We love our metroidvanias here at JayIsGames! But would we still love them if, instead of controlling a scifi bounty hunter, or a badass vampire slayer, we played as the alphabet? Answer: Yes! And ASCIIvania, an exploration platformer by Gharding3, is the proof! At the start, you will be prompted to enter your name, the first letter of which will be your starting "character" (presumably, the Trickys of the world will have an easier time than the Jays). Using the [arrow] keys, move around the world, exploring, acquiring new powers, and opening new areas. In this case, though, the strongest power is wordsmithing.
Aligning your character with incomplete words will eliminate them from the screen. Grey words will regenerate, while white words will disappear to create a permanent passage. As time goes on, you will acquire new characters that you can transform into by hitting the respective letter key. Collect all 26 letters and claim victory! ASCIIvania's basic premise is so killer that it's easy to forgive its flaws. Particularly, the dictionary for accepted words is a little wonky, but at least it tends towards accepting odd words rather than rejecting legit ones. As a metroidvania, ASCIIvania is clearer documentation, a map screen and a mute button away from excellence. As is, though, it's still an enjoyable and unique, if not quite transcendent, time-waster. A lot of fun is here for the ASCII-ing!
I thought that was very fun- an utterly novel combination of puzzle and metroidvania!
The ending was quite disappointing, though. I kept expecting some kind of boss fight/spelling bee...
I can't figure out how to jump. Space, the up key, and any letters on my keyboard don't work.
I'm having the same problem as inheritance.fan. I'm on a Mac using OS X and google chrome if that has anything to do with it... I am so disappointed, I fell in love with this idea the second I saw it. :c
Otherwise, movement is a little bit slow/wonky. But I really like the idea. I didn't exactly get far enough without jumping to determine if the execution was alright...
Before you can jump, you have to find a ^.
Update: figured out jumping... Power of the post. I stand by what I said about the controls, though. Slightly slow and wonky, and the game is in dire need of a mute button (unless I'm simply missing this as well!)
Love this, though. Very nice.
@fan
you need to get a ^ to jump, and only arrow keys can be used a moving...
Very pleasant way to spend a lunch hour. :)
Anyone have an idea on how to get to Q? It's my last letter, and "Nown" and "Onest" are not real words.
+1 with Reece.
Never mind, figured it out. I should have known.
Wow, horrible ending.
Hints for the Q:
I don't think you can get at it from below.
You need to go down through the "basin".
The way down is not unknown.
You have to come down from the top, then make "KNOWN" to get into the Q chamber.
@Samdulmage, My way was a bit more subtle.
Interesting game, but some sort of in-game map would be greatly appreciated.
I really enjoyed this game. A very interesting and fun idea.
The only problem was that at first I got stuck twice by using the letter I started with ("I") to unlock things early on - that left me in places that I couldn't get out of without abilities or letters that were elsewhere. After the second restart, I decided not to use that letter at all until I had more abilities. Neat as it is to start with the first letter or your name, it might be better if there was a set initial letter so you can't get stuck in an unwinnable position.
Will someone tell me exactly what to do to jump please
You can't jump, at least not right away.
Go down and left whenever you can. When you can't go down or left anymore, head right and down down down. You'll see a "^" symbol. Collect it and you can jump. Later you'll get the "&" symbol and can double jump.
My previous spoiler was wrong.
Starting at the beginning, complete your name and drop down. Go right. Go down. Go right. Collect the ^ and B symbols.
Great concept, but an awful ending. I can understand not having a boss at the end (Scrabble-tron? Killer Spelling Bees?) but not even a pixelated fireworks display?
A little too easy to get stuck, I gave up after the 3rd time.
The last one was picking up D as the 18th letter, word matching seemed to glitch out for the exit.
that was AWESOME.
though I agree, I would have very much enjoyed a map. Though I'll admit, I only really got lost when trying to find my way back to the very last letter I needed
I really like this game, but I can't find the A, and without it I can't get the Z. Anyone mind helping?
Never mind, power of posting!
hehe, this game owes me approximately 37 minutes of my birthday back!
Q wasn't my last letter, hehe. It was "Y". Once I got the N and E, though, it went pretty smoothly :)
@Username: I'm very curious; how did *you* get the Q?
Pretty clever idea. The controls could use a little bit of work (jumping through tight spaces is a pain) but surprisingly entertaining.
Remarkably cool. Definitely unique (should probably have the "unique" tag added, in fact). Fun little game.
I love the way once you've got a reasonable suite of letters, you can carefully force your way into and through barriers like "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY". Very interesting little game. I approve.
After my first playthrough, I realized that not only the first letter of your name affects gameplay.
Your full name can be used to take a shortcut through a word of your choice. For example, naming yourself "MNOWN" allows you to get the Q very early on (not that this would be particularly useful, but it's the only one I tried).
Since when is Tenth not a word?
--edit--
Nevermind, I missed the I in "...enith"
my last letter was y and i found that a word need
j so i go find j then i can't remember where that j needed word was silly me
excellent puzzle game but I agree it needed a better ending... hope there is a sequel...
I like the ending. It's cute. A little disappointing without a boss, but still a good way to end it. Short and to the point.
So Geoff, when do I get my 1516.57 seconds back? :)
Yeah, I'm a little disappointed that some words were not accepted; specifically, it seems really difficult, if not impossible, to clear a word by jumping into it (for example, if the word "UNDERSTAND" was vertical, I could not form "am" by jumping up to meet the "a" with "m"). It seems to work just fine with horizontal words (you can clear the Es in the horizontal "BEEEEEEEEES" just fine by putting a letter on top).
David
I pretty quickly decided that you were not supposed to be able to form words by jumping up to them on the vertical. Completion does not require it and if I remember correctly some words would be too easy to get that way and bypass the intended challenge of reaching them.
Q springs to mind from memory
I like the replayability of just changing your "name." (Second letter I started with was significantly harder to finish with!)
I think you are blocked from jumping up to make a word at the start of the game because you ARE able to complete words from below later on after an upgrade. I was as frustrated as David until I realized that.
Wish it worked for me. I couldn't jump after it told me I could. I just froze :(
[Make sure your Flash Player is updated. -Jay]
Enjoyable game.
In case people didn't realize, you can only create words when your letter is standing on a surface - you can't create words while in mid-air.
The lexicon of two-letter words is pretty strange...
Very very enjoyable. Well thought out and well crafted, more towards the concept than the gameplay, but thoroughly enjoyable.
Thank you for making it Gharding3
It's possible to get stuck if you name yourself DUSELESS and keep going right.
I think the ending is hilarious.
Map (imgur picture)
Walkthrough (imgur picture)
Walkthrough (Note that there are many ways to complete the level, and this is only one. This does not rely on your starting letter.)
Learning to Jump (Blue Path)
Inventory: Starting Letter
Walk right, complete your name, and fall down. (You cannot collect anything to the right at the moment.)
Walk right, fall down to the DECAYING CORRIDOR, and go right a screen. (Going left too far can cause you to get stuck.)
You can now get the ^, which lets you jump! Collect the B as well. You can see the word completion mechanic by completing B+OAT, but this leads to a dead end.
Learning to Jump Again (Blue Path)
Inventory: B, ^
Now, we turn left from the DECAYING CORRIDOR. There are two ways to proceed, both which work.
In the LOOKOUT BEES room, you can either fall down into the bee pit, or you can successfully run across, which nets you a new letter W. This letter is optional right now and we can collect it later.
Go right to the UNHOLY TEMPLE OF ORDS. If you got the W, you can create a shortcut, but for now keep going right.
Jump up the walls and collect an M. You cannot collect the L for now. Complete the HO, with either M+HO (unit of inverse resistance), or W+HO if you got the W. Continue right to collect an H.
Inventory: B, H, M, (W), ^
Go back left, and fall down to the WATER SOURCE. Break the WATER and go right, giving you the letter T.
Go left, breaking the WATER again, and enter THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL IS EAR room. Complete EAR with B+EAR, T+EAR, or H+EAR, and fall down, collecting the &. This lets you double jump.
Expanding the Arsenal (Purple Path)
Inventory: B, H, M, T, (W), &
Now that you have the double jump, go left, double jump from the topmost E, and get a G.
Take the left path now, go right two screens back to the WATER SOURCE, go up a screen, and collect the L from earlier, with your newfound doublejump powers.
Inventory: B, G, H, L, M, T, (W), &
Go left two screens, complete IME (T+IME, M+IME, L+IME), and go down to collect a U.
Once again, return to the screen with the L.
This differs slightly from the picture, and is somewhat more efficient.
Complete LUNGE and NULL. Go right a screen, double jump the gap, and collect the I.
Now, go left again, and you can go down the YNCH with your L.
Go right a screen to see ONE DAY WE WILL ALL WAKE UP A LO?ER. Go right another screen to see BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LETTERS P AND O. Take the P, and go back to spell out LOPER, and take the O as well.
Expanding the Arsenal II (Orange Path)
Inventory: B, G, H, I, L, M, O, P, T, (W), &
Go back, and scale the ALTITUDE wall by drilling a tunnel, i.e. completing RO (RO+T, RO+B, RO+O etc.)
Go left through the WATER, and break the SOURCE. To do this, first break the O by spelling TO (GO, etc.), and then spell out SOURCE again with your O. Go right to a small crevice and take a C.
If you're following the picture: Go up, and complete LUNGE and NULL. Go right a screen, double jump the gap, and collect the I.
Go back left, fall down to the BASIN, and go left again. Now that you have the P, you can complete T+ECHNOCRAT, P+LUTOCRAT, and T+HEOCRAT. Go right and complete B+ROWN, and jump over the GLACIER.
Inventory: B, C, G, H, I, L, M, O, P, T, (W), &
To the right of the GLACIER is the HALFWAY THERE covering the R. To break this, first spell HALFWAY, then leave the room, and then spell THERE. Take the R and continue right.
Spell out CONTROL. Take the K.
Go back left two rooms to the GLACIER, and we can start breaking it. What I did was to break AIL (e.g. H+AIL), then spell out GLACIER, and finally TEE. Go down.
In the YOUR PROGRESS SHALL BE REWARDED room, you notice that you don't actually have Y or A. (You won't be able to get Y until much later, although you probably can get the A if you really want - it's to the left) Instead, just spell out H+OUR, PROGRESS, SH+I+LL, BE+T, and REWARDED. Go right, and take the DANGEROUS RELIC, the !.
Wheeeeeee (Pink Path)
Inventory: B, C, G, H, I, K, L, M, O, P, R, T, (W), &, !
Ok, fine, it reverses gravity. Now letters are fairly easy to come by. Go right to the ALL MANNER OF FORBIDDEN MEMORIES. You don't have the E to break it, so let's hit the reverse gravity switch and go up!
Break the I's, and take a small detour and collect a V. Keep going up until you hit the top.
Then go left back to the beehive (left of the UNHOLY TEMPLE). Complete I+NN, and drop down (BY), collecting the rather useless X.
Continue dropping to the ground, go right, and complete SCRATCHES and IT, and go back left to get an A.
Inventory: A, B, C, G, H, I, K, L, M, O, P, R, T, V, (W), X, &, !
Reverse gravity and go back up the left corridor, break the E wall with ET, and collect the W if you haven't already.
You should be at the LOOKOUT BEES room again. Go right, past the DECAYING CORRIDOR, and this time, reverse gravity to break P+IPE or R+IPE.
To the right, collect an F. Go right again and spell out one LEFT, and go right another room to collect the N.
Two Very Common Letters (Orange Path)
Inventory: A, B, C, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, T, V, W, X, &, !
Go back, break the FF wall with OFF, and go right two rooms. You can now break AVIA+N to collect the E, which you can go down and spell E+XILE.
Go back left two rooms, up a room, and you can now complete VALV+E, and V+ALVE. Traverse the maze and go to the AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY room.
Spell out L+AP on the leftmost letters, and then spell out PERSONNEL. Finally spell out HIN.
Go left through another narrow passageway and collect the D. Break out and spell MA+D, D+RAIN, and B+LEAK.
Now we go all the way down and we can tackle the ALL MANNER OF FORBIDDEN MEMORIES. Spell out IN on the rightmost N of FORBIDDEN, then spell out FORBIDDEN with N, and finally complete MEMORIES with E. Take the S.
The Final Rare Letters (Brown Path)
Inventory: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, V, W, X, &, !
First, return to the DECAYING CORRIDOR, and go up. You can now break S+ECRET. (You probably couldn't come here much earlier since the alternative path involves either D+WELL or S+WELL.) Take the J and the Z.
Next, go back to the room where you took the I. (For reference, it's three rooms right and one room down from the DECAYING CORRIDOR - go right, right (via the top path), down, right.) Complete either J+EALOUS or Z+ENITH, and go down. Complete OZON+E. Spell out RIGH+T and take the Y.
Finally, go back to the BASIN (from the Y, it's left, down, left, down, down). Spell out U+NIS, BA+S+IN, and K+NOWN. Go down, spell two IN's, and collect your Q.
And you're done!
Some final notes
This was essentially my run through this game. Looking back, you could be somewhat more efficient by unlocking I+NN earlier, thus allowing you to forego the V in the pink path, instead collecting V later on en-route while getting the S.
Update