
Tower of Babblers, an entry by Lars A. Doucet in our second Flash game design competition, is one part puzzle, one part frantic action game. It takes the contest theme of "grow" and morphs it a bit into "build", incorporating cute fuzzy creatures into one of the most unique titles entered into the competition.
Start by clicking the far right cubes a few times to uncover the stage goal. Colored stacks of blocks will appear in one of six positions, each representing a slot on the main part of the game. Your job is to build the towers represented on the right using three different colors of workers. Click the blocks to the left to make a worker pop up, and click the worker to change its color. Like-colored workers build the corresponding block colors, so group them together and let them do their thing.
The real fun comes when you need to destroy blocks or halt construction on a tower. To stop the workers, put a pair of different colors together. To destroy blocks, simply place one worker of each color on one square and they'll start tearing everything down piece by piece. Be sure to stop the workers before a tower reaches the clouds!
Analysis: Tower of Babblers has a great theme, wonderful retro VGA graphics and a delightful soundtrack. Lars has done an excellent job pulling together the whole package into an unforgettable competition entry. It deviated from the "grow" theme a little, but the game itself more than made up for that.
Many players found it difficult figuring out how to play the game. I tend to gravitate towards titles that don't state the mechanics up-front, so Tower of Babblers was even more fascinating to me. Would a tutorial or instructions make the game better? I'm inclined to say "no". Not only does it add a vital element of discovery to the game, it also fits nicely with the whole "Babel" theme.
Tower of Babblers is a welcome blend of puzzle and action elements that gets quite frantic at times. Thanks for another brilliant game, Lars! Click.
Be sure to check out other games by Lars here, or at his site Fadupinator.
Not quite Grow, but more along the lines of Build, the concept behind this game stood out more than most. Micromanagement games aren't really my cup of tea, but I'll give Lars credit for this one—there's not much that would improve this one in my opinion. Hiding the plans for the tower did not add anything to the game, and frustrated me to no end before I checked the comments. Also, the music got pretty irritating after a while. However, I loved the voices, the Biblical elements, and the old-school-type graphics. A very solid entry.
I liked the game fine, but as with zxo micromanagement games give me hives... ON MY BRAIN! I did however fall in love with the game at first sight because of the absolutely stunning, nostalgia-inducing EGA graphics.
I struggled with Tower of Babblers the first time I played, determined to figure it out. I could not. It wasn't until after the first few comments began to appear, which suggested to click on the vine covering to reveal the information underneath, that the whole game began to make sense. I understand why Lars chose to hide it—to enhance the 'discovery' aspect of the puzzle—but I feel the entry was harmed more than it was helped by doing so. That being said, and once the player is over that initial hurdle, Tower of Babblers rises into the heavens by virtue of being an enjoyable action puzzler. It is an exceptional effort with considerable thought put into every element. Original graphics and music make this entry really shine. Very nice job!
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Comments (may contain spoilers)
HOWDY!
lets get to work!
Posted by: maddogmadsen
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February 28, 2007 3:24 AM
I tried, I really did. The babblers were cute and I wanted to make them do stuff... other than what I managed to get them to do. Unfortunately I fail at non-instructional puzzles :(
Posted by: Rulz | February 28, 2007 3:24 AM
Rulz, it's right there in front of you.
That should get you started. It's the most basic and benign of spoilers. =)
Posted by: jay
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February 28, 2007 3:36 AM
Hey Rulz,
Posted by: larsiusprime
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February 28, 2007 3:37 AM
lets see...
so far I am still at a loss to stop the Fists of God (FoG's) :P
my current line of thought:
which makes sense because when the FoG's come, the babblers can't speak to each other anymore (because they are different colors.....) but i don't know my history enough to figure out why God destroyed the tower of babel...
anybody else?
perhaps my line of reasoning is completely off :)
anyhow fun little game
Posted by: maddogmadsen
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February 28, 2007 3:49 AM
Posted by: geniusadvice | February 28, 2007 3:55 AM
got it :)
Posted by: maddogmadsen
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February 28, 2007 4:00 AM
what a wicked game i figured out
but thats as far as i've gotten it i dont know what the right hand means i get the colour but the% one does that mean there has to be two of them in the same spot?
FfireX
Posted by: Ffirebrand | February 28, 2007 4:03 AM
Moses? He parted the red sea, didn't he? How does that help with towers?
Posted by: Deadl0ck | February 28, 2007 4:11 AM
haha sorry about that...
Posted by: maddogmadsen
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February 28, 2007 4:14 AM
haha sorry about that...
Posted by: maddogmadsen
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February 28, 2007 4:14 AM
Relatively straightforward hints...
As to building...
As to the babbler's behaviour towards each other...
Stopping the building process...
What I can't figure out...
Posted by: Groogokk
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February 28, 2007 6:03 AM
Okay, figured the last thing out:
Keeping the fist of God up in the clouds:
Made it to level 4 so far with this info.
Posted by: Groogokk
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February 28, 2007 6:15 AM
Took me a while to figure out...
2 of mismatch will stop building. 3 mismatching will tear down the building and die when done. Click the covered "tablets" on the right side to reveal what towers you should make. There are 6 slots for where you must make each tower. You have to make each color block corresponding to the tower instructions given. If you build too high, God will destroy the building and change your people's colors. If right, he'll give you a big thumbs up. :D
Fun game. Quickly changes to a heavy micromanagement puzzle.
Posted by: largeX | February 28, 2007 6:27 AM
Great game. Really liked the blocky sprite graphics. I can't get sound at work, but I'm going to try it again at home despite completing it just to hear the voices :) On that line the game was quite short and once I'd found out what to do it was quite easy. However, I'm sure there's a lot more that could have been done without restrictive time limits. On the last level I was worried that...
Cute ending (not exactly sure what happens
Posted by: gurtak | February 28, 2007 7:55 AM
Very original and fun action puzzler! Allthough it wasn't too hard to figure out how this game works, i think the "missing" instructions do not have anthing to do with a "discovery" game. It's more like: you get a old nintendo-cartridge without box and booklet, and you have to figure out how the game functions without instructions. In other words: it does not really add something.
That said, I really like the game, well balanced rules, high replay value, give it instructions and it will be a hit! Congrats! [off to play some more!]
Posted by: wouter | February 28, 2007 8:47 AM
Yay, I figured it out on my own for once! I just beat it, it was fairly easy.
Posted by: Jalathas
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February 28, 2007 9:04 AM
A cool new gaming idea combined with really nice artwork (graphics and sound) giving a total +++!
I also say, that the click on the block to see the quests does not add anything to the "core" game, only might scare away people really interested into that thing.
Also my boring sermon of "concentrate on one concept of inducing fun"... the discovery part is not really a part of the game, once you get out how it works, discovery is left behind, and not a concept of fun that takes its thread through the game. Therefore I would remove it, by giving instructions or at least showing the tower symbols directly at start.
While leaving instructions away from "Alchemist's Apprentice" was a good idea there, since discovering was the "concept of inducing fun" in that game, this might be improved by giving them.
Other than that I wish more games on the net might be as original and well crafted as this one!
Posted by: fuzzygrid
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February 28, 2007 9:26 AM
I definitely agree with wouter. I remember I used to get old sega games without the book (and later playstation games) and I had to sit and just work out what was right vs. wrong.
I enjoy this, the biblical theme is interesting, particularly since the music is really sort of generic christmas music.
Happy...holidays?
Posted by: Scramble125
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February 28, 2007 9:29 AM
Yay, got to the end! (ending-related spoiler, NOT HINTS, don't click unless you want to spoil the end of it...)
And aww, it's kinda sad that even at the end of all that they get zapped into oblivion.
And on some game-related hints...
I noticed that you only have a limited amount of babel-men; I think it's the number down underneath the left stone tablet (It was at zero when I realised I couldn't place any more).
Also I found that to get god to give you the A-OK on your towers, just stop building on a stack when you have the required amount of blocks, half-finished ones don't count for it. As soon as your last stack hits the required amount/colours, you should get the thumbs-up.
FoGs just tend to mess things up, nothing advantageous happens if you get one.
And lastly, I found the micro-management a lot easier if I just set two people to work on most of them, sticking a third onto one to make it shoot up faster, before removing the third, and changing the colour of a second, 'leveling it off' at its cap so to speak.
Knowing it people would've mentioned this stuff by the time I post this, but oh well. ;)
Posted by: poracious
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February 28, 2007 9:37 AM
Nice game. Fun to keep going back to!
Love how some people don't follow directions even when they are actually given. Brilliant!
Posted by: cc | February 28, 2007 10:03 AM
I actually think that the lack of instructions is what makes this game so good.
For me and my friends it took a lot of time to figure out what you actually need to do(I couldn't do it so I showed it to a couple of friends of mine), but once we did, each of us finished the game (seperetly) quite fast.
Once you know what to do, it's really easy to do it.
Posted by: Dorham | February 28, 2007 10:13 AM
For the end it looks like..
Posted by: cc | February 28, 2007 10:15 AM
wow. a very funny and confusing game. i got most of it, but still couldnt get past lvl...
Posted by: kegan | February 28, 2007 10:53 AM
Here's a problem: The window in which the game appears (using Firefox 1.5 under Windows XP) is too small for me to see the block at the right that apparently shows the desired towers, and the button to resize the window is non-functional (grayed out). Anybody else have this issue? Anybody have a suggested fix?
Posted by: Dan Someone
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February 28, 2007 11:32 AM
Hola! Voy a trabajar! Me encanta!
This may be my favorite game so far.
Posted by: Keith
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February 28, 2007 11:52 AM
Dan, you don't need to scroll, just get clicky.
Posted by: KeithW | February 28, 2007 11:57 AM
I felt like I wanted to call this Tower of Bafflers...
I couldn't figure this one out until I realized I could...
Overall not too difficult.
Posted by: bigorangedot | February 28, 2007 1:33 PM
Little spoiler on the ending:
Posted by: larsiusprime
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February 28, 2007 1:37 PM
Also! Just a fun teaser:
(probably not a spoiler, but just in case)
There are FIVE, count 'em , FIVE Easter Eggs in this game for you guys to find!
If you need a hint:
Two of them are cheat codes you probably won't figure out. One is a reference from Alchemist's Apprentice.
The other three are hidden in plain sight.
Posted by: larsiusprime
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February 28, 2007 1:41 PM
Aww isn't it nice how we can all work together in peace in the end. Er I guess that's what it means. And apparently the red guys are speaking English, the yellow guys speak Spanish, and the blue guys speak Norwegian.
Posted by: bigorangedot | February 28, 2007 2:05 PM
Hmm, if there were instructions to the game, it would make it a lot easier; so it's fine there aren't any. Plus, the midi music doesn't get annoying after a while, unlike lots of other midis. I like this one.
Posted by: Gar | February 28, 2007 2:41 PM
Lars,
Again, great game!
I had earlier found the
but please has anyone else seen any other easter eggs? or Lars how about another hint, as I must be blind!
Posted by: cc | February 28, 2007 4:11 PM
OK also got the
Posted by: cc | February 28, 2007 4:37 PM
Well CC,
Posted by: larsiusprime
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February 28, 2007 6:43 PM
So what's the blue-babbler language?
I'd love it if there was a way to mute the background music without killing the language/building sound effects. That hyper Christmas mishmash really gets on my nerves. (Might have something to do with the fact that I despise most Christmas music in general.) Then again, the only game I've played (found on this site) that has a repetitive background music theme that I actually LIKE is the Fancy Pants Adventure. For some reason, that one doesn't get old.
Posted by: Kat | February 28, 2007 9:39 PM
Ah, sorry, guess I hadn't refreshed my page to see the new comments ... Norwegian, eh?
Posted by: Kat | February 28, 2007 9:49 PM
So far, this is my favorite of all the entries. It's very cute, fun to play, and not too hard to figure out.
But on level 2, I got the thumbs up after only constructing one tower... I think it was a bug...
Despite the bug I experienced, I loved it.
Posted by: Sam | February 28, 2007 10:03 PM
larsiusprime, thanks for clearing up the ending a bit. I'm Buddhist, and we perform prostrations daily (108 x is the usual number). In our faith, we make the gesture towards images that represent the ideals we are striving to live (compassion, forgiveness, etc.) as well as single prostrations to other people. It's sort of a "here I am, at your service, I offer you complete respect" kind of gesture. Forgiveness, penitance, and an open heart
It was very nice to hear about a different religion that uses the same gestures - and a lovely game to boot! Thanks for making my day! :-D
Love,
Ms. Merricat
Posted by: Merricat
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February 28, 2007 11:09 PM
Well, Ms. Merricat, Orthodox Christianity is in fact an Eastern Religion- so it's not surprising that despite theological differences, we probably share a lot of rituals!
And yes, your description of prostration has more or less the same meaning as ours. We will do prostrations before others (for instance, at forgiveness vespers, a service on the night right before lent), before the Holy Icons, and so on.
Posted by: larsiusprime
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March 1, 2007 12:15 AM
Also, thanks for the kind words :) Anytime I make something religious and post it on the internet, I'm always afraid some random angry person will tell me how much they hate it.
Posted by: larsiusprime
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March 1, 2007 12:17 AM
Well I try to be neither random nor angry, as a Jew, the ending did make me feel a little weird - like maybe I'd been participating in some Christian proselytizing. (I once got caught playing a game that had an overt conversion message at the end).
Loved the biblical theme though :)
Posted by: Batamtig | March 1, 2007 1:10 AM
Yeah, I know what you mean. The Orthodox mentality is that if people want to come to the church, we'll answer their questions and let them know we exist and what we believe, but we try not to thump people over the head with hard-sell evangelism tactics, because they never work anyway.
Glad you liked the game!
Posted by: larsiusprime
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March 1, 2007 1:29 AM
How do you build green blocks?
Posted by: antialias | March 1, 2007 4:13 AM
what looks green is really blue... I thought it was green too then I just tried blue
Posted by: Miranda | March 1, 2007 1:56 PM
can someone explain those cheats? the crosses?
Posted by: Ruka K. | March 1, 2007 3:17 PM
*sorry for douple post*
also, is there a way to pause? can you let it sit at the start of a lvl?
Posted by: Ruka K. | March 1, 2007 3:20 PM
Fun and cute. Follows the instructions well, and the music is happy and repetitive without being annoying. Took me a while to figure out what I was supposed to do, but once I did, it was relatively easy. Follows the instructions well.
Posted by: likephilshead
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March 1, 2007 8:22 PM
!!!
That's Lemmings music!
The awesomeness of this game just increased exponentially. And for one that was already highly entertaining, very clever, and quite fun, that is bad news for the other contestants.
It's the Lemmings music that does it.
Posted by: Kevin | March 1, 2007 9:09 PM
Woah:
Posted by: Gar | March 1, 2007 11:05 PM
Very fun game. It'd be great if there were more levels, but since they're random I suppose I could just replay it. Maybe if there was a sequel it could include more intricate patterns (possibly stacking blocks over two blocks to form a pyramid or something) and other different colors introduced in higher levels to make it harder. Maybe there could even be themed levels - a water level where you need to build extra towers on the sides to block sharks or something.
Posted by: David Millar | March 1, 2007 11:52 PM
that is a sweet game
Posted by: wendy
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March 2, 2007 12:54 PM
Thanks for the hint Jay, I didn't realise that there was a
Great game Lars! It was great to get it right, yay God for being happy with me :D
Posted by: Rulz | March 2, 2007 7:02 PM
Um.. Questions...
Posted by: Megan | March 4, 2007 1:54 AM
it sure looks like they're getting zapped in the end :) If they went up to heaven like Enoch or Elijah, then they wouldn't have left a grave behind.
Posted by: tsuken | March 21, 2007 8:42 PM
Grow is great, but try a Devolve game. Ripping senses asunder. Digging down to the lowest common denominator. (No, not sex. Further.)
Posted by: Corona | March 21, 2007 11:07 PM
A trabajar!
Posted by: Gazu | March 22, 2007 2:25 PM
So, uh, how do you access the easter eggs, anyway? *is terrible at finding them*
And how do you spell what the Norwegian Babblers say? "Let's get to work" and "Go away" for the English speakers, "A trabajar!" and "Vayate" (?) for the Spanish speakers. I thought I also heard something that sounds like "get over here" ... not sure (:
Posted by: Kat | March 22, 2007 4:48 PM
I feel like a moron... I have gotten to the sign where it says "the answer is right under your feet or something along those lines" and I have hound the green stepping stones but I cant do anything else I have no idea what to do help please.
Posted by: max | March 23, 2007 2:02 AM
ok ive gotten past the green blocks that spell dog but now I dont know what to do with the big snake that keeps killing me, ive tried everything and I have no idea what to do...
Posted by: max | March 24, 2007 4:59 AM
I don't know what you're talking about. I finished the whole game by building towers. Nice ending.
Posted by: nicky | January 25, 2008 9:49 PM