Only your web browser can show you what 4FOURTHS is

Ok, I could easily paste the embed code for the video right here but I think the page for the teaser video of Mikengreg’s upcoming 4FOURTHS is designed so well that it’s part of the experience. Also, it changes color in time with the video and that kind of web trickery still gets me. As for the game itself, I have no clue how it could possibly play but having just messed around with the duo’s recent iApp (and free web) offering, Solipskier, I’m willing to put my faith in whatever 4FOURTHS winds up being.

Done Playing: VVVVVV (Web)

Speaking of punishing old school gameplay refried like a batch of beans and made all the more potent, I recently played the demo of current Indie darling, VVVVVV. Its got pixels, single-screen rooms, requires absurd timing and just as much twitchy reflex as puzzle-solving gray matter. Where it gets the modern trimmings is with its hook — you don’t jump, you have one button that instantly changes gravity — and its checkpoint system.

So you can’t get too upset because while you’re punching your keyboard and your brain is melting out of your left nostril the most you’re typically set back is one screen’s width. No life counter to worry about. No continues. It’s only Game Over when you give up. That said, I had my fill from the demo when a series of moving platforms over a spike pit (and spike ceiling) proved just as daunting with gravity pulling in one direction as the other. I love what the game does and especially how it looks but I have no desire to punish my brain any further.

I did, however, buy the soundtrack by SoulEye, PPPPPP. It’s just as retro as you might expect from looking at the game and is as diverse in mood and atmosphere as it is loud and chiptuned. Like Shatter’s soundtrack it’s just as important  as the visuals for setting the mood. You can check out both the game (here) and the music (here) for nothing but a few minutes of your time.

What do you think of VVVVVV and PPPPPP? Is it totally your thing or, like me, did it squash your cognitive logic like a microwaved M&M?

Tower of Heaven looks and sounds great, will probably kill me

I just happened upon Archive Games by way of their newly-released “first person action/puzzle platformer” Grappling Hook and while it looks fiendishly clever in the same way as Portal, it’s Tower of Heaven that has me contemplating my next PC game. Evil in the same vein as I Wanna Be the Guy, Tower of Heaven has a little more going for it in my book. For starters there’s a peculiar story that unfolds as you attempt to reach the top of the tower. As you clear each screen and ascend another floor an angry God starts changing the rules. Suddenly it deems that “Thou shalt not touch walls or blocks from the side” and then “Thou shalt not touch yellow blocks”. At one point in this video it declares that walking Left is a sin! Walking Left!

The other thing Tower of Heaven has is a great Game Boy presentation and a catchy chiptune soundtrack by Flashygoodness. I’d like to think that these trappings could envelope me, sharpening my feeble skills to take on that angry God’s challenges…. but I don’t honestly think I’m quite ready for it just yet. Fortunately, Tower of Heaven is one of Archive Games free offerings so after you grab their desktop client you can download and play it for free! Let this post serve as a reminder for me to one day get a controller hooked up to my PC so I can tempt the platforming fates to smite me yet again.

Jump and run to play Canabalt right now

Like this, only incomprehensibly fast and shaky!

Almost exactly a year ago I was in love with Dino Run for its simple concept (umm, run!), loads of replayability and, most of all, its gorgeous pixel art. This year I should be crazy over Canabalt, a game which has only one button (jump!) and simply requires you to keep up with the increasingly fast and shaky side-scrolling action as you try to escape a city’s destruction. It looks and sounds as stylish as Dino Run but I just can’t keep up with the action after about 2,000 meters. The rooftops and obstacles are randomly generated so there’s no way to memorize your way through it but for about five minutes (or as long as your patience holds out) it provides a fun and lovingly pixelated run. Thanks to Super Punch for the link.

It’s like DOOM, but in 2D!

Remember those days? When everything was DOOM but… It’s like DOOM but with space sharks. It’s like DOOM but with laser guns. It’s like DOOM but with basketballs! Now you can relive both the 16-bit era and DOOM clones by playing DOOM, in 2D. It’s a great effort by Jens Winterstein who’s taken the art, sounds and music from the original game and remixed them into a 2D platformer complete with clever secrets and a rocket launcher by stage three! Why? Why not! It worked for Half-Life right?

Feline Physics Simulator: Time 4 Cat Flash Game

meow?

I haven’t been that crazy about any flash games lately and Time 4 Cat didn’t wow me like last summer’s Dino Run but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t really feel like being a cat! Darting between pedestrians to eat anything that falls on the ground feels appropriately skittish as the unsuspecting humans’ motion is controlled by your own. Some react to your horizontal movement and others your vertical, the combination of which feels a bit like some kind of weird time dilation effect. It ultimately sees you flying across the screen only to nimbly maneuver between streetwalkers feet for scraps as your potential bonus points dwindle away. Honestly, it’ll only entertain for a few minutes so just go try it before I end up writing 800 words about a flash game!

Done Playing: Fantastic Contraption

LittleBigPlanet is now one week away. One week further away than originally intended, unfortunately. Passing the time from now until then doesn’t have to be a total loss, fortunately. If you’ve never played it yet, Fantastic Contraption (FC) is a wonderful way to pass the time. FC is a free web browser game. Like most free games of this nature, it’s very simple, at least at first glance. The goal is to move an object, a red ball or square, from one area to another. How you get it to move is entirely up to your imagination.

You’re given a small area to build in. Within that area, you can use a limited set of tools to build. Various rods and wheels can be bound together in just a few ways. At first, it doesn’t seem like there’s much to it, and indeed for the first few levels, you can complete the challenges with very rudimentary contraptions, such as a rotating wheel that simply drags the red ball over to the goal. It doesn’t take long for the game to get very tricky, so don’t get too proud of yourself. Some levels will seem to be impossible at first. You could very well end up spending a whole day just trying to get past one level.

Despite the challenge, the game is incredibly fun. There’s virtually no limit to how many pieces you can string together. It doesn’t take long to realize you can build catapults, tanks, elaborate machines, and anything else your mind can conjure up. The game has the effect of taking you back to your childhood, where you could turn a few Lego blocks into just about anything your imagination wanted them to be.

There are only 21 levels to the game. If you want more, or the ability to create more, the creator only asks for $10. Even without paying, there’s nearly limitless appeal to the game. Once you’ve wrapped your head around a level and moved on to the next, you can go back and look at all of the creations other players built to get past that challenge. Some of the solutions other people have come up with are ridiculous and insanely complex, others are so simple that you’ll laugh at their efficiency.

All in all, Fantastic Contraption is a perfect gateway for LittleBigPlanet. FC helps unlock the creative juices of our inner-mechanics and helps us come up with new, sometimes bizarre, methods to overcome simple problems. I can’t wait to apply what I’ve learned from this game to LittleBigPlanet. Check on the image below to see one of the solutions I came up with to get the red ball across a gap. Keep in mind that you can not build anything outside of the blue zone.

As soon as the machine starts, the pink wheel rotates counter-clockwise, while the vertical plank on the right side falls to the forces of gravity. The rods attached to the pink wheel eventually strike the red ball, causing it to shoot up the descending drawbridge. The bridge finally falls into place, conveniently covering up the gap. The red ball continues due to its momentum and rolls into the Goal zone. This is just one solution; there are an infinite number of ways this level could be completed.

Done Playing: Dino Run (online)

Web gaming or Flash gaming or Independent gaming, whatever you wanna call it, is something I’ve never kept up with. With my hands being the way they are I really can’t play anything that use the keyboard and even back in the early days of Newgrounds I only got into one or two offerings. Thanks to GlovePIE, though, I can easily connect and remap the Wii Remote (wirelessly even) for any keyboard commands I want. It’s not my ideal controller as it still bugs my hands after a while but it’s quick and easy and a helluva lot less painful than WASDin’ my way through a game.

Dino Run is a great example. Using the keyboard was almost instantly painful as you’re pretty much constantly holding down the run-to-the-right key in order to escape the shockwave from that big meteor that allegedly wiped out the dinosaurs. Using only a few buttons the Wii Remote is perfectly suited for the game.

While running from a wall of flaming death is really all the game is about (and an exhilarating experience) the developers at PixelJam built in a simple stat-upgrading system and even a few Achievements Milestones. By collecting eggs and bones that are scattered all over the stages you’ll be able to increase your speed, acceleration, jumping, and strength skills as well as unlock a series of bonus features and content. The charmingly retro and brightly colored pixel worlds also go a long ways towards giving the game a lot of character.

And it’s a good thing the game has charm because you’ll be replaying the same six stages over and over. It’s impossible to grab every egg and gobble up every critter in any one stage as each one has several paths to discover. If you want to max out your skills you’ll have to keep coming back.

Dino Run is surprisingly robust for a web game. You’ll be hooked for at least a few days, there’s always more stuff to unlock and the game even has an online multiplayer race mode for up to four players. Donate a little cash to the developers and you’ll unlock a ton of hats and colors for your little dino (see my current comment avatar). Give it a shot. With no installation or cost and only a flash-enabled browser required there’s no reason not to hop on over to the Dino Run homepage and start playing (with or without Wii Remote).