If you were an egg, what kind would you be? Raw? Rotten? Fertilized? Fried in a butter base with a drizzling of chili sauce? Hardboiled, a collection of mouse-controlled mini-games from Tom Vencel at Ninja Doodle, is here to tell you. You get 5 minutes and 7 lives to complete 45 nail-biting tests of timing, observation, and pure twitching finger speed. When you run out of time or lives, you'll learn not only that you're a bad egg, but exactly what type of bad egg you are.
Unlike many collections of mini-games, such as the Four Second series, you can rest in between games to read the instructions, get an idea of the controls, take a deep breath, and work out the sudden cramping in your index finger. My advice is to use that time. Treasure it like it was bequeathed to you by a flock of angels, because it might keep your heart from exploding. You're not going to beat the game on your first try anyway, so chill out, forget the time limit, read the instructions. Although you will encounter all the tests in the same order each time you play, Hardboiled will mix up the specific goals sometimes, and there's nothing so demoralizing as losing your last life because your stupid, unobservant face clicked the bottles from tallest to shortest, instead of shortest to tallest like it was the last stupid time you played that particular stupid level that I am not bitter about.
Analysis: There's a lot of nice detail in this unassuming mini-game collection. Hardboiled has a simple visual style, but I find the broad, flat pictures appealing and, more importantly, easy to understand at first glance. The reflections that some objects cast against the floor give the frame some nice depth, and the ever-present angular red swirl of the background matches the game's light-hearted but intense mood. Every few levels, you'll encounter a charming puzzle with a basic storyline, and although these will probably trip you up at first, they will only cost you time, not a life.
Curiously for a game that would appeal to children with its cute and red and cheery presentation, there is some content that young'uns might not know about. One recurring challenge requires you to know whether certain drinks contain alcohol, and an early puzzle requires basic knowledge of the birds and the bees. Big birds should screen it before they set little eggs in front of the computer to play.
fun game, but it put me on edge! i nearly cracked.
i liked this game. only managed to get to century egg though.
ah... it's so hard.
Making grey?
So cuuuuuuuuuute! Even "making gray", although I was getting very angry before I realised you have to
open the door for them!
Also, if you play enough you get a prize! (A very little prize, but it's cuuuuuuute!!!)
Agreed on grey. I know what you need to do, but I can't figure out where to put the characters so that they'll stay where I put them.
I like the game. Perfect 4-second goodness.
The difficulty level is a bit steep, though. I didn't mind the "figure out what to do" levels - mostly because the game thankfully lets you repeat them after losing a life - but some level are really REALLY twitchy which can get frustrating. All in all it took me three tries to beat it, so I guess the game is not THAT hard, but I DID skip the last "green light" level.
As for it being non-kid friendly.. well, I dunno. I don't see a reason why kids shouldn't be aware of the difference between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.. in fact, kids SHOULD know the difference. Come on, cartoon pirates drink rum, you don't think kids know what that is?? Birds and bees.. I don't know, I think that the point of that level would fly over kids' heads anyways. It's not like you SEE what is going on in there.. :) In any case, the difficulty level is most probably the most kid-unfriendly thing in the game.
Oh, and the secret password for beating the game really made me laugh.
I really love the 4-second games but this game I felt was like eggs. It stank and was probably quite unhealthy. Some of the games were very good, e.g. make a gray made me laugh when I figured it out, but for the most part the games were lacking in creativity and I felt that the controls were lacking/not precise (although that might be because I'm visiting my parents over the holiday and I'm not used to the mouse).
I'd give it a score of 2/5.
Site crashed too popular?
This Account Has Exceeded Its CPU Quota
omg...i can't even do the first puzzle...but i'm totally not giving up!!!
Can somebody give me a list of the rankings and their descriptions? I'm missing two. I got:
-Century egg: You've been buried for a hundred years, and quite frankly, you stink!
-Raw egg: A total novice. The only thing that's stopping you from turning into a mess is that thin shell of yours; don't break now!
-Poached: A little boring, under control until one poke and you're all over the place! Get it together!
-Hard boiled: Couldn't remember the description...
The game seems to be fun, but I can't play it. The link brings up an error page, saying that the site was suspended, with a big banner on top which says "This Account Has Exceeded Its CPU Quota". I'll try again in a few minutes, but in case it doesn't work, JIG should host the game, as has been done so many times.
Over and out!
Wow, in the time I took to write my previous comment, the site came back online. Oh, the magic of posting...
Nope, Donut, it's back again. I can't play the game because of the "This site has exceeded its CPU quota" banner.
Right, so, the first time I clicked on "milk" as a white, non-alcoholic beverage and got the "NOPE!" message, I figured it was a glitch. The sixth time, though? This game's got some bugs.
...ooor maybe I just can't read. Yeah.
If you get the message about CPU, just reload the page.
Looks like we overwhelmed it. I've switched the links to the copy on Kongregate. It should work now, everybody.
That was fun! However, I really think they should give the option to continue from where you lost -taking points away for example- because otherwise it gets a bit boring when you have to replay the same levels again and again... after five times I'm giving up.
how do you do make grey I know what to do but not how to get the characters there
Agreed. How do you make grey?
grey =
equal portions of red, green, and blue, but not 0% of each (black) or 100% of each (white).
Does that help?
No no no that doesn't help...
This is how you make grey:
First open the motel
woot...made hardboiled egg!
You're the ultimate egg - solid on the inside with your tough shell holding you together - you've proven you an handle the pressure! Hard as!
How do u "cool the guy down"?
I can only get as far as turning the stars white for the third time. Not sure how to get them all to stay white at the same time. Help!
To cool him down
The ship makes a cloud when you click on it. Use it to block the sun
Cute but annoying
yay i got to raw egg!!
What?! No walkthrough???
How do I get a drunk not to be a drunk anymore????
Update