Monk is a detective with OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) in a show of the same name on the USA network. To increase exposure for the show, and to generate traffic to the show's website, a new game has been launched that focuses on the trivial and repetitive tasks that Monk might face on a daily basis.
Monk's Mind game features 32 Wario Ware-style mini-games that a player must complete, three (3) times of increasing difficulty, to win. Divided and grouped into four (4) common scenarios such as: dining at a restaurant, living at home, working at the office, and investigating a crime scene, the player faces tasks typical to these situations.
To begin, click on one of the task bubbles that appear and float around Monk's head. The associated mini-game will begin with a short description of what to do (i.e., "catch", "balance", "straighten", etc.). Use the mouse to click, drag, or mouse over the area to accomplish the goal. But hurry! The task must be completed before the stopwatch makes one full revolution.
Although there seems to be no limit to the number of times a task may be repeated until it's done right, the game does force you to constantly perform tasks or else Monk will get very upset and the game will end.
Analysis: Considering the performance issues that action games are prone to in Flash, the gameplay mechanics for each of the 32 different mini-games have all been well-executed with only a few minor annoyances and inconsistencies. For example, rubbing clean the lipstick from the wine glass was extremely difficult to complete on the 3rd iteration. Only after leaving it alone and then coming back to it later did I manage to complete it on the first try with little effort.
The repetitive nature of the game's trivial tasks was an excellent choice for a game based on an obsessive-compulsive detective. Although I prefer the rapid-fire and random delivery mechanism of the original Wario Ware, this game manages to retain much of the original's appeal.
Credits for the game include (thanks Neil!):- Neil Voss (GLOW interactive), creative direction, game design, programming, sound
- Charles Forman (Setpixel), technical direction, game design, programming
- Jobe Makar (Electrotank), programming
- Jason Whalen (GLOW interactive), art direction, photography, graphics production
- Mike Molnar (GLOW interactive), producer
I have tried the game, it is fun.:
btw, JAY you have done a great job introducing games. these days i played alot games that you introduced. WELL DONE!!
-ken
I LOVE Monk series :)
Game has style too, but if I would be picky, I would say Monk always takes time to organize the stuff...
Fun little game, and the screen shot they have when you win is amusing. "Neatening-up" the dead body to fit in the chalk lines though was kind of grim, but it worked.
Any one have any hints for the lightbulb game? No matter how fast I twirl my mouse around in a circle, I can't get past one bulb!
Oh my gosh I LOVE MONK!!! HES SO COOL!!! HIS SHOW IS AWESOME!!! OCD- obsessive compulsive detective :)
It's a gift and a curse oh yeah!! Oh my gosh this game rocks oh it rocks!! GO MONK WOOO!!! But for god's sake... get sharona back, she's better than what's her name!! EVERYONE SHOULD TOTALLY AGREE!!
If you are having trouble with the lightbulbs, you just move the mouse in a circle as fast as you can, no clicking or anything :).
I
GO GO GO GO GO MONK!!! WOOOOOOH!!!
No no no! for the lightbulb, just do big fast sweeps up and downs! no circles required!
A fun, quirky game for a fun, quirky show!
I had a lot of fun with this game. Thanks, Jay!
As fas as the lightbulb is concerned:
I had success just moving the mouse back and forth quickly. I didn't try up and down, though it would seem that both work.
You're such a giver!
Adorable, and fits well (for the most part) with the show..
A few of the games have extremely annoying bugs/quirks. Such as the trash bags randomly falling, and the file folders snapping to the square you didn't want them to snap to.
Also a few of them were uneedingly difficult, such as the phone, and the hangers...
Other than that, though, I really loved it. :D
This game(s) is(are) fantastic!
I loved the one where you have to avoid shaking hands. And it was funny to hear my mouse squeaking from the back-and-forth movement on the soap-hand-cleaning game.
Too bad i got to the crime scene part and answered a friend on msn and I lost due to the time out. =(
Oh I forgot... I only knew Monk from ads, but playing such a great game will sure make me watch it. I'm the customer every marketing department would love to have.
Ahh, thank you, i see, you just move it up and down...
I've never seen the show (don't get USA) but I love the music with the game. Is it part of the show too?
I love monk!
and yes, the music is the theme song of the show. "It's a jungle out there" Not sure who it's by though.
I couldn't get the trash bags. I had no clue what to do with them.
Dropping them into the truck did not help.
Dan -
You need to drag them to the garbage truck in numerical order
Nice game.
I know how this guy feels because i've got OCD too.
I can't get past the 3rd lipstick challenge, it's driving me mad! Any hints?
Leave it, Marc, and come back to it. The same thing happened to me, and it was surprisingly easier after a break.
I want that suit! Cool game.
Very good game.
I was really frustrated with the mat cleaning
game.
But otherwise this was an excellent way to waste some time.
Don't even bother playing this on a slower computer!
I can't get past the first stage on this computer (P3-733) because I can't straighten the cutlery or wipe the glass. The cute little bounce-in animation on the cutlery takes so long (while the timer tied to the system clock ticks away accurately) that I barely have time to grab the fork before the time runs out, let alone straighten it properly. As for wiping the glass, well my motions don't seem to be having any effect on the lipstick at all.
The one with the fingerprints was good at first, until the final task, which I finally finished due to pure luck. I honestly tried to see the print on like ten tries, and not once did I see it. WHatever I finished :-D
My biggest gripes were the mat game, the fingerprint game, and the hangar one. Otherwise, a very good mimic of Warioware.
About the theme song. Monk series had different song in season 1. They changed it to brilliant song "IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE" which is composed and performed by Randy Newman. Randy has also composed music for movies like "Toy Story", "Babe" and "Monsters, Inc." plus dozens of albums.
http://www.randynewman.com
Loved this!
I spent a while getting to grips with some of the mouse moves needed...and than just took my time with each task.
Follow the advice from the other users above, and take a break if your head is starting to boil!
Some glitches, but not too annoying.
Enjoy.
I got as far as the dial the numbers game on level 3, that killed me. Other than that, the only others that gave me any trouble was the coat hanger one.
I simply cannot remove the lipstick on the 3rd time around in level one. I am extremely frustrated.
for the lipstick looks like
up and down works best
I give up! I've played this stupid game at least 20 times now and I can get through all 3 trials of everything but the lipstick and glass thing. I've tried doing it first, I've tried saving it for last, I've tried doing it twice and saving the third for later and still nothing.
=(
I hear your frustration, Barbara, as it gave me a time with it, too.
Try not going so fast with the mouse. There seems to be a "sweet spot" between too fast and too slow that will get it just right. I hope that helps.
This seems to be a computer related issue. On some computers it is a piece of cake to remove that lipstick, just put the tissue on it and swipe the mouse up/down quickly. On the other machines (slower ones) you can break your hand but you will not succeed.
Can someone give me a hint? I can't make the glass come clean.
In addition to receiving a list of game credits, Neil also sent me this about the game...
Cheers, Neil!
This was such a fun game! I hated the phone though. I could barely see the numbers on the buttons.
oh yeah!!
i love monk.kiss
Ugh! That dead body one was making me so mad! I couldn't get past the last level of it for a good 20 mins!
great game even if a bit short but i dont care i love the monk series :)
hey jay.i played this game yesterday and it worked fine. but today that page shows this message:
This is replaced by the Flash content. Place your alternate content here and users without the Flash plugin or with Javascript turned off will see this. Content here allows you to leave out noscript tags. Include a link to bypass the detection if you wish.
but the other games on that site work just fine, and i'v checked my java n its activated.
wat could be the prob?
Haha very funny, Monk is like my favorite T.V. show, and the game was really fun. The last fingerprint was hardest, the salt shaker the funnest :).
Any tips for the mat part??? Somehow I completed the first 2 ones, but the 3rd iteration... noooooo.. lol
I am 12 and I have finished this game. Easy peasy
I can't beat the pencil straightening, any hints?
this is driving me insane(hence the name). i went all the way to level 3(monk's house). the light bulb killed me. but i went back and read the posts (thanks you guys!!) now, i cant get past the first level on the pencil straightening thing. im goin crazy, somebody help me..please!
hey. i played this game a couple of months back, but theyve changed the challenges this time! the pencil straightening task, and seeking a radio station tries your patience!
it's kind of hard for me, the time is fast. I can't finish the pencil task, the radio task and the cleaning task. maybe because i'm not a right-hander, harder for me to control the mouse..
the first time i played this, i got absolutely stuck on the pencils and the radio. i've just played again, and i now know these things...
1. for the radio task... just keep trying. beat the level once, and the other two times will be a breeze.
2. for the pencils... i was lucky to have beaten the first of the three levels, but the second level was just a bit too much for me. one thing i noticed though... it seemed that this time i played the game, the pencils had a bit more "snap" to them... like if you were off by such a tiny amount, they'd move the last millimeter for you... but the second level is still REALLY fast for me. practice, i guess.
otherwise, from what i can see, this is a pretty good game. i've never watched monk before, but it sounds like a good plot. this game seems to compliment it well.
Help!! I can't pass the task where you've got to clean the car's window from the green stains, are ther any tricks to make the wipers go faster??
can someone help with the pencil task? Ive tried for a half an hour now and I don't think it's suppose to be this long.
PENCILS! Thats all I have to say. effing pencils.
For the car window thing, i founf just mass clicking does the trick. I think there's a bug with the pencils because sometimes, even when they are all completley straight it comes up as a failure and the only way to fix it is to reload the game.
What do you do in the tuning thing. I don't understand it at all!!!!!! ARGH!!!!!!!!!! I AM SOOOOOOOOO MAD
not enough time to do some things
I can't do the car's windshield cleaning!
This game was fine, but those pencils....
Can't get past them , so I have to give up on this game!
ok--so at first the game seemed like fun...then i realized that the goal was for us to all feel monk's pain! they want us to see what it's like to live in his brain for a brief period. yeah--thought the crime scene tape was hard? try straightening pencils that CANNOT be straightened!!!!! what gives??!!! not only do i give up on the game, but i am boycott the freakin show from now on! haha
I need help with washing the car windows on level 1. I have tried mass clicking and that doesn't work, can anyone help me?
I did every single task except for the last one; I couldn't get past the "disinfect" one. I did everything I could, but I still couldn't get past the first stage...
This game is a blessing...and a curse.
amg whatever ive done, i cant beat the lightbulb activity! lease help ive been trying for an hour straight
Does anyone know about the straitning of the dead body on the third round when all 4 limbs are not in place. I cant get it for nothing. Please Help....
hate those pencils....
I straightened the pencils for about an hour...I made them as straight as some pencils could be...
Is anyone through that pencilthing? or is it just another haha-you-cannot-pass-final?
Monk is awesome
oh my goodness.
the pencil straightening is not exactly working. at all. and they wouldn't be straight anyway, because the erasers are not lined up straight at the bottom... so... technically i will never straighten them. haha
We can complete all tasks except the radio in level 5. Does anyone know what to do there? What do you click? I have clicked all over the place and nothing happens. What is the objective? If you know, please explain in detail. Thanks.
I can't get by the pencils either. I thought I had them straight. I guess my other question is do the points go up or down.
may i know how to play with the level 5,radio game?
For the radio:
You must click the seek buttons until you see "Monk's Mix" and leave it on that station.
I played until I got frustratingly stuck on
the parking the car, and the one with the spray bottle. I could move the car back and forth, but it never clicked into place, nor could I figure out how to get it to sit still long enough. And I couldn't figure out what to do with the spray bottle at all.
A fun little thing, but I found myself only continuing out of need to finish, not out of any particular sense of enjoyment. =P
Also: if your only option is a touchpad, forget about it. It's nearly impossible.
Oh poop.
I was stuck on the phone one, so I opened the tab that had the discussion board, and I suddenly heard some song playing.So I went to the game and sure enough, it was on a game over screen because Monk "couldn't handle the stress". Then it asks if I want to try again, which in this case restarts the whole game.
Anyways, it was good while it lasted.
Update