Monk is a detective with OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) in a show of the same name on the USA network. To increase exposure for the show, and to generate traffic to the show's website, a new game has been launched that focuses on the trivial and repetitive tasks that Monk might face on a daily basis.
Monk's Mind game features 32 Wario Ware-style mini-games that a player must complete, three (3) times of increasing difficulty, to win. Divided and grouped into four (4) common scenarios such as: dining at a restaurant, living at home, working at the office, and investigating a crime scene, the player faces tasks typical to these situations.
To begin, click on one of the task bubbles that appear and float around Monk's head. The associated mini-game will begin with a short description of what to do (i.e., "catch", "balance", "straighten", etc.). Use the mouse to click, drag, or mouse over the area to accomplish the goal. But hurry! The task must be completed before the stopwatch makes one full revolution.
Although there seems to be no limit to the number of times a task may be repeated until it's done right, the game does force you to constantly perform tasks or else Monk will get very upset and the game will end.
Analysis: Considering the performance issues that action games are prone to in Flash, the gameplay mechanics for each of the 32 different mini-games have all been well-executed with only a few minor annoyances and inconsistencies. For example, rubbing clean the lipstick from the wine glass was extremely difficult to complete on the 3rd iteration. Only after leaving it alone and then coming back to it later did I manage to complete it on the first try with little effort.
The repetitive nature of the game's trivial tasks was an excellent choice for a game based on an obsessive-compulsive detective. Although I prefer the rapid-fire and random delivery mechanism of the original Wario Ware, this game manages to retain much of the original's appeal. Click.
Credits for the game include (thanks Neil!):
- Neil Voss (GLOW interactive), creative direction, game design, programming, sound
- Charles Forman (Setpixel), technical direction, game design, programming
- Jobe Makar (Electrotank), programming
- Jason Whalen (GLOW interactive), art direction, photography, graphics production
- Mike Molnar (GLOW interactive), producer
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Comments (may contain spoilers)
I have tried the game, it is fun.:
btw, JAY you have done a great job introducing games. these days i played alot games that you introduced. WELL DONE!!
-ken
Posted by: ken | February 16, 2006 12:47 PM
I LOVE Monk series :)
Game has style too, but if I would be picky, I would say Monk always takes time to organize the stuff...
Posted by: tonypa
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February 16, 2006 1:43 PM
Fun little game, and the screen shot they have when you win is amusing. "Neatening-up" the dead body to fit in the chalk lines though was kind of grim, but it worked.
Posted by: Laura | February 16, 2006 1:47 PM
Any one have any hints for the lightbulb game? No matter how fast I twirl my mouse around in a circle, I can't get past one bulb!
Posted by: Arteme | February 16, 2006 3:58 PM
Oh my gosh I LOVE MONK!!! HES SO COOL!!! HIS SHOW IS AWESOME!!! OCD- obsessive compulsive detective :)
It's a gift and a curse oh yeah!! Oh my gosh this game rocks oh it rocks!! GO MONK WOOO!!! But for god's sake... get sharona back, she's better than what's her name!! EVERYONE SHOULD TOTALLY AGREE!!
GO GO GO GO GO MONK!!! WOOOOOOH!!!
Posted by: Annie | February 16, 2006 4:00 PM
A fun, quirky game for a fun, quirky show!
Posted by: Ruka K. | February 16, 2006 4:14 PM
I had a lot of fun with this game. Thanks, Jay!
As fas as the lightbulb is concerned:
Posted by: twistofreality | February 16, 2006 4:40 PM
You're such a giver!
Posted by: Phuong Phan | February 16, 2006 5:21 PM
Adorable, and fits well (for the most part) with the show..
A few of the games have extremely annoying bugs/quirks. Such as the trash bags randomly falling, and the file folders snapping to the square you didn't want them to snap to.
Also a few of them were uneedingly difficult, such as the phone, and the hangers...
Other than that, though, I really loved it. :D
Posted by: Andrew
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February 16, 2006 5:47 PM
This game(s) is(are) fantastic!
I loved the one where you have to avoid shaking hands. And it was funny to hear my mouse squeaking from the back-and-forth movement on the soap-hand-cleaning game.
Too bad i got to the crime scene part and answered a friend on msn and I lost due to the time out. =(
Posted by: k0sm1k | February 16, 2006 6:04 PM
Oh I forgot... I only knew Monk from ads, but playing such a great game will sure make me watch it. I'm the customer every marketing department would love to have.
Posted by: k0sm1k | February 16, 2006 6:06 PM
Ahh, thank you, i see, you just move it up and down...
Posted by: Annie | February 16, 2006 7:02 PM
I've never seen the show (don't get USA) but I love the music with the game. Is it part of the show too?
Posted by: judy | February 16, 2006 7:28 PM
I love monk!
and yes, the music is the theme song of the show. "It's a jungle out there" Not sure who it's by though.
Posted by: Brandon
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February 16, 2006 7:54 PM
I couldn't get the trash bags. I had no clue what to do with them.
Posted by: Dan | February 16, 2006 8:04 PM
Dan -
Posted by: jay
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February 16, 2006 8:13 PM
Nice game.
I know how this guy feels because i've got OCD too.
Posted by: Robert | February 16, 2006 8:13 PM
I can't get past the 3rd lipstick challenge, it's driving me mad! Any hints?
Posted by: Marc | February 16, 2006 8:26 PM
Leave it, Marc, and come back to it. The same thing happened to me, and it was surprisingly easier after a break.
Posted by: jay
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February 16, 2006 8:29 PM
I want that suit! Cool game.
Posted by: Momentum | February 16, 2006 8:52 PM
Very good game.
I was really frustrated with the mat cleaning
game.
But otherwise this was an excellent way to waste some time.
Posted by: Pynchon82
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February 16, 2006 9:17 PM
Don't even bother playing this on a slower computer!
I can't get past the first stage on this computer (P3-733) because I can't straighten the cutlery or wipe the glass. The cute little bounce-in animation on the cutlery takes so long (while the timer tied to the system clock ticks away accurately) that I barely have time to grab the fork before the time runs out, let alone straighten it properly. As for wiping the glass, well my motions don't seem to be having any effect on the lipstick at all.
Posted by: Nezuji | February 16, 2006 9:23 PM
The one with the fingerprints was good at first, until the final task, which I finally finished due to pure luck. I honestly tried to see the print on like ten tries, and not once did I see it. WHatever I finished :-D
My biggest gripes were the mat game, the fingerprint game, and the hangar one. Otherwise, a very good mimic of Warioware.
Posted by: Nick | February 16, 2006 10:18 PM
About the theme song. Monk series had different song in season 1. They changed it to brilliant song "IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE" which is composed and performed by Randy Newman. Randy has also composed music for movies like “Toy Story”, "Babe" and “Monsters, Inc.” plus dozens of albums.
http://www.randynewman.com
Posted by: tonypa
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February 17, 2006 3:45 AM
Loved this!
I spent a while getting to grips with some of the mouse moves needed...and than just took my time with each task.
Follow the advice from the other users above, and take a break if your head is starting to boil!
Some glitches, but not too annoying.
Enjoy.
Posted by: Tully | February 17, 2006 6:43 AM
I got as far as the dial the numbers game on level 3, that killed me. Other than that, the only others that gave me any trouble was the coat hanger one.
Posted by: Topstring
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February 17, 2006 8:24 AM
I simply cannot remove the lipstick on the 3rd time around in level one. I am extremely frustrated.
Posted by: scramble125 | February 17, 2006 3:35 PM
for the lipstick looks like
up and down works best
Posted by: bigdaddy | February 18, 2006 4:37 PM
I give up! I've played this stupid game at least 20 times now and I can get through all 3 trials of everything but the lipstick and glass thing. I've tried doing it first, I've tried saving it for last, I've tried doing it twice and saving the third for later and still nothing.
Posted by: Barbara | February 19, 2006 1:38 PM
=(
I hear your frustration, Barbara, as it gave me a time with it, too.
Try not going so fast with the mouse. There seems to be a "sweet spot" between too fast and too slow that will get it just right. I hope that helps.
Posted by: jay
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February 19, 2006 1:43 PM
This seems to be a computer related issue. On some computers it is a piece of cake to remove that lipstick, just put the tissue on it and swipe the mouse up/down quickly. On the other machines (slower ones) you can break your hand but you will not succeed.
Posted by: baba44713 | February 20, 2006 8:52 AM
Can someone give me a hint? I can't make the glass come clean.
Posted by: dajasandrytris | February 21, 2006 4:38 PM
In addition to receiving a list of game credits, Neil also sent me this about the game...
Cheers, Neil!
Posted by: jay
|
February 27, 2006 3:02 PM
This was such a fun game! I hated the phone though. I could barely see the numbers on the buttons.
Posted by: Kristen | March 3, 2006 1:01 PM
oh yeah!!
i love monk.kiss
Posted by: andrea | March 12, 2006 1:15 PM
Ugh! That dead body one was making me so mad! I couldn't get past the last level of it for a good 20 mins!
Posted by: Meg | March 16, 2006 7:50 PM
great game even if a bit short but i dont care i love the monk series :)
Posted by: Leigh | March 22, 2006 11:02 AM
hey jay.i played this game yesterday and it worked fine. but today that page shows this message:
This is replaced by the Flash content. Place your alternate content here and users without the Flash plugin or with Javascript turned off will see this. Content here allows you to leave out noscript tags. Include a link to bypass the detection if you wish.
but the other games on that site work just fine, and i'v checked my java n its activated.
wat could be the prob?
Posted by: sabiha | May 9, 2006 5:37 AM
Haha very funny, Monk is like my favorite T.V. show, and the game was really fun. The last fingerprint was hardest, the salt shaker the funnest :).
Posted by: Dustfinger | July 2, 2006 1:12 PM
Any tips for the mat part??? Somehow I completed the first 2 ones, but the 3rd iteration... noooooo.. lol
Posted by: Elo | August 21, 2006 5:28 AM
I am 12 and I have finished this game. Easy peasy
Posted by: Rachael | August 24, 2006 1:06 PM
I can't beat the pencil straightening, any hints?
Posted by: Katie | August 27, 2006 4:11 AM
this is driving me insane(hence the name). i went all the way to level 3(monk's house). the light bulb killed me. but i went back and read the posts (thanks you guys!!) now, i cant get past the first level on the pencil straightening thing. im goin crazy, somebody help me..please!
Posted by: insanity* | August 31, 2006 2:23 PM
hey. i played this game a couple of months back, but theyve changed the challenges this time! the pencil straightening task, and seeking a radio station tries your patience!
Posted by: sabiha | September 15, 2006 5:39 PM
it's kind of hard for me, the time is fast. I can't finish the pencil task, the radio task and the cleaning task. maybe because i'm not a right-hander, harder for me to control the mouse..
Posted by: dullpunk | October 12, 2006 10:56 AM
the first time i played this, i got absolutely stuck on the pencils and the radio. i've just played again, and i now know these things...
1. for the radio task... just keep trying. beat the level once, and the other two times will be a breeze.
2. for the pencils... i was lucky to have beaten the first of the three levels, but the second level was just a bit too much for me. one thing i noticed though... it seemed that this time i played the game, the pencils had a bit more "snap" to them... like if you were off by such a tiny amount, they'd move the last millimeter for you... but the second level is still REALLY fast for me. practice, i guess.
otherwise, from what i can see, this is a pretty good game. i've never watched monk before, but it sounds like a good plot. this game seems to compliment it well.
Posted by: art begotti
|
October 18, 2006 2:25 PM
Help!! I can't pass the task where you've got to clean the car's window from the green stains, are ther any tricks to make the wipers go faster??
Posted by: Steffi | October 22, 2006 3:16 PM
can someone help with the pencil task? Ive tried for a half an hour now and I don't think it's suppose to be this long.
Posted by: Melissa | October 30, 2006 1:52 PM
PENCILS! Thats all I have to say. effing pencils.
Posted by: Cori | November 17, 2006 10:55 PM
For the car window thing, i founf just mass clicking does the trick. I think there's a bug with the pencils because sometimes, even when they are all completley straight it comes up as a failure and the only way to fix it is to reload the game.
Posted by: Cam | December 24, 2006 12:26 PM
What do you do in the tuning thing. I don't understand it at all!!!!!! ARGH!!!!!!!!!! I AM SOOOOOOOOO MAD
Posted by: Rachael | December 29, 2006 10:15 AM
not enough time to do some things
Posted by: sunnie | February 25, 2007 3:40 AM
I can't do the car's windshield cleaning!
Posted by: Gamershood | March 10, 2007 3:13 PM
This game was fine, but those pencils....
Can't get past them , so I have to give up on this game!
Posted by: Holds | May 10, 2007 2:27 PM
ok--so at first the game seemed like fun...then i realized that the goal was for us to all feel monk's pain! they want us to see what it's like to live in his brain for a brief period. yeah--thought the crime scene tape was hard? try straightening pencils that CANNOT be straightened!!!!! what gives??!!! not only do i give up on the game, but i am boycott the freakin show from now on! haha
Posted by: lala | July 14, 2007 1:06 AM
I need help with washing the car windows on level 1. I have tried mass clicking and that doesn't work, can anyone help me?
Posted by: Heather | July 18, 2007 7:29 AM
I did every single task except for the last one; I couldn't get past the "disinfect" one. I did everything I could, but I still couldn't get past the first stage...
Posted by: Thomas | July 23, 2007 1:34 AM
This game is a blessing...and a curse.
Posted by: bobbyjkl | August 13, 2007 8:41 PM
amg whatever ive done, i cant beat the lightbulb activity! lease help ive been trying for an hour straight
Posted by: Anonymous | October 12, 2007 5:29 PM
Does anyone know about the straitning of the dead body on the third round when all 4 limbs are not in place. I cant get it for nothing. Please Help....
Posted by: Lilly | December 7, 2007 7:57 AM
hate those pencils....
I straightened the pencils for about an hour...I made them as straight as some pencils could be...
Is anyone through that pencilthing? or is it just another haha-you-cannot-pass-final?
Posted by: anna | December 9, 2007 2:49 AM
Monk is awesome
Posted by: sillybuttons™
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February 14, 2008 7:19 PM