Some Games I Played

This is The Only Level: The rules are simple: guide the elephant to the pipe on the bottom right. The gimmick is that after completing the stage, a rule would be added that the player would have to figure out how to overcome. So it'd be the same level, but different rules, hence the name. Examples include refreshing the page, clicking and dragging the elephant to the end, and only having one jump per life. This game was my favorite out of the 5 I had played because of the addicting wonder of what level would happen next.

Redder: Redder was good at what it was, but a tad cliche. A space captain crashes onto a planet after running out of fuel and ventures forth to find fuel to get off the planet, blah blah blah, it's all be heard before. Operate switches to move the blocks blah blah, collect all the pieces blah.

What you see is what you get, all the mechanics and puzzles are well thought out, it's just a shame that it wasn't executed in a more creative way.

Super Puzzle Platformer: Another really fun game. I found I was consciously telling myself to stop playing this game so I could continue to write the review, so that in itself speaks volumes about the game. Incredibly creative, fun, polished... it's a game that you'd have to try for yourself.

This of course, is all my opinion. My partner didn't seem to enjoy it as much as I did, she said she was confused  and didn't know what she was supposed to do. Perhaps this isn't a game that everyone can pick up and know how to play, but definitely one worth giving a shot.

Passage: It's a game about life, it's a game about death, it's a game about relationships and loneliness, and yet, not a single line of dialogue is spoken. The rules are, use the arrow keys and see what happens.

From what I've gathered, the game is a unique experience for everyone who plays it. Some have the girl follow, others go alone. Some go left to right, some explore. Some get chests, others pass them by. Loads and loads of metaphores, Passage stands as  a shining counter-example to anyone who would say that games can't be art.

If you think this scene is unnerving, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Judith: Fucking. Creepy. I chose to discuss this game last for a reason. Although Judith may not stand strong in terms of fun game mechanics, its storytelling is spine-chilling and compelling. It's low-rez style may seem cheap at first glance, but it's really more of a backdrop, using the audiences imagination to fill in the blanks. This is utter brilliance, for as every decent horror storyteller knows, the mind of the individual audience member can conjure images far more terrifying than anything an artist can depict.

Spoilers, but the ending is very mreh and left me feeling confused and apparently I'm not alone in feeling this way (read the comments, major spoilers), but all events leading up to that moment were intense enough to make the game as a whole worthwhile.

Heist

Originally I wanted to call the game Riddlediff for giggles, but later changed the name to Heist, as you can tell from the crossing out.

I've been told that my newest game is like a lot like chess, pacman, checkers, among other things, but its wonderful simplicity leaves me wondering why it hasn't been thought of before. Introducing Heist, a board game inspired by the Animal Crossing Video game in Nintendoland.

 

The rules are as follows:

The board must look like this on start-up. Yellow goes in center, red pieces in the center of each edge, and the purple pieces going on top of the red pieces on the top and bottom The board is 9x9 squares.

Yellow wins by collecting all four reds. (A red is collected by either moving over, or on top of the piece)
Purple wins by capturing the yellow

Red pieces do not move

Purple must move 2 spaces and can move cylindrically around the board once every other turn (think pacman)

Yellow must move 3 spaces every turn, but cannot move cylindrically around the board

Yellow always goes first.

Development:

The origins of the game are humble if not a bit interesting. I was working a game making lab session during class with someone who wasn't particularly imaginative, nor contributing much and with time ticking away, I went into what I like to call "improv mode" and started making things without thinking about it. Since materials available to use the game were limited, this would prove especially challenging. I had paper, pens, and colored note cards.

 

The first thought that came to mind. "Just draw circles, start writing and hope for inspiration."

After this first idea got me nowhere, I decided to draw a grid and tear some of my colored note cards into tiny squares. The thought of Nintendoland's Sweet Day minigame came to mind and I hoped to create a game in which one player would be controlling multiple pieces simultaneously to capture another player. The game started out originally with 4 purple pieces, but this proved to be unbalanced, so after some play tests, this number was cut down to 2.

The orignal board was asymmetrical. This would be fixed later

The game was fun and challenging, I was very proud of my creation... that is... until my step bro and I tested it at home.

A game breaking bug, the purple could be used to form an impenetrable wall.

The player would get the first red piece and the two purples would go into this formation (the light purple indicates areas that the purple can move to ie places yellow can't land without being captured next round)

 The only way around was at the bottom or top, but as the yellow moves to such areas, the other player could do this.

Nothing to do but go back up and the cycle repeats.

I felt utterly defeated, this was a game breaking glitch and I had no idea how to fix it. I tried the idea of making it so that the yellow could move on top of a purple and stun that piece for one round, but the yellow became overpowered.

Even when cornered, the yellow could always find a way out and always win.

About to give up, I tried one last option, making the board bigger and poof, the  game was balanced again. I brought it to class the next day and it worked like a charm.