I think that everyone, if only for a second, has considered the possibilities of traveling through time: chilling with mammoths in the ice age, cracking a joke or two with Mona Lisa, dialing up Alexander Graham Bell, taking one or two small steps with Neil Armstrong... Sadly, we don't have the budget for a TARDIS, an Epoch or even a DeLorean, and even if we did, we'd probably end up having to deal with those friggin' morlocks. So it's up to State Of Play to offer us the next best thing: the fast-paced reflex-testing microgame-fest that is A Short History Of The World.
A Short History of the World plays like many of its WarioWare-styled bretheren. Controlled entirely with the mouse, you are presented with a historical scenario and a task to accomplish in a set amount of time. You must "drag, draw, chop, rotate and shoot" to the satisfaction of the game and before time runs out, or else you will lose one of your four lives. The quicker you are, the more points you score and it's on to the next game, a little bit forward in time. Checkpoints are available every ten levels, and there are thirty-six games to complete. After you finish, you are given one of four ranks, depending on your score. Now get going! Time's a wasting!
A Short History of the World plays well, despite a few snags. Granted, most of those concerns might stem from my side of the screen: A few of the minigames, especially ones requiring tracing of some sort, felt unforgiving to my uncoordinated hand-eye. The fact that the microgames are always chronological means that you are given repeated chance to practice, but also cannot avoid a situation that repeatedly causes a life-losing. That said, while the lack of randomization may seem antithetical to the concept of the microgame, I liked Short History's not-quite-historically accurate 36-stop trip to the present. It's not quite a plot, but it does give it a sense of progression that other games of its genre lack.
While the mechanics may be too finicky for some tastes, there's a lot to like about A Short History of the World. The premise is engagingly brilliant, and the artistic styling of the levels, while appropriately varied, is beautiful. You'll make ample use of the checkpoints throughout, but still persevere on to the present day. This is a game that's made for passing time.
Walkthrough Guide
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A Short History Of The World Walkthrough
10000 BC
Click each of the blocks of ice to free the mammoth. It may help to start at the top and work your way down.
8000 BC
Click the stick of wood in the middle, and drag it across the other stick as quick and as many times as possible. Flame will come.
3200 BC
Click the outline of the wheel and trace around it, ending at the red circle where you started. This requires a steady hand, so don't think about the time limit too much. Also, make sure you release the mouse... otherwise it won't register.
2600 BC
Click and drag the stones onto the center of the henge below it. They'll stones will be easier to control if you grab them near their center dot.
2200 BC
Just like 2600 BC: grab the blocks in the middle and drag to complete the pyramid. Don't be afraid to smash them into each other.
1200 BC
Drag and drop the men in the Trojan Horse. Be quick. In the current version you can grab one of the soldiers before the countdown starts. This is probably a bug, but it doesn't mean you can't use it. :-)
766 BC
Click the exact center of the crosses on the screen to guide your torch carrier. This one is unforgiving.
500 BC
Drag your solidier around and swing your sword by clicking. Furious clicking might be better than precision here.
200 BC
Drag the jugs of water, and release them at the top of Archimedes' bath.
220 BC
Huh... we've gone back in time. Anyways, click and draw the great wall in one good motion that hits points 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
780
Click the red circle and drag it around in a clockwise circle to bring the vikings to shore. No shortcuts: the movement must be circular.
1462
Isn't this off by 30 years? Like the torch-carrier level, click the x's to sail Columbus across the ocean. Time it to avoid the sea monsters.
1592
Paint by number Mona Lisa! Click the paint points, then click the appropriate area on the painting. This can be done in any order.
1595
Remember Shakespeare? Click and drag the woman to the balcony and the man to the stage.
1643
Clicking and drawing the Taj Mahal is only easier than building it. Just do your best, and don't stray too far from the outline.
1687
Click the apples and they'll fall on Newton's head. Work from right to left.
1700s
Just like the Vikings, grab the red circle and turn the crank 10 times. Be quick!
1810
Play Fur Elise! You know? Da-da-da-da-da-do-da-da-da. Click the lit key in order to play.
1861
Click those two rows of cannons down the line: left, right, left, right, left right.
1876
Drag/draw the telephone wire through the underground tunnel. This one is very unforgiving about straying off the path, so watch out.
1879
Click on each of the lights to turn them all on. They won't stay on for long though. This may be one you have to tab-spacebar to get by without losing a life.
1889
Grab the pieces of the Eiffel Tower in the center and stack them out. The tower will be especially wobbly.
1908
Yep, ten more clockwise drags of the circle to start the car. Except now with less time.
1911
Click on your flags to make your way to the south pole. Time it to avoid the polar bear, and only click the flag by the ice bridge when it's there.
1912
Click and drag the telescope circle around, and click on the iceberg when you find it. Sometimes it can be small and far away, and other times up close.
1933
Click Kong's left and right hands to smash all ten planes out of the sky. Each fist will take a little to reset, so be sure to time it right. If you let one plane pass you by, it's all over.
1940
Hold down the mouse to shoot, and drag the plane up and down to take out 20 eneimes. Keep moving.
1956
You can do anything, but stay off of those blue suede shoes... by keeping the mouse in constant movement and clicking.
1962
Again, keep the mouse away from the nuke button. But, being the cold war, it's even harder to keep away from than those shoes.
1969
Click the moon footprints as they appear. There are only 8 steps to click, but they get smaller and smaller.
1972
Space Invaders! Click and move to take them out. Try to wipe out the shields with your bullets before they show up... they'll only block you otherwise.
1989
Mr. Player... tear down that wall! By clicking like there's no tomorrow!
1990
With a single dragged line, connect the dots. Make sure you release the mouse when you make it to the last one.
1994
Like many other levels, digging the chunnel requires fast clicking. However the target keeps moving to the right. Don't stop until the all the lights are up.
1996
Sheep will start appearing all over the place, and you must click 20 of them. Look for the red as soon as you've clicked the one before.
2010
Just like 1996, but faster. Click those solar pannels as they come up... Now you can look to the future!
Posted by: Tricky
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March 2, 2011 12:55 PM