Oshidama is a simple and elegant flash game just released by Game-Pure, the creators of Speed Cluster. The goal is to nudge a white orb to the exit point on each screen. Walls, pits and other obstacles stand in your way, forcing you plan your path and be ready for a last-second save at any moment. It's an interesting mix of strategy and fast-paced cursor shifting delivered in an astounding audio and visual atmosphere reminiscent of flOw.
Tap the white circle with the cursor to give it a push, creating a satisfying "click" sound when you do. The orb travels forward based on where you touched it, sort of like hitting a ball with a cue stick in billiards. You can't control the circle's speed or distance, only the direction.
The game is divided into levels each containing four stages. Within a level you have a set number of pushes you can use to complete the stages. If the counter hits zero, it's game over. Fortunately Oshidama saves your level progress so you can take a break and pick up where you left off.
Analysis: Restricting your control over the orb and limiting the number of pushes gives Oshidama a nice strategy element to go along with the action-based gameplay. Plan a basic route through each stage before you start tapping so you don't run out of pushes. The orb doesn't always do exactly what you intend, so be ready to adapt your route at any moment. Also be ready to swing the cursor around for a quick save from the bowels of a deep, dark pit.
Oshidama is beautifully designed with appealing visuals and a great soundtrack. The echoing "click" sound when you push the circle gives the impression that you're deep under water, which matches the music quite nicely. Easy to play and an excellent mix of action and strategy all wrapped up in a beautiful media package.
Update: Oshidama Plus and the new Time Attack mode effectively doubles the amount of pleasure you can extract from Oshidama, which is no small accomplishment considering how enjoyable the game is. Oshidama Monthly, while a bit on the difficult side, successfully builds on the formula just enough to make it feel unique without destroying what made the original game so inviting. Excellent work from Game-Pure!
Wii users take note: Oshidama is playable through the Internet Channel. There's a hint of choppiness in the orb's movement, though, and making precise pushes can be a challenge. Filling your living room with the game's aural bliss is quite an experience.
It has a neat fl0w/Electroplankton feel to it (speaking of which, I wonder if I can get electroplankton for super cheap now).
The only thing that bugs me a bit is that I wish it had a little border around it so that you could hit the ball from the edge of the field, etc.
Fun game though! Feels zen-like :)
Harukio, you can hit the puck from the edge of the field. To do so, just bring your mouse off of the field, and bring it back on at the point where you wish to strike the puck. I agree with the zen-like sentiment. Also this game kind of reminds me of frisbee golf, if i were unable to control the speed of my frisbee in that game.
I am currently on stage three and am enjoying this game so far.
However, the music is starting to get old. I prefer my games to stop making noise when i minimize the window. Perhaps someone who can read the menus could post whether the sound/music can be disabled?
Ah well, enough posting, now back to playing.^^
Great game, though I seem to get dinged for 2 hits every time I tap the "ball."
Feels like playing billiards under water ^^
It's great that you can return to all levels to improve.
This is actually a really well-designed game. I like it!
I'm currently stuck on Level 8. I did do the first scene in that level and move on to the others, but failed, and now I can't get past the first scene again!
Anyway, here's my scores.
Training - B
Level 1 - S (I have no idea how I got an S... maybe I left it on and it times you?)
Level 2 - C
Level 3 - B
Level 4 - C
Level 5 - C
Level 6 - B
Level 7 - B
Flash game designers take note: this game has a really nice presentation.
Great soundtrack. One of the few online games that actually improves with the use of headphones. Anyway, if I'm not mistaken, "S" as a score is like A+. So your S is actually much better than you supposed.
Also, there seems to be a trap you can fall into if you get the disc on the edge of the playing field. If you DO get the disc on the edge, do NOT attempt to bounce it off of the edge; only hit it from the outside of the field. Otherwise, (you can test this) for every millisecond you have the mouse over the disc, you lose a push.
Extremely tricky to get it in by the number of limited shots.
Nice game.
I relly like the old school jungle sound track. Shame their is not a new one for each level to stop it getting repetitive
Evil black hole!
This game is great, but the music used is the same for all 12 levels, I eventually get bored after listening to it so many times.
As for me, I think level 7-3, level 11-3 and level 12-1,3,4 are harder levels.
I took a long time to finish up this game, but I am quite satisfied with my first attempt grades:
Training- 50push, C
Level 1- 48push, B
Level 2- 41, B
Level 3- 50, A
Level 4- 59, B
Level 5- 42, B
Level 6- 35, A
Level 7- 21, S
Level 8- 104,B
Level 9- 108,C
Level 10- 29,A
Level 11- 53,B
Level 12- 71,C
whatwhat? a timed mode? was this here before and i missed it, or did they just add a timed mode recently?
Thank you for the nice game... ^_^
Arigatooo
I think it's terribly annoying how, if you push too hard, you'll often accidentally hit the ball twice and get debited for two pushes. It seems like some sort of system to ensure the ball wasn't pushed more than once every few millisecond or so would have helped quite a bit. You just have to be careful when nudging the ball. Besides that, it's very nice. As I was first playing, I thought you had to hit the ball as hard as possible to make it move. That didn't work too well...
The game is pretty hard, but the music is great.
Nice, calming, enjoyable game. but i found it annoying when if i went to fast with the pointer, it would hit the ball and then hit it back. Also, not being able to control the ball's distance got tedious, but otherwise a good game.
Update