Here's a bit of a blast from the past for you: BatMan. Not Christopher Nolan's dark, brooding Batman, not even Tim Burton's interpretation of the caped crusader. This is old-school Batman with old-school gameplay, and you'll love every minute of it! Where does he get those wonderful toys, anyway?
The Sense of Connectedness (Windows, 6MB, free) - This is the kind of puzzle game you need to play rather than read about. Figuring out what's going on is 90% of the experience. Figuring out how to do it is the other 10%. And then there's a bonus 10% you're rewarded for actually pulling it off. Do yourself a favor and grab this game if you're even remotely interested. Then, you can peek back here to read about it if you're still stuck. So now: SPOILER ALERT!! You start at the center of the brain as a little spark by the ego. As you move about, you'll uncover new parts of the brain. Stray too far and you'll vanish and respawn. To explore the entire brain, you'll need to use the [z] key to flip neurons to direct the energy sparks around to different areas. It takes some time, but soon you'll dig out even the most remote areas of the brain. And that, dear friends, is where I stop talking about the game for fear of a real spoiler!
BatMan (Windows, 17MB, free) - A remake of the classic ZX Spectrum game by the same team that remade Head Over Heels, BatMan is an isometric adventure that takes place inside of Bruce Wayne's mansion and throughout the Batcave. Explore the rooms to find seven parts of the BatCraft, avoiding enemies and falling victim to some really sneaky traps. Play it careful, as you've got a limited number of lives, and remember that games originally made in 1986 were much less forgiving than today. This remake does an excellent job updating the classic to more modern standards, and an extraordinary job was done on the music, visuals, and controls!
Walk with Jack (Windows, 13.4MB, free) - What you can't see can't hurt you, right? While anyone who's tried swimming in a mountain lake at night might disagree, Jack's on board for the concept. In this game, Jack walks from left to right. Lots of nasty things scroll his way, from spikes to pits to spiders and more. How do you keep Jack safe? Click and hold the [left] mouse button and the entire screen goes black. In the darkness, Jack continues to move, but any dangers he would smash into don't hurt him. Release the button to see what's going on, but be prepared to click again soon. An interesting arcade-style game you'll have fun playing all afternoon!
Note: All games have been confirmed to run under Windows 7 and are virus-free. Mac users should try Boot Camp, Parallels, or CrossOver Games to play Windows titles, Linux users can use Wine. If you know of a great game we should feature, use the Submit link above to send it in!
Ok. So I uncovered all the brain's areas. What now?
I mean its all well and good having a game where working out what the dickens you have to do is part of the overall experience
but how do you know if it's working properly?
I might be halfway down a bottle of ginger beer (alcoholic ginger beer ) But its not making much sense regards flipping neurons
You can see the sparks travel across neurons, and they turn a different shade when they're active.
What I know about The Sence of Connectedness:
You spawn at the Ego. Apparently, your job seems to be flipping neurons (the swirly tiles) with Z, you die and respawn because the projectiles supply you with "health" which you deplete gradually and constantly. As John says the projectiles must be also supplied to the different parts of the brain (to which in my opinion reveals stuff about your character). The Optics are like mirrors in laser puzzle games, and in the Memory all tiles flip simultaneously. Projectiles die too if they hit the border of the brain or if they pass over in a loop, hope to see if the Subconscious can be past or light one more area that remains.
Your description of "Jack" makes me think that you can just continually hold the mouse button, and win the game.
I think Sense of correctedness does have an ending, I just haven't quite got there yet.
Once you discovered all areas, sent a neuron to them each at least once, PSI emits a large triangle. (Not sure if you have to go to PSI last or not as it just happened that I did)
Once you have seen the triangle it seems that any neuron passing through the soul becomes charged, illuminating entire areas of the brain it then passes through indefinitely. I haven't routed 'soul power' to all the areas yet.
Alright, just "finished" Sense of Connectedness... I think? As GQWeasle suggested,
I sent a neuron into the Soul region, then directed it elsewhere. When it hit the Medulla, the game reset with a quick "I dream." message.
Also, the title of the game is also found in the Tragically Hip's Inevitability of Death. I'm sure it's been used elsewhere as well.
I got the ending of Sense of Connectedness when I
Sent a neuron through the Soul region and redirected it down into the Stem, which seems to me like a more logical end, but I dunno. I believe I was still missing Libido as soulpowered regions at that point.
Still trying to make SOC work. Managed to find Stem, but still one other region to the right I haven't discovered. Still not sure how/why neurons follow me sometimes and not others...
Dhiroj, the neurons don't follow anything. Those lights (which you called "neurons") don't follow you.
The glowing balls of light are pulses of brain electricity (projectiles, AbstractCloud called them). NEURONS are the tiles on the brain. You flip neurons by pressing 'Z' which alters the direction the tile sends pulses.
The spirals are either clockwise or counter-clockwise. When a pulse moves onto a neuron, it will go left or right (if "front" is the way the neuron HAD been going). The Optic region reflects pulses. Pressing 'Z' in the Memory node flips ALL neurons. The '+' neurons allow each pulse to continue in a straight line.
A "neuron" is the tile covering the brain. The lights sent out of the Ego realm are pulses, NOT neurons.
The Medulla is part of the brain stem.
Ugh, that Batman game was terrible. I never realized how important it can be to move diagonally... the controls just seem really weak.
That Sense of Connectedness was nice, though. The gameplay mechanic is interesting, and if you look in the data folder, you can listen to that strange dialogue without it overlapping like in the game.
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