A space-faring puzzle platformer from Arvi Teikari (Hempuli) that leaps out of your hard drive and onto your browser in Once in Space. Originally only available as a download way back in 2007, the game is now available to play online with a shiny new design to boot. As a monitor-headed little astro-bot, use the [arrow] keys to run and jump around levels collecting yellow stars before proceeding to the exit flag. It's not just as simple as running up and rubbing your grubby mitts all over a star, however; you need to be oriented properly first (an arrow on the star will show you which way), and to do so you have to run over red corners on the edges of platforms, which rotates the screen. Blue stars are optional, though trickier to get, and to nab them you'll need to learn how to really manipulate your environment, such as the trundling red creatures that can give you a boost if you jump on them, or the waves of gravity that can carry you along. Don't worry about falling off; you'll just be zipped right back to the start of the level without losing any progress.
Once in Space is one of those games you can really take your time with and enjoy. The levels can be challenging, but the generous approach to respawning significantly cuts down on the frustration, letting you putter around and figure things out at your own pace. It makes it the sort of puzzle game you can let yourself relax while you play, which is good since the soundtrack provided by Nifflas is doing an excellent job at tenderly massaging your brain while you play. The updated design looks fantastic while still paying homage to the original sketchy style, and despite some overly sensitive red corners the gameplay is remarkably low on annoyances. Once in Space isn't easy, but a smooth difficulty curve will help you dip your toes in the pool (the space pool!) while the variety to the level design keeps things fresh and interesting throughout. So strap on your shiny silver jumpsuit, smash that computer monitor over your head, and hurl yourself into the wild black yonder... you've got some stars to grab!
I couldn't even do lvl 1 lol
Not my cup of tea. Relying on the crappiness of the controls to make it challenging is _never_ ok.
like in the level #3 where you're supposed to jump on the moving bouncing TVs to get the optional star.
While I thought it was clever, and I liked the look and premise... the controls are SO slippery! So I quit after a few levels, because it was SO frustrating. A shame because it could have been really fun!
Squiddly: there seems to be a rare bug with certain computers where the controls are ridiculously unresponsive; I haven't been able to track it down but it seems to be related to low FPS's on older computers. Sorry about that!
I didn't find the controls slippery at ALL, Squiddly. I'm running Windows 7 and Chrome as a browser. Maybe try a different browser? For me everything was very solid.
Is there
any pattern to which levels have secret exits?
Actually there's a hint in the level selection screen. It's subtle but should be visible enough once you've got all the levels done.
On my pretty old computer, switching browsers (from Firefox with multiple tabs to Safari as the only tab) solved the ridiculous unresponsiveness bug; before I switched only about one in three keypresses seemed to come through. But switching helped a lot.
I still found left-right movement pretty slippery, but that's the intended physics I think, and also indicates that I'm not great at the game. It just took me a looooong time to get past level 3.
@matt w.
Firefox just keeps getting worse and worse in terms of performance. My computer is pretty snappy but it comes to a crawl with a Flash game open in a Firefox tab. Just horrible.
And yet it still has some features that the other browsers don't have, so I'm forced to continue using it.
I mostly use Safari or Chrome for playing Flash games.
On a few occasions, the moving dudes who are used as springboards fell off the level, making it impossible to complete without restarting. All the levels are relatively small so it wasn't a big deal, but I figured I'd point that out since it didn't seem like they were designed to do that.
Anyone have pointers for level 13?
Oriented the same way as the "trampoline" dude, how do you get the star with the arrow pointing right? I'm thinking I need to get on the long platform to the left of the star, but I don't know how to get enough momentum...
For level 13:
You need to go to the far right from that point and use the two funnels + the 'enemy' creature in order to reach the leftmost platform. Basically, jump/walk to the left-pointing funnel so that you start falling down, then jump when you hit the next funnel (which'll point right at that point), land onto the enemy and thus get enough velocity to reach the platform.
Finn
Go back to the ledges where you make the long jump to get to the blue star. Go the other way (right) instead and fall to the next ledge down. Jump down (left) from there past "trampoline dude" the into the arrows for the momentum and orientation you need to get to that large ledge with the turning corner.
Jay -- I hear you; I've noticed the same thing. If only there were an "Open this link in Safari" option, so I could go straight from here to the games!
Thanks Anonymouse! And thank you, Hempuli! Though I did not try your method, it sounds like an interesting way to reach that star :)
Now to work on the other levels...
7.5 too!
I posted 3 messages. The first one mentioned I found 2 secret levels, and got discarded. The third one was a complete walkthrough, and was discarded. The second one, however, was a complement to the first one... and got kept! So out of 3 messages, including a walkthrough, the only one that got posted is "7.5 too", without any context. Kind of underwhelming.
I think something is very wrong with your comment system. This is not the first time I've had problems with it. I'm using Chrome 13 for Windows.
[I'm sorry that happened to you, Chyro. I am not aware of any issues with the commenting system. If you create an account, you can see your comments posted right away and be sure they are posted. -Jay]
100%!! That was fun, and it only took me three days. hehe!
Thanks, hempuli! I love every one of your games!
I loved this game and for once was sufficiently keen to get all the achievements. But I don't get how you achieve Triple Trample or Downward Motion (and I've done lots of trampling and falling). Any hints?
This game looks good (fun graphics, interesting level/puzzle design), but I gave up after a few minutes.
I have similar problems in flash games played in firefox to those posted above, particularly, performance gets more sluggish the longer you play the game, due perhaps to some developers making "leaky" games--doesn't happen to all games.
This game, however, I played in chrome, but the little character goes on sliding after he lands, making it ten times more difficult.
If this is a bug: I don't like it.
If this is part of the game design: I don't like it.
It completely detracts from the puzzle aspect of the game.
I can't get the blue star in level 7 neither to the secret place...
Can somebody upload a walkthrough on youtube or something?
Update