Replay: Oshidama
Oshidama is an simple and elegant flash game 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. [review]
On of Eyezmaze is back! The man behind the Grow series, one of the most beloved staples of free play on the Web since the invention of Flash, has just come out with a new game, Grow Island. The game takes the 'pick objects in order and watch the world grow' dynamic of his previous Grow titles and applies it to a university curriculum. Instead of picking a ball, or a treasure, as your selection of items, you pick Civil Engineering, Applied Chemistry, Architecture, and in the process of prioritizing these fields of knowledge endeavor to create a perfect utopia.
This is without a doubt On's greatest work-to-date, and in it he embodies an optimistic philosophy. Following the correct order of things will lead to a society where men and women get along happily, the environment is protected and technology is harnessed to discover the secrets of the universe. In order to get there though, you have to try and fail to find that correct order, witnessing petty tragedies of rejection, deforestation, volcanic disaster and broken beakers. Success means uncovering an increasingly delightful series of animations and evolutions, like peeling back layers from an onion, if the onion had an everlasting gobstopper at its core. There's even a wink to Japan's love of humanoid-robot-samurai action—it's glorious.
Analysis: The gameplay of the Grow series is basically about deductive puzzle-solving, the rewards come in unearthing the underlying logic behind the correct sequence and in the animated flowering that accompanies this process. Grow Island streamlines this gameplay by adding descriptive hints to the names of the objects, its alluded to that Chemistry will lead to fuel cells, and that mechanical engineering enables the construction of civil structures. Grow RPG was the first move in this direction, where your sense of RPG logic (if you're such a hardcore fan) guided you through. Island brings this sort of allusive logic to the realm of general human knowledge, and it is perhaps a happy coincidence that On, being commissioned by a University, would lead to a refinement of this design pattern. Sometimes, however, it backfires, or maybe just reinforces a casual, rather than synchronistic, interpretation; for example you might think that Chemistry would be necessary to spur chemistry between the man and woman, a synchronic, poetic way of thinking about it, it turns out this isn't the case.
Overall, this game is nearly perfect, a love letter to the Internet-faring human race, a paper crane with poetry written all over its folded insides. Play Grow Island.
Still not Grow gratified? Play the entire Grow series of games (in order of release)...
Grow Island walkthrough now available!
Comments (may contain spoilers)
I think I know how do get an alternative ending, (well, the theory anyway)
You can get the potion to "UFO up", and you can sometimes get a UFO to fly down at the end, so I think If you do both at once the the UFO lands or something and then theres an alternative ending.
Anyone think so too?
How do you get the UFO to fly around? I've gotten the
This comb makes a ship appear, but only at the end.
Update your walkthrough here because I'm proud to present the ALTERNATIVE ENDING (and it was very hard to find):
- Automotive
- Civil
- Architecture
- Computer
- Electrical
- Mechanical
- Chemical
- Environmental
Congratu-ALIEN-s
Great work Danaroth! Loved that ending even more than the congratulations one! Thanks for posting it!
I love how hyper the little guy gets when he sees the other person. <3
A million tnkx Danaroth! Freeeaaakyyy!!!!!!
"Alternatively, one of the many dead ends does have a different "flavor":
If you let the family grow without building the Chimney (Environmental Engineering)...
the father will turn evil and chop down the trees, which lets the lava cover the road, and then the mother will turn evil, and the father will send a computer virus to the computer." How do you get that? I wanna know.
"Without a doubt On's greatest work-to-date"? Here, I have a doubt for you: there's no way this is On's best game. Chronon was more innovative and had a better story, Dwarf Complete was less dependent on luck, Tontie was more devious in its design, and personally I enjoyed the other Grow games more, though I can't put my finger on why.
i agree with sidney, although this game is nice too. i got the solution on my 5th try. i personally liked chronon better, but it could be just me.
I hope On fixed the 'ending' for placing the battery before the enviromental (as the latter is only needed just before the dad comes out of the house again)
Mainly because this was the only good solution I found by myself *rolleyes*
Posted by:
Nathanyel 
|
September 16, 2007 5:26 AM
TheNeverFortuneSeeker - you simply just do it like the walkthrough says, but select the chimney as the last. Then the man will send a computer virus.
Haha...Got the first solution, the second one is really interesting!
I wonder if there are more for the other grow games
I agree with Nathanyel. This can be counted as one of the best of Grow series (but I enjoyed Grow RPG more), but Chronon and Drawf Complete were better in terms of puzzle solving and fun aspect.
Thanks so much, Danaroth - I liked that even better than the "correct" ending!
Posted by:
chelle |
September 17, 2007 10:44 AM
yay I got it in 6 tries i guess~ very cute!
Oh, you're welcome; just happy to have helped you all (and solved the mistery around On's words when he posted this game) ^.^ Actually I was pretty surprised to be the first one posting the solution (even if only a secondary one) of a game that is part of a very well-known series as Grow is, since generally people here are so fast. My efforts were very rewarding this time *.*
About the quality of this game compared to other On's games: I also think this isn't his best game so far (I think CUBE is an unarrivable masterpiece and I also enjoyed Galves' adventure more) expecially because the cause-effect relationship isn't so clear compared to the other GROWs; however I'm relieved he didn't use anymore that horrible format showed in Grow ver.1 and I think it's awesome that he 's always adding bonuses in his last works.
I don't get it!!! Is there a bug??? I think I am about to complete it but then it just stops! For instance:
woah
what a goooden of a game
thanks for the spoilers mateys (Y)
woahhhhhhhhh
I love the Grow series so much and every time a new one comes out it's time to play the old ones again. Usually I remember some of the steps but I’ve forgotten enough to make them fun again. Chronon is my favorite so far. I think my love for them stems from my days playing the old Space Quest, Police Quest, and Leisure Suit Larry games on an old Tandy.
I love the grow series!
Amazingly, I got 5 Max levels on the first go, pretty good guesses ! and then I solved it in only 2 more attempts. I have NEVER done one that fast before. I used
I am now going to try one of the alternative endings.
Keep them coming please On, they are fun to play and beautiful to watch, thank you!
please post the solution(s) here. we´ve tried many combinations but it didn´t work at all. best was 6 at maximum, but we´ve never made it to finnish the game.
how is the exact order to finish this really nice amusement?
[Edit: Try the walkthrough above. -Jay]
I love the grow series!
Amazingly, I got 5 Max levels on the first go, pretty good guesses ! and then I solved it in only 2 more attempts. I have NEVER done one that fast before. I used
I am now going to try one of the alternative endings.
Keep them coming please On, they are fun to play and beautiful to watch, thank you!
that was the funest one yet (grow island)
i have heard that there is another extra ending...
[Edit: There is an alternate ending. Check the walkthroughs above for both known complete solutions. -Jay]
i need help to understand how to get on the website with all the grow games but i know how to get the UFO ending and normal ending.
[Edit: All the Grow games are listed here. -Jay]
Can someone tell me how i can finish the game?
can someone help me to finish the game?
[Edit: All the help you need is in the "walkthrough" section above. -Jay]
Neat. Not as good as the other ones, though... It really made no sense, making it almost excessively hard.
great game!!!
it took me forever to beat it
but it was fun!!!
cya
this is osm! thanks for the walkthrough, everyone!
Oh my goodness loved the alternative ending...
i loved the walkthrough, it showed me what i was doing wrong, i was putting the man first...
sincerley,
Morgan350z
Woah, this is amazing work of art!
i did it but... i cheated>_< hahahaha
I love these games. Im such a big fan of the eyezmaze website... too bad the extra icons at the end has no other funcitons
This is a spoiler:
And this is the normal one
haha at the alternative ending!!
There is another dead end ending.
rofl my favourite bit has got to be where he meets the woman. It was so sweet! Especially the kid!
And the aliens version was hilarious!
TY v. much for showing us how to get to it, Danaroth.
this is the real way to win
ok thats is it for everything
bye
p.s. this is emma
cool game!!
the family lived happily ever after
koh snap the alien thing freaked me out. how does that work?
The UFO Civil! alternate ending!!!
Heres another alternate ending, i guess,founded by me, a 12 year old :D
Hey!?I tried the alternate ending yipee aliens great, but why didn't chemistry get alienated?!That would've been awesome!And where did the human family go?!
maxed out both endings in 2 trys great game make more
OO I don't know maybe am no smart for this game.....I play it day and night but I can win it....
This game is so cool. :)
I love it!!!!!!
this is awesome I beat it 2 times
way to max every thing and get the ufo
I swaped the steering wheel and the Smoke stack and it came the same resault.
see some of you asking for spoilers, so here's the order I used to solve the game.
Mechanical (Bolt)
Civil (Pickaxe)
Architectural (Logs)
Aeronautical, etc (Steering Wheel)
Electrical (Battery)
Computer (Chip)
Chemical (Beaker)
Environmental (Smoke Stack
try this the father will be very bad and youll see he will put a virus on the comp...
what game site can i play the grow games on ive looked everywhere i know
[Edit: look no further than JIG:
http://jayisgames.com/tag/grow
-Jay]
i know now 1. screw 2.civil 3. arhitectural 4. aronautical 5. enviromental 6. electrical 7.computer 8.chemical
Awesome game. I hope he updates it and puts in those engineering buttons and the physics one. Watch the little man talk on a cell phone or something. :P
I love the alien ending but, is there a way to get alien with human stuff?
ok now the UFO end was kind of wierd... P
this is amazing! i like it so much. i like the house and the electrical bit! Also the sound but it can get a bit annoying. This is how i eventually completed the game...
very fun. this is the order i used:
what is the alien ending? =(
is there any other grow games
Just click on the grow tag under the title of any of the Grow games for a listing of them all. You'll even find some games that were inspired by the Grow games.
Posted by:
jay |
November 23, 2007 11:03 AM
i have found how to get evil dad to send virus first do wheel, pike ax, logs, bolt, batterie, computer chip, chesty, envirment. and thats how you do it
I think the alternate ending kind of shows us what happens if we prioritize things incorrectly (say putting the environment last while thinking about profitability first). Though maybe that's just my read.
Here is the order to beat the game
Do you want to kill the little man? If so, this is the order for you:
it was good but has any one got a different ending ecept congratualiens
The man goes berserk if you crap things up for the environment. Is it that he can't incinerate his trash? What about composting?? Here's the way I got to it:
awwwee! i followed Kevin's set-up, and watched as the little guy died of a broken heart.
everything else goes on around him, but he just lays there... probably the saddest ending EVER.
poor little tiny-nonexistent-yellow-guy-that-everyone-pretty-much-loves!
Posted by:
iangasm |
January 16, 2008 3:30 AM
I visited eyezmaze yesterday and I found good news: A new game is being made! ( i'm not sure if it's a grow game)
can anyone get a maxed level end of the world?
with computer virus, smashed house, lava-ed car...
Want to know the 2 ways?
2.
I always love Grow Series so much!!!
Posted by:
PuReAnGeL 
|
January 24, 2008 12:32 PM
You can kill the Miner guy;
Axe
Chimney
Battery
Bolt
Logs
The miner will rush over to the woman and then he falls over and dies because he has no flowers :p.
Can someone please post the links to all the swf files for the grow games? My internet sucks so I need to download the games. Oh, and also post the Chronon swf file.
Posted by:
Yow |
February 2, 2008 4:49 PM
I did what vargo said, and what do i do with the other icons?
Ahh! i killed the little man!
Much love for the alternate alien ending! That's way cool!
I cant get to it anymore.... Agh!
how come there are sheep in theh pyramid in the picture? i didn't get that in my alternative ending...
Posted by:
Allegra•Pratt'10 |
March 2, 2008 4:38 PM
As far as I know it's impossible to get the sheep in the structure. it was probably just computerized in or something.
Posted by:
Yow |
March 5, 2008 8:20 PM
nice, best grow game ever
I've noticed that the hosting has changed somewhat(looks like it's part of a JIG page now) and the game is squished into too small a space (buttons are truncated and the screen is clipped). just FYI...
[Edit: We started hosting a version of it during a period in which the game was unavailable at the university for which On created it. Now that it's back, I have reverted the links back to the university. Cheers! -Jay]
rhank you so much chibidani!
Posted by:
2headedturtle |
March 13, 2008 5:54 PM
i meant thanks. not rhanks...hey autumn r u carter? i'm Ping.
Posted by:
2headedturtle |
March 13, 2008 6:03 PM
The ending is just so happy.
Posted by:
wG |
March 17, 2008 3:56 PM
the awnser is
I noticed when you beat the game, theres a small red triangle at the top. you click on it and it shows more things you could use. how the hell can i use those??
Level UFO for everything is AWESOME!
Hey guys,they should make grow island 2.0 , where you can use those other buttons you find after clicking the red arrow!!That would be AWESOME!!!
did anyone ever notice that the whales have the same smiles as the boy in grow nano 2?
Posted by:
gsaddfs2 |
April 6, 2008 9:12 AM
I would like 2 b the little man...but i cant :-C
I pressed them randomly, and the man(civil,pick)crashed the computer(chip)
hi people i feel sad cause you told us how to kill the little man yet we all love him :(
how do eyemaze do things like that? because I want to do things like that.
that was so much fun!!!!! hee hee
Comment Preview
Walkthrough Guide
SPOILER ALERT!!
I see some of you asking for spoilers, so here's the order I used to solve the game.
Posted by: chibidani
|
September 13, 2007 1:25 PM
Update your walkthrough here because I'm proud to present the ALTERNATIVE ENDING (and it was very hard to find):
Congratu-ALIEN-s
Posted by: Danaroth | September 15, 2007 1:46 PM