What we don't know about Shy Dwarf (Plachy Trpaslik in Czech), a strange new platformer from Jaromir Plachy of Amanita Design, could fill a book. Maybe three.
What we do know is that Shy Dwarf is a gorgeously animated little adventure where you play as a little black blob with a jaunty red hat. We would like to take it for granted that this little black blob is in fact the eponymous Shy Dwarf, but that might be over reaching just a little. Using the arrow keys you must negotiate surreal landscape after surreal landscape to reach your goal. What that goal is... well, you'll have to figure that out on your own.
Mixed in with the platforming is a light bit of puzzling. No single level is as simple as run and jump; little twists will be thrown your way from a bunch of different copies of you appearing out of nowhere to exits that are not readily obvious at first blush. Still, despite the highly abstract material and modest puzzle elements, it shouldn't take you too terribly long to reach Shy Dwarf's end.
Aside from the abstract nature which may turn off some, the only real drawback is that the actual controls can be a little clunky. Jumping feels just a touch clumsy and in one of the later on levels where the control scheme changes a bit, control is decidedly not as smooth as it could be.
In the end, Shy Dwarf is something of an enigma. Fun, short, and completely baffling. We're not sure exactly what it all means, or if it's supposed to mean anything at all. Whatever the case, we couldn't resist its unmistakable charm. Besides, sometimes it's fun to be totally confused.
Walkthrough Guide
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This game is weird and short.
Walkthrough:
Click "hra play jogo".
Jump up to touch the "hra play jogo" button.
Jump on each block from darkest to lightest. As you land, more words appears. After landing on the last on, another block will appear with the words "vstup enter bejarat" after a few seconds. Jump on it.
When you fall on the platform, move left and right to scare away the flies. Another platform will pop up next to it. Jump on this on and a third will pop up. Jump again and wait a second. A fly will appear in the upper right corner. Jump back to the left-most platform and then jump towards the fly as it passes over head. Watc the cut-scene of you flying on the fly's back.
After the fly hits the block, you land on a new screen. Jump on the nearest block and another will appear. Jump again, and yet another one appears. Jumping on this one causes a bunch of green hat "dwarves" to fall from the sky, they follow your movements but move faster than you do. All the dwarves jumping and moving at the same time can be confusing. Drop down to the 2nd platform before jumping to the exit. You can also clear the screen of other dwarves by moving left and right along the bottom platform and letting them fall off.
Move left or right until the walls start closing in on you, then drop down the opening to exit.
Move right to squeeze into the small tunnel. When you get to the locked door, go up.
Move to the left to find the first of three disappearing/reappearing platforms. Jump from one to the next to get the key, then get to the exit.
Continue to the right through the now opened door and more narrow tunnel. After exiting the tunnel, jump up near the exit text. A teleporter will lower from the sky. Stand directly under it as indicated by the arrows.
Jump from leaf to leaf till you get to the last one. They fall off as you land on them, so move quickly. The last one doesn't fall. Wait a bit for the bubbles to appears. You can either jump to catch one, or wait for one to touch you. Watch the cut scene of you and your bubble entering the buys guy's ear.
You control the bubble with left, right, and up arrow keys. Avoid the obstacles and make your way the the end.
Watch the final cut-scene.
Posted by: Vince
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June 15, 2009 2:21 PM