The stately grandfather of all falling-block puzzle games and widely considered the most popular game of all time, Alexey Pazhitnov's Tetris needs no introduction.
The recent appearance on the Nintendo DS does the franchise proud, with solid online support and a wide variety of solo modes, despite some fundamental missteps that may frustrate long time players. Here is a breakdown of the different game modes available in Nintendo's latest Tetris game:
Standard Mode: Mario-themed traditional Tetris. There are three options in this mode. Marathon mode is no frills Tetris; clear lines as tetrominos fall ever faster. Although you are limited to 20 levels at first, endless play cam be unlocked by clearing 200 lines and watching the credits. In Line Clear mode you simply have to clear 25 lines. For those without Wi-Fi access, VS CPU mode lets you face a computer controlled player in head to head Tetris.
Mission Mode: The Legend of Zelda's Link is the star of Mission mode. You will have to perform various tasks such as using a specific block to clear a certain number of lines or clearing a line at an arbitrary height, in marathon mode or within a time limit.
Push Mode: The only new mode available in multiplayer, Push mode is set in Donkey Kong's tower and is a two player game (or 1 player versus CPU). The well is twice as long as usual and it has no floor or ceiling; your blocks fall from the top of the screen down and your opponents blocks fall from the bottom up. There are two static blocks in the center to start building off of and that cannot be cleared. Clearing multiple lines at once will push the stack of blocks towards your opponent and, as in Standard mode, if the blocks reach the top of your screen you will lose.
Touch Mode: Like Push Mode, the Balloon Fight themed Touch mode makes use of the unique features of the DS. Unfortunately, while Push Mode is an inventive and fun game that couldn't be as successfully implemented on other consoles, Touch Mode feels a bit gimmicky. Each level begins with a well full of tetrominos. Use the stylus to move or rotate tetrominos and clear lines as you attempt to lower a crate full of balloons to the floor. A Touch Puzzle mode is also available.
Catch Mode: Metroid's Samus is featured in the creative Catch Mode. You begin with a plus shaped block that you can rotate to catch falling tetrominos. Form a 4x4 block to start a detonation timer, which clears itself and surrounding blocks. You can trigger the detonation early by pressing [X] which can be useful for destroying the life sapping Metroids that occasionally float down. The game ends if you run out of life or if your collection becomes too large to fit on the lower screen.
Puzzle Mode: In each of the 200 puzzles in this Yoshi themed mode you'll drop a predefined group of blocks into the well in whatever order and rotation you like. Logical thinking and foresight (or guesswork and dumb luck) replace the faster paced, instinctual gameplay of most of the other modes.
Wi-Fi Mode: 2 Player Versus, 4 Player Versus with Items, and 2 Player Push modes are available online. As with Mario Kart, you'll need to exchange friend codes if you want to meet a friend online.
Multiplayer Mode: Local play is more flexible, with the ability to set handicaps and teams as well as toggle items. Amazingly, up to 10 players can play locally with a single cart.
Analysis: Nintendo fans will love the appearances of famous and obscure 8-bit characters, music and backgrounds, though it is strange that such a visually nostalgic game doesn't allow you to disable certain gameplay options for a truly old-school experience. Unlike the NES and Gameboy editions that many gamers are familiar with, the next block preview has been increased to 5, and you can now store a block in reserve with the [L button]. Most importantly, you can now move or rotate a piece endlessly once it comes into contact with the bottom of the well or another tetromino. Known as infinite spin, this controversial feature makes it possible to stall forever and, though using it in multiplayer will guarantee a loss as the other player hits you with line after line of blocks, it does make single player mode much easier. However, even if the exotic modes don't interest you and you can't stand infinite spin, the foolproof Wi-Fi support makes Tetris DS worthwhile.
Of course Tetris DS is not available on the web, although you can download a demo from DS demo kiosks at the Nintendo World and elsewhere. Still, I would be remiss in leaving you without something to do after reading this far so enjoy this twist on Pazhitnov's quintessential puzzler instead.
Another great online game from DOFI Blog, the creator of World of Sand and other addictive Web toys made with Processing (Java), New Rolling Omusubi puts you in control of a lost ball of rolling rice. Use your nori wrapper like a sticky tongue to move along walls, ceilings, and blocks of ice and sand. Reach the goal as fast as you can to top your best times.
Two things you'll be doing a lot of are rolling and seaweed-tongue swinging. Use Z and X to move left and right and the mouse buttons to throw out nori. In many stages you'll navigate over treacherous land by using the grapple-roll-grapple technique. Click where you want to grab with your tongue, then let the omusubi pull itself in. While you're holding on for dear life, use the Z or X button to "lean", then quickly release and re-click the mouse button to grab a block ahead. Be prepared to fall, and be prepared to do some quick clicking to save yourself from a nasty demise.
New Rolling Omusubi also has a few elements, much like World of Sand. There are three main types of blocks: walls, ice, and sand. Each one reacts differently to being grappled. Ice is slippery and won't support your weight, while sand will disintegrate if you slam into it. Currents of wind also appear and blast you in different directions.
At the end of the game's 25 stages your total time is displayed along with a short comic bringing the game to a happy ending. The scene is in Japanese, but if you're very clever you can decipher the story on your own. If you're ancy and don't want to beat the game, you can simply press "N" to skip stages. You know, if you're a cheater...
Analysis: It's charming and very simple, not much else to say about this game. New Rolling Omusubi isn't very difficult and won't take you long to beat, half an hour if you take some time to explore. A full-featured version of this game would be great to see, one that incorporates more elements from the World of Sand game. In the meantime, the stoic simplicity of New Rolling Omusubi is a great experience on its own.
Get your rice rolling - Click.
Thanks to Kyle for sending this one in!
You'll either love or hate the following Flash diversions from the fresh-faced wiseacres at RRRRThats5Rs.com. Accurately describing their creations as "frustrating games," 
RRRR often attempts to upend expectations of what a game should be, and even draw attention to the absurdity that can result from goal-based gameplay taken to extremes. A few of the games feature mature subject matter and if you don't enjoy spoilers and/or expletive-spewing frustrated gamers you may want to avoid the comments section.
How Much tests your powers of perception in a series of increasingly difficult and unlikely comparisons.
By far the longest and most intricate game on the site, the recent popularity of Don't Shoot the Puppy was responsible for knocking the 5Rs website offline last week. Figure out how to keep an adorable puppy safe from a cannon for 15 levels.
Click Once a Minute is a precision and endurance test that generated some gems in the RRRR comments section:
- Brian Shih - "Terrible and beautiful."
- Wyndee - "Whatever I def dont get this one it made me wanna get back to work."
- Euge - "This game isn't very fun."
Seemingly made only to illustrate the confusion that can be caused by ambiguous instructions, Click Between the Lights is the most traditional playing and least interesting of all the games on the site.
Finally, Get to the Finish is a tense but ultimately rewarding race poking fun at one of our most beloved Web technologies. See you at the finish line!
Attention budding game developers! Ben at RRRR is looking for people to implement a proverbs game that he describes here. He is even generously offering $3 for your time! If you know Flash and want to help out why not take him up on it?
RRRRThats5Rs walkthrough now available!
In my previous post I mentioned that I attended a party at GDC thrown by the CMU folks from the Entertainment Technology Center. It was there that I had the pleasure of meeting TJ Jackson, a technical director for Dreamworks and also the man behind Troy.
Created as part of the Experimental Gameplay Project under the theme of "violate", Troy was designed and built in one week as a Web-based augmented reality game. In it the player explores the topic of invasion of privacy and... um... well, if I told you any more then I'd be spoiling the game. Suffice to say that the goal of the game is to figure out how to play. It is not a long game by any means, but parts of it are sure to stump many people that give it a try; and it's a lot of fun while it lasts.
Here are a couple of tips to get started: things aren't always as they seem; and click this link only if you get really stuck with encryption.
Although most of the game can be played via the Web, one significant component of it requires the launching of a Windows-only executable, and therefore the game cannot be played on any other platform. This is an unfortunate shortfall of the game since the contents of the executable could have been created in Flash just as easily, thereby retaining the cross-platform compatibility seen with most Web-based games.
You can check out some of TJ's other games at the Experimental Gameplay site. A post-mortem of the game is also available.
Wow. Good times at GDC this year. The tutorials, keynotes and sessions all had their moments of awe and inspiration, and yet I have to say that it was the meetings and the parties and the schmoozings that were the highlights for me. Great things are just bound to happen when you get a significant portion of the games industry together under one roof.
During my stay in San Jose last week I had the privilege of attending a party that was thrown by the Entertainment Technology Center of Carnegie Mellon University. I received the party invitation after attending a session given by two (2) of its former grad students, Kyle Gray and Kyle Gabler, both of whom participated in the Experimental Gameplay session last year. They gave a great talk about rapid prototyping gleaned from their experiences last spring when they each set out to build a game every week for 10 weeks. To keep things interesting the games were usually based around a predetermined theme such as: gravity, vegetation, swarms, flight, etc.
Their experiences are valuable to game designers everywhere since it is often necessary to build many game prototypes before finding one that may work. The words of wisdom they had to offer the packed conference hall was excellent advice to anyone with a desire to design and build games: (I did some cherry picking here)
- Embrace the possibility of failure
- Encourage taking creative risks
- Enforce short development cycles
- Add constraints (they increase interest)
- Gather concept art and music to create an emotional target
- Build the toy first
- Know when to shoot your baby
- Complexity is not necessarily "fun"
- Build toward a well-defined goal
Both Kyles have moved on to professional full-time positions at EA—Gabler at Maxis and Gray at Tiburon—but the Experimental Gameplay Project lives on with another group of students making games under similar constraints. Be sure to visit the site often to see what those brilliant CMU peeps are up to.
In fact, the Experimental Gameplay Project has been so successful they are opening up the fun to anyone who wants to get involved! They are holding a 2-week game design competition to build a game based on a theme they will announce on April 1st at the Experimental Gameplay website:
- On April 1st, 2006, they will announce a gameplay theme (e.g. gravity, vegetation, flight, etc.) on experimentalgameplay.com
- You'll have 2 weeks to design and build a game based on this theme; the deadline is April 14th, 11:59 PM PST
- All games submitted will be posted for everyone to download and review. The winners will be selected by a panel of industry pros and the experimental gameplay community. See official rules for more info.
The top 5 competitors will receive an interview with THQ’s Heavy Iron Studios. One will be selected for a paid summer internship with the company.
To enter you must register with them by creating an account at the Experimental Gameplay website.
Cheers to Kyle for the party invite and to the other Kyle for keeping me laughing throughout the presentation! You guys rock! =)
For more details about the GDC presentation, check out Raph Koster's blog where he expounds on the concept of rapid prototyping and even offers up a "game design prototype kit" to use when fleshing out that killer game design idea. Cheers, Raph!
This downloadable Windows-only game is one you will likely want to keep on your system. Rumble Box is the unique child of a cool Rayman-esque main character and hordes of enemies combined together in a classic beat-em-up style game.
The game was a finalist in the 2006 Independent Games Festival, and a winner in the 2006 Slamdance Guerilla Gamemaker Competition for its outstanding physics implementation. It was designed and programmed by Patrick Hackett and Joe Bourrie, both of whom are graduates of the prestigious DigiPen Institute of Technology, particularly known for its classes in game design, animation, and engineering.
From the Rumble Box website:
"Rumble Box is a fast paced 3D action beat-em-up with a unique premise: all of the characters are made of simple objects which stay around in the level even after the character is defeated. The objects pile up, changing the gameplay landscape and altering your combat tactics. The game takes place inside a giant box, and the ultimate goal of the game is to pile up enough defeated enemies to get out of the box."
An original idea indeed. You and your enemies are all made of blocks. When you kill an enemy, the blocks fall and stay there. Pile up the enemies, escape the box. There's your quick run-down.
The faster you get out of the box, however, the more likely you are to get a bonus stage. Your completion time is added to the number of enemies you've killed, along with the highest number of enemies you've killed in a row; that score at the end determines which bonus stage you're sent to; there are five in all.
Your main character comes equipped with a full set of moves, too. Your basic attack is the [spacebar], while a more advanced attack, the [alt] button, will let you swing enemies around in a small circle by moving accordingly. This may take some time to master. You may also dash by double-tapping a directional button, and by combining this with the spacebar will allow you to perform a drop-kick.
There is a lot to the game and only so much people will read, so I'll keep this review short. There's plenty to experiment with, including a Challenge mode, so I suppose the best way to get a feel for this one is simply to play it.
Analysis: Though the game is addictive and amusing, it's definitely not perfect. One thing I really hoped for in this game was an upgrade system. The dynamic protagonist could easily have had new parts attached to him, as well as new moves, more health, a larger body, etc. If a system was implemented in such a way so that you could collect parts of fallen enemies and use them to improve yourself, I think the game would have been even more addictive.
One other thing I feel I should mention is that when the enemies start piling up, so do the polygons. The game keeps track of every individual piece of every fallen enemy and, as a result, people with slower machines might not be able to handle this one. The site recommends at least a GeForce3, but I was able to run it successfully on a GeForce2.
Other than that, the game is amazing. It is built around a truly unique idea, and short of providing an upgrade system, the developers still did a superb job. Granted, my suggestion would probably have taken a huge amount of time to implement, and so I'm not complaining that it wasn't in there. Trust me, this is one you won't want to miss.
Thanks to my dad for showing me this one. Download it!.
From Ben Leffler of Australia comes this dark and foreboding tale of the macabre that will surely send chills down your spine. One part Flash point-and-click adventure and one part interactive narrative, Exmortis 2 is the sequel to the 2004 game of the same name. It continues the story one year after the events of the first tale came to fruition.
If you haven't played the first Exmortis game, you may wish to play that one before continuing here, as the rest of this review may spoil the experience.
In the first game, you play as a man who wakes up in the woods without any recollection of how he arrived there. He makes it to a nearby abandoned house for shelter only to discover it is filled with dismembered bodies and blood all around. The house also appears to be haunted by evil spirits, which you learn are the Exmortis. Additional information uncovered tells of their leader, Lord Vlaew, a powerful being that once ruled over Earth but has since been banished for eternity to the spirit realm.
Over time you learn that these evil spirits desire a return to their former selves and therefore must kill five (5) innocent souls and mark the bodies with the symbols of the Exmortis to do so. They also need a soul-bearing human to become "The Hand," one whom must act as a bridge between realms for the Exmortis to pass. You realize at the end that you are the Hand, and have just played an important role in opening the gates and unleashing the Exmortis to wage their war against humanity for control of all the Earth.
A year has passed since that ill-fated day and billions have been slaughtered at the hand of the Exmortis as the horde swept across the Earth covering it in a crimson hue. Only one survivor remains: you. And as you flee the scene of the last devastating raid by the Exmortis, a dark figure passing in the distance follows and puts his plans in motion.
Analysis: Ben has created a feast for the senses, wrapping commercial-quality audio and visuals around a well-developed story to produce an immersing and entertaining interactive narrative. And it's an amazing feat for a single Flash developer. I especially enjoyed the attention to detail in the story elements that appeared at various points throughout the game within the many pages of a diary, newspaper clippings, and other written works. Although reading the story elements is not necessary to complete the game, the entire game play experience is indeed enhanced by Ben's excellent narrative. Also noteworthy is Ben's implementation of chapter checkpoints that the player returns to if a mission is failed while playing the game. Never was I set back far enough to make the experience feel frustrating at all. Overall the game is an excellent example of good interactive design. Click.
If you get stuck there is already an Exmortis 2 walkthrough available, written by Ben himself.
Exmortis 2 walkthrough now available!
Why are you still reading this? Hapland 3 is Rob Allen's latest sequel to the tremendously popular Hapland series, and it was just released. Review forthcoming. Until then, hellllllpppp! Click.
For a complete walkthrough that rewards you with concept art of the game, look within the comments for MrGreg's Hapland 3 walkthrough.
Hapland 3 walkthrough now available!
Orbox B was created by Arseniy Shklyaev—previously known as Rubilon, and now he creates games under the brand GameBalance.
Orbox B is a game of striking simplicity and compelling puzzle solving. It is the sequel to the original Orbox we reviewed last year. Your goal is to guide your 'box' from start-point to end-point. The catch? You can only move in the four cardinal directions and you will only be stopped once striking an object. Don't worry, none of the other objects move or can hurt you, but that will hardly make your job any easier. As pure puzzle solving game with 30 levels, this one isn't the most innovative game you'll play this week, but it could very well be one of the most mind-bending.
Analysis: If you're looking for a game to play where you can just turn off your brain and relax, I'm afraid this isn't it. But if you're looking for a game that has a number of well-designed levels, scaling difficulty, and a handy password level skip system so you can play with your friends, this is the game for you. If you played the original, Orbox B retains the same simplicity and charm. It's quick, easy to learn, and browser-based. In addition, the sequel has improved the graphics and the quality of the puzzles, and there is now a much needed password system. Give it a try. Click.
Some parting advice: space bar resets the current level if you get truly stuck.
Orbox B walkthrough now available!
The Fancy Pants Adventure is an online platform adventure game created by Brad Borne. You play a hip and well-animated character who, as one might have guessed, wears a very fancy pair of pants.
The game takes a few pages from the book of Sonic the Hedgehog, namely speed and out of reach secrets. The main character dashes through open levels littered with the occasional obstacle or enemies. There are springboards to send you skyward, half-pipes to run around, and hills that propel you in many directions. The game has a fairly fast pace but is not averse to slowing down and letting you explore. In fact, there are several hidden areas you can find if you take the time to look. Did you see Brad's name inscribed in the stones?
As you explore the sleek worlds in this game, you'll come across a few items, namely floating swirls and trophies. Swirls refill your health and give you an extra life (measured in Pants, of course) every 100. Trophies can be collected and viewed from the main room of the game for info about other Armor Games flash titles.
Analysis: The first thing I noticed about Fancy Pants Adventure is that it feels like a very complete and polished game, even though there's only one world available at the moment. The stages are vast and open and just beg to be explored. The physics are very well-done and the main character is smoothly animated. You can perform some spectacular acrobatics as you launch him around the stages. The music, composed by Geier Arnold, is equally superb and fits the game's atmosphere like a glove.
Ready to try on the fancy pants yourself? Play The Fancy Pants Adventure.
Originally known as Chain Shot!, SameGame (pronounced sah-meh-gah-meh) was created in 1985 by Kuniaki Moribe and has since appeared on devices as diverse as the Super Famicom, several Texas Instruments calculators and even home tv recording unit Tivo. Jussi Kari's Flash-based implementation plays very smoothly, and his stripped down aesthetic suits it well.
Like many great puzzle games, SameGame is as brilliant as it is simple. Each level begins as a rectangular grid of colored blocks. [Left clicking] any block that is adjacent to other blocks of the same color will cause them all to disappear. Blocks are affected by gravity and clearing an entire column will cause the blocks on the right to slide leftwards, filling in the empty space. Score points by eliminating as many blocks as you can, but you'll have to think ahead and beware; since the blocks are not replenished, a few wrong moves at the wrong time can leave you frustrated and stuck. Thankfully you start with 3 different types of bombs, used to clear a row, column, or 3x3 group of blocks. You begin with one of each and only get more by completely emptying all blocks from the level. The game ends when you forced (or choose!) to use the 'give up' button at the top of the screen.
The first level uses 3 different colors of blocks; each succeeding level adds another color. Clearing the board becomes very difficult, very fast. SameGame is not a stamina test in which you can measure your progess by level number, like most falling block games. Playing for points is more rewarding. Clearing large masses of blocks will net extra points, and each level has time and click based bonuses. Unfortunately, the high score list has been broken for quite some time. Click.
The Bar is a breathtakingly beautiful point-and-click room-escape game presented by IDAC and translated by Mark Bowers. It begins with an intriguing story of a couple who promise that if they parted they would meet again in 50 years at this bar. The lovers have separated, time has passed, and here you are waiting at the empty bar. But... where is she? The Bar is a very atmospheric room-escape game that steals you with its ambience and stunningly rendered scenery then holds you with some challenging puzzles.
The Bar is an item-centric game where you must collect various objects from around the bar and use them in creative ways. You're limited to one room that you can pivot around in and search, but you'll need to turn around every corner, lift every napkin and mix every drink to find what you need.
A major part of the game is using items in conjunction with each other. Simply click on an item in your inventory and choose "About". A close-up of the chosen object appears and you can click on it for more info. To use another item with this one, just click it while in this zoomed-in mode, then click on the item you're viewing. If you've used an item for its purpose it greys out in your inventory and can no longer be selected.
Analysis: Like most room escape games, The Bar combines one part exploration and two parts frantic clicking. An oddly welcome gameplay mechanic are arrows you click to change views inside the bar. This frees the rest of the screen for mad mouse clicking sprees to find new items and crannies to peer into.
My only complaint is that toward the end a few of the puzzles are quite obscure. Only through completely random luck (or cheating) can you find out what to do next. A few puzzles seem to have nothing to do with the story, they're just problems that need to be solved in order to proceed. A bit of a disappointment, but the rest of the game is very rewarding.
Give The Bar a try.
The Bar walkthrough now available!
PandAventure is a simple Flash based point-and-click game from France's Pandaf Games. When your red capped panda-partner disappears, vaguely mumbling something about a bamboo forest, there's only one thing to do: find him (and get ahold of some tasty bamboo!).
Once you finish picking up after up your tea, you'll exit to the world map. [Left click] the magnifying glass that appears when you hover over the panda to examine your current location. Start by re-entering the house and click the the map and radio to pick them up. You can browse your inventory in the upper left corner of the screen. Unfortunately, the radio is buggy; it should let you choose one of three different background tunes, but it often does nothing.
PandAventure looks and feels like a children's book. With the clean lines, bright colors and complete lack of text, you almost expect it to be be printed on thick waterproof pages. Although identifying locations on the map can be tricky, expert pointers and expert clickers will probably enjoy breezing through the Panda Adventure. Click.
SpaceCab is an online flash game created and hosted by Sporkle. This tough little game has you piloting a round spacecab through dangerous terrain to rescue lost miners from aliens. Navigate through tight tunnels, uncover secret pathways, and scream/curse every single time you crash. It's a jolly romp in space, bring the kids!
Two things stand out about this game: difficulty and exploration. SpaceCab isn't completely linear, as you can unlock different paths as you quest for more miners. You might be a little wary about some narrow passages, but squeezing through them successfully is worth the adrenaline rush.
You control the cab with the arrow keys, rotating it left or right and firing your boosters with up. The physics are precise, and your cab can't take much punishment. In fact, the slightest touch with any object will send you to the scrap heap. You have a weapon that can take care of a few baddies, but the real challenge comes from piloting your cab through tunnels.
Analysis: SpaceCab is an homage to the younger days of video gaming where the Atari and Lunar Lander dominated our screens. One thing many seasoned gamers might not want to remember is the insane difficulty level of many of these retro games. Often you had to suffer through hours of repeated deaths in the first level just to get the hang of controlling your craft. SpaceCab feels just like that.
But sometimes the game is a little too difficult. Often it's downright frustrating. It took me some time before I could rescue the first miners. What happened immediately after that? I nicked the side of a wall and exploded. Needless to say I wasn't thrilled. But once I got used to the controls I could move around with confidence.
In the end, SpaceCab is a game you'll either be determined to master your first run through, or you'll play it off and on for a few weeks. Move all breakable objects out of arm's reach before you play.
Click to check out SpaceCab. Sporkle requires a free registration, or you can log in as a guest. There are several other funny/entertaining games there, so a quick registration isn't too painful.
Thanks to Rob for sending this our way!
Filed under the Hapland/Puzzleland/Industrial Place Thingy category, Odubang 2 is an online point-and-click adventure game where timing and precision cursor clicks are your key to survival. Guide a spastic stick figure through an MS Paint world of red soil and gigantic green boulders. It's a short but entertaining game.
Your interaction with the Odubang 2 world is entirely by mouse click. If you can click on a certain area the cursor changes, usually to the hand icon (depending on your computer). These hotspots change depending on where you are, limiting your choices to the task immediately at hand. As you pick your way across the five levels, you'll quickly learn where not to click. Fortunately you aren't timed and can retry the stage as often as you like.
The goal of Odubang 2 is, of course, to make it through the stage alive. There are many creative (and unexpected) ways to die and each can happen at the slightest mis-click. It's fun to try every option just to see what will happen. The safe path through the level isn't always the obvious one, so some trial and error is needed.
Analysis: This sort of puzzle/point-and-click game is nothing new, but I feel like Odubang 2 is just slightly unique in a few areas. First of all, it doesn't take itself seriously. Don't expect brain-grinding puzzles or complex click patterns. It's trial and error clicking. Your attention is always glued to the next move at hand and that involves just one click.
Odubang 2 also uses the increasingly popular "paint program graphics" where it looks as if the author painted the levels with a one-color brush. Some see it as lazy, others as a protest to graphically-intense games of today. I see it as a fitting art style for a simple game. It works.
Yes, you want to give Odubang 2 a try. Many thanks to Gabriel for sending this one our way!
UPDATE: The original game, Odubang 1, is also available. Thanks to Role for the link!
Odubang 2 walkthrough now available!
Nest of Moai is an online flash game that will take you exactly 90 seconds to beat. Fortunately there's a little more to it than just one run through, and with its quirky sense of humor you'll play it several times in a row.
The goal in Nest of Moai is to move the cursor over the Moai statues to score points. The three scenes (each 30 seconds long) have different patterns of statues popping out of windows, from behind the horizon, dropping from parachutes, etc. From time to time a large statue appears that you have to rub the cursor over several times to make vanish.
The game itself is fairly straightforward, but the real winning factor is the sense of humor. Think late-night Japanese television show, complete with spunky music, a man yelling in Japanese, and flashing text all over the screen. A good game and a good laugh transcend any language barrier.
Analysis: For a 90 second game, this one really makes you want to keep playing. Any game's ultimate goal is to give you a sense of accomplishment, causing your brain to release lots of happy-making chemicals. From making a row in Tic-Tac-Toe to defeating Sephiroth, it's all about the chemical rewards. Nest of Moai pulls this off very well in a short period of time and successfully calls you back for more. And more. And more. And m-- why can't I stop playing this game?!!
Give Nest of Moai a try. You've got 90 seconds, right?
Thanks to Corbin for the heads-up on this game!
I'm off to San Jose, California, to attend the Game Developers Conference, March 20-24. Although I will be away for a week, you can expect the other contributing authors to bring you fresh content and reviews, almost daily. In addition, I hope to provide reports from the conference of any news-worthy events that occur while I'm out there similar to last year's update after having seen presentations by Mark Healey (Rag Doll Kung Fu) and Will Wright (Spore).
If you are planning to attend the conference and haven't already set up a time to meet with me—although my schedule is already pretty full—I would welcome the opportunity to meet in person for a chat about games, the conference, future employment opportunities, business development, whatever. =)
To contact me now or during the conference, just send a message to my email address next to my picture in the sidebar so we can set up a time and a place to meet. Hope to see you there! Cheers!
Mono is a downloadable Windows game that is described as 'one part Asteroids, one part Robotron, and one part Paint Shop Pro'. Created by the talented guys over at Binary Zoo, you play as a plucky yet resourceful 
circular object set on changing its surroundings from black to white (or white to black, depending on mode). You accomplish this by destroying colored circles (red, green, or blue) which split in classic asteroid fashion. Upon destruction, they leave behind some of their coloring, assisting you in your goal. In addition, you can pick up power-ups to further help in your quest (pro tip: stars improve your weapons). Coupled with three difficulty modes, and the ability to import your own music, this is a well designed little game.
Analysis: There's not a whole lot more to say about this game. There are no bosses or fancy graphics, and it doesn't need them. It's a testament to what a couple guys with some creativity and talent can put together. The only real weakness is the lack of in-game tutorials, but as the controls are simple, it doesn't really need it. Just use the mouse to move and the right button to change the direction of fire.
The other downside is that a download is necessary to play, and it does require the latest directX as well. It's a pity that there is no browser based version, but if you can overcome these obstacles, then you will find yourself rewarded with a game experience that is both simple and oddly addicting. Click, then scroll downward to try it out.
Long, long ago, before hot and cold running internet could be piped right into your home, forward thinking citizens dialed into bulletin board systems (BBS) via modem to download files, read forums, look at ansi art or, of course, to play games.
Known as door games, these programs acted as a door from the BBS software to another program and often emphasized user interaction and competition. One of the most successful was Seth Able Robinson's Legend of the Red Dragon, an original and humorous RPG released when the author was only 14.
Legend of the Green Dragon (LoGD) is a free, browser based homage to, and extension of, the original. Eric Stevens has done an excellent job preserving Able's style while adding tons of new features, characters and monsters, as well as vastly enlarging the world to include multiple cities and an afterlife. LoGD is written in PHP and is highly extensible. Different servers can offer very different experiences, so this review refers only to the classic server. A large list of others is available here.
All action in the game is performed by clicking links in a toolbar or using convenient hotkeys. Turns, in the form of forest battles, are doled out every 12 hours, which is equivalent to one game day. Combat is simple but effective and PvP is allowed, though you may opt out. A flawless forest fight earns you a free turn; a good or lucky session of LoGD can be like riding a wave, each battle perpetuating the next.
As a new player you'll choose from a fairly typical selection of races and classes. There is a bit of hand-holding in the form of a beginners island with a helpful fairy, but the majority of LoGD is left for the player to discover. I won't reveal much more, as the distinct humor of the game makes the learning process appealing and fun. Don't be afraid to spend money, explore strange areas in the forest, or interact with bizarre NPCs. Very little you do can cause serious permanent damage, and there is a lot to gain by finding out what various people and places are for.
Analysis: Legend of the Green Dragon is a fitting tribute to a little known classic. However, the text based gameplay, fantasy setting and multiplayer environment make it important to note that LoGD is not an MMORPG, nor a MUD. Player interaction is minimal, limited to message boards and mail. The low number of levels available for advancement and limited forest fights per day make the maligned and potentially unhealthy level grind common to many MMORPGs impossible. In fact, though predating modern MMORPGs, LoGD seems designed as a response to current trends; limited by the number of turns each day, the player benefits by spending time efficiently and defeating the dragon as quickly as possible. Rather than simply rewarding those who have the most free time, everyone is on more equal footing. LoGDs simple gameplay and fun, well-writen encounters make sure the 15 or 20 minutes spent on each session are never a chore. Look for me as Moonside on the classic server! Click.
Remember the amazing, jaw-dropping, Shockwave 3D first person shooter (FPS) demo that surfaced last year just prior to GDC? The game was called Phosphor Alpha and it was created by Nick Kang of Rasterwerks. Well, he's done it again.
Phosphor Beta 1 kicks the action into high gear by including multiplayer deathmatch functionality. And it all runs within the convenience of your browser(!), provided you have a computer with a fast processor, DirectX or OpenGL installed, and with a nice video card. Here is what Nick recommends:
Recommended for playback: 1.6+ MHz CPU, 64+ MB video card, Internet Explorer 6, Shockwave 10, Enhancer Xtra required for mouselook, fullscreen.
His recommendations are not requirements, however. I was able to run this amazing piece of work on my measly G4 Mac laptop in Firefox using OpenGL. To play using OpenGL, disregard the initial "DirectX 7 not found" dialog, choose Settings, then Video, then change DirectX to OpenGL and you're good to go.
Additional bullet points that follow are direct from Nick:
Brand new from Gamesheep is this charming, albeit frustrating, little side-scrolling platformer starring an adorable vegetarian spider that is able to walk, jump, and swing from its own spidey-thread.
In Jamal and the Wasp Bunker, terrible enemy wasps are suspect to the recent disappearance of inhabitants of Golden Claw Village, and Jamal sets out on an heroic adventure towards the Wasp Lair to rescue its friends.
To control Jamal, use the arrow keys for movement, [left] and [right]; press [up] to jump, and [down] to crawl. These are fairly standard controls for a platformer, and yet Jamal puts a spin on the classic formula.
Instead of providing the usual double-jump to get across larger chasms, the Gamesheep developers have equipped Jamal with the ability to shoot a thread with which to swing from and climb on.
Press [shift] to shoot a thread; hold down [ctrl] while pressing [up] or [down] to change the angle of the thread that shoots. Once on the thread, you can press [right] and [left] to get a better swing going; press [up] to climb, [down] to descend. Press [shift] again to jump off the thread.
Collect fruits while avoiding an array of enemies as you make your way through each level. Progress can be saved only after levels 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Analysis: The art direction for the game is excellent and contains gorgeous backgrounds and tile sets. The animations of the creatures are all wonderfully detailed and gives each of them character consistent with the insect theme of the game. The over-world map is a nice touch that gives the player feedback regarding progress toward the ultimate goal of the game.
Separate controls for music [M] and sound effects [S] are provided and very much appreciated; unfortunately, the single music loop that serves as background soundtrack for the game will likely have you pressing [M] before completing even the first level. A more sophisticated audio implementation is needed consisting of switching often between several different loops that serve to establish mood and for situation setting themes. Audio is an often neglected component of Flash games that can significantly affect the overall quality and value of the game play experience.
The physics in the game also needs some polish. Jamal seems to float a little longer in the air than I would like, which gives a feeling of lag to the action. I prefer platform games to have a higher gravity constant that makes jumping feel a bit tighter. Maybe I've been spoiled by Nintendo's work in this area, so this may be just a personal preference. The absence of the ability to "run" was sorely missed on long straightaways that made going for those distant fruits a bit painful.
The game is quite difficult to get through due to some very brutal level design and its less-than-desirable physics implementation. This will make Jamal and the Wasp Bunker a tad frustrating for the casual gamer; however, the more hardcore gamer may find that it offers just the right amount of sting to get caught up into. You decide. Either way, it's very pretty to look at. Click.
Jetro Lauha, is probably not a name you're familiar with. However, most everyone who enjoys casual games has at one point played that game where you threw a ragdoll dummy down a flight of stairs attempting to cause as much damage to him as possible. . . yes? That game was called Porrasturvat, better known as Stair Dismount, and it caused quite a stir in the online community when it was released back in 2002. We all spent as least a few minutes toying with the angles and the power, laughing with glee as the dummy bounced down the stairs and landed painfully on his head. Good times.
Jetro's latest offering, Pogo Sticker, is a wonderfully fun and free, physics-based downloadable game in which the goal is to guide a brightly colored pogo sticking blob safely to the exit platform in each of the game's 12 levels.
The award winning game took 1st place in the Mindtrek 2005 casual game competition and 3rd in Assembly 2005 game development competition. Jetro designed and programmed the game while Sara Kapli, Antti Tiihonen and Joona Poikonen provided most of the graphics and level design. There are versions available for all three major platforms—Mac, PC and Linux.
The controls are very simple and done entirely with the mouse. If you drag your mouse to the left or right of your character, he will lean and move in that direction. The farther you drag the mouse the sharper the angle gets and the faster he moves. Clicking either mouse button will increase the power of your jumps. Too much and your character will crash into the ceiling and damage his fragile head. If you take too much damage, you die and have to restart the level. You must also restart if you run out of momentum and can no longer jump.
Restarting is not a big deal though as you can try as many times as you like, and the levels are all beatable in under 30 seconds (though this will take practice). The game comes with a timer which will record how long it takes you to beat each level. You can win green, yellow and red lollipops based on your time, and if you manage to do extremely well on a given level, you can win the highest award, the super lollipop which indicates you've beaten the best score of the developers. I've only managed to get this on 2 levels so far, despite getting what I thought were some amazing times on other levels.
The graphics are bright and colorful and deceive the player into thinking that the game is alot easier than it is. The music and sound effects are lighthearted and fun for a while, but can get tiresome, especially when you're getting frustrated from continually dying on the same level over and over and over again. Fortunately they can both be turned off easily.
Pogo Sticker is not available in a browser, unfortunately, but the download is tiny (1.1 MB), and it's a really wonderful game which is definitely worth a look.
Analysis: Pogo Sticker is great fun. When I first played the game, I was having too much fun to notice any flaws, but now that I've finished the game, there are a few things that I feel could use improvement:
1) The default mode for the game is to run in a window, which caused a big problem for me. Since the speed of the pogo sticker is based on how far you move your cursor away from him, naturally, there are times when you want to have the mouse right on the edge of the game screen. However it's very easy to overshoot and move the cursor outside of the game screen's area, and since clicking the mouse is the only way to increase the jump power, I very often found myself clicking outside of the game causing the window to go inactive or bringing other windows to the front. Fortunately, the game pauses when this happens, so you can't inadvertently die while you don't have control. Unfortunately, this is only a small consolation, as the constant pausing is distracting and usually results in your death anyway. The game does have a fullscreen mode which solves this problem, but you have to manually select this, or create your own desktop shortcut.
2) The level design is not spectacular. Aside from the bright colors, most of the levels are not terribly visually appealing. Many have entire sections which are unnecessary, and almost all of them have random constructions in odd places which don't affect the gameplay at all and are more distracting to the eye than anything else. Each level is generally fun to play through once or twice, but none of them really made me want to play again. The physics engine powering this game offers quite a large range of movement to the players, but unfortunately the levels themselves are not greatly varied and much of the freedom that the physics engine allows is wasted. For instance the pogo sticker is capable of jumping very fast and high, yet there are no levels with wide open spaces in which to make use of that power.
3) Finally, this game just screams out for a level editor and a high score board, neither of which app