Weekend Download
Four simple but stunning games this week, ranging from strikingly bare-bones to the artistically slanted. Classic Night breathes a rare sense of wonder into a normally stale genre, while Where doesn't pull any tricks and simply drops you in a gorgeously-drawn maze.
Jumpman (Mac/Win, 2-3MB, free) - Old school platforming at its slipperiest (that's an allusion to the main character's physics, not a statement about retro gaming!), your simple goal is to guide the blocky character to the exit of each stage. Of course enemies get in the way, which is never a good thing, but fortunately you can rotate the stage using the [A] and [D] keys.
Kakuro Nichiyou (Mac/Windows/Linux, 4MB, free) - A basic but extraordinarily usable incarnation of the kakuro number-based logic puzzle. This game features over 200 puzzles to solve along with an automatic solver and the ability to create your own puzzles. To insert a number, simply click on the square and type. It couldn't be easier!
Where (Windows, 9.5MB, free) - A short but beautiful first person maze game where your goal is to walk to the balloon. Use the [arrow] keys to move and the mouse to look around (which is admittedly a bit awkward). Tap the right mouse button while moving to run. No enemies, no puzzles, just walking around in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Classic Night (Windows, 40MB, free) - A basic concept illustrated with beautiful finesse, you are trying to help a talking moon give off more light than the sun by collecting light and using it to build lamp posts, candles, and other light-giving structures. It plays like a 2D sidescrolling strategy game and looks like a gorgeous children's storybook.
Classic Night is awesome! Definitely worth the 20 mins or so it will take you to play through it. So sad that someone stole his computer so he won't be able to finish it. :(
I love "Where"! It is really frustrating though. I thought that the circles only changed the STYLE, not the actual maze so that got me confused for a while :P. I'm going to try Jumpman because that looks intesting also.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumpman
That is Jumpman. I remember playing too much of that along with Digger in 1986 or so. Anything else is just a fake ;)
"Use the [arrow] keys to move and the mouse to look around (which is admittedly a bit awkward)."
Huh? That's how every single first-person game since Quake has worked. A whole lot of gun-toting 2D games work that way, too (keys to move, mouse to aim).
Doom had you move your character with the mouse. Now that was awkward. It's hard to aim when doing so will move your character, too. (Some people got good enough at it to play professionally, but it takes a lot of patience and persistence to learn to do it. I always just used the keyboard.
Did you mix up the instructions when you wrote the summary (I haven't played Where yet), or do you just not play very many first-person games? Otherwise, I can't see how you'd find it awkward.
One big takeaway from Kakuro Nichiyou is the lack of a "random game" option.
Peter: WSAD is pretty standard. When I use arrows + mouse, though, both my hands are scrunched up on the right side of my desk and I have to shuffle stuff around to get to a comfortable position.
Peter: It's awkward because the arrow keys are on the right side of the keyboard, and so is the mouse. WASD is more comfortable. :-)
Oh, now I see. That makes sense.
I used arrow keys for a long time; I only switched to WASD after encountering a few games that required it (no option to change the keys). So I'm accustomed to turning my keyboard the requisite 15° or so to make it easier to press the arrow keys.
I have downloaded 'Where' because I thought that the graphics looked stunning but I can only use the mouse none of my keys seem to operate in the game and there are no options at all nor files that I can read :o
I am very disapointed to say the least :(
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