-Scores of 1’s and 9’s live side-by-side.

Expectation Shocker

-Most players were expecting Viridia to kill the competition.

Subquest Harboring

-Has plenty of side missions to look for.

Village People RPG Sympathizer

-VP lost first place in the RGC 2009 because Surlaw didn’t vote for his own game.

All of Vikings’s Achievements

-Boils down to the fact that low voter turnout helped its average score take 2^nd place from DYWTBAH, which had 2^nd up until the final vote (that didn’t include Vikings) was cast.