Jetpack Joyride, how to be badass and succeed.

Review #35 - Free Video Game (Guest Review #1)

Jetpack Joyride, how to be a badass and succeed.

When I downloaded Jetpack, a free-to-play game in the Playstation Network, I can assure you I didn’t knew where I was going to end.

What could a guy with a machine gun jetpack and a large lab corridor filled with scientist offer? I’ll tell you, endless fun!

Halfbirck Studios (the creators of the well known Fruit Ninja) created a new awesome game, not only because it’s free and very easy to play (you only use one key!), but because it’s practical, volatile and very customizable. It suits almost every taste.

You start with Barry breaking into a never ending Lab with a super badass Jetpack, flying around, collecting coins and buying new gear in The Stash, which allows him to get better and better each time. You can even get him to drive awesome vehicles, from a badass chopper to an enormous dragon.

The main objective of the game is to travel as far as possible, collect coins, and avoid hazards such as zappers, missiles and high-intensity laser beams.

There are two types of win conditions in Jetpack Joyride: one of them is completing the race, getting all the achievements; and the other one is completing the game, getting all the extra achievements.  But really, the game even gives you the possibility to never stop playing, and keep winning forever!

Talking about the achievements, they come in all shape and sizes. Some condition how you have to play, some ask you to do something a number of times, and some check how you die.

For example, “Bull’s eye” is an extra achievement that you can earn landing (after death) at 200 mts, accurately, no more no less!

One of the things I loved the most was the incredible vast collection of Power-ups, the endless customization, and the never ending objectives, which make the game suitable for almost everyone.

So, get the coolest jetpack you can find, and start the adventure around the lab! 

- Emma 

Disclaimer: I didn’t upload any of the content in the following link. I have downloaded and checked it as I always do. I have even executed it in my own computer and did not experience any kind of problems. But I can’t ensure that it is free of virus and/or malware that my anti-virus programs couldn’t find. That’s the author’s responsibility.

You can find download methods here: http://halfbrick.com/our-games/jetpack-joyride/, on your console, or play the game directly on Facebook!

Competition

Babbling at the Counter #34 – Game Theory

Competition

Join us next week for a special review. All thanks to Dazzling March!

Short thought today. As you may know, I’m a big fan of Pen and Paper RPGs. And when I play a video game with multiplayer options, it’s usually co-op.

Why? Well, I just don’t like to play against other people. Mostly because I suck. Big time.

Still, I realize that competition is a healthy part of games. I may not enjoy having to spend hours to master a game in order to stay competitive, but simple ones that are easily learned can be a blast.

I offered both Uberleben and 0Space, which are competitive video games, but even in pen ands paper you can have that.

While playing BADASS, some characters started trying to up-stage each other. Soon, it devolved into a semi fight between them. Even though they all wanted the same thing (recover a MacGuffin for the party) two players started spending Badass Points to surpass their teammate’s roll and make the other look bad. Fun times were had.

Healthy competition is great. I find it hard to foster at a gaming table, and it can be hard to make a competitive and casual game, but it’s worth the try nonetheless. It’s been done before, you know?

- The Storeman

0Space, Zero-Gravity Deathmatch!

Review #34 – Free Video Game

0Space, Zero-Gravity Deathmatch!

Join us next week for a special review. All thanks to Dazzling March!

Blasters, proton grenades and laser swords. 2 to 4 players trapped in a confined arena. Who will walk out?

The setup is pretty simple. 0Space is a free-for-all combat. Killing someone earns you a point, dying takes one from you (as you can die without being killed by another player, this is an important rule). If you are hit, you die. No lifebar, no shields, no nothing. There really isn’t much else to add, at least rules wise.

The signature feature of 0Space is the low gravity environment. You may use it to your advantage, or find yourself drifting off into space (and dying) if you are not careful. And of course, how to bounce grenades on the walls is another nifty skill to acquire while playing.

The game is really easy to learn, and each match is really quick (at least with the four/five rounds I usually use). The only thing that might prove problematic is that only two-players can share a keyboard, to play with more you need controllers.

And don’t get to mad if things don’t go your way. Each round, a player gets to choose all the stages that will be used, so you will get you vengeance sooner or later.

- The Storeman

Disclaimer: I didn’t upload any of the content in the following link. I have downloaded and checked it as I always do. I have even executed it in my own computer and did not experience any kind of problems. But I can’t ensure that it is free of virus and/or malware that my anti-virus programs couldn’t find. That’s the author’s responsibility.

External Link: http://teknopants.com/2012/04/0space/

Random Power

Babbling at the Counter #33 – Video Games

Random Power

I remember the moment I had one of the insights that led to the Warehouse. I was playing an old NES game, Spy Vs. Spy, an thinking: “This is awesome!”. After playing through most of the difficulties, I went back to the lower ones, just because they made the games shorter, not actually easier. Sadly, the level design was exactly the same every time you choose that difficulty.

Obviously, I shouldn’t have been surprised. NES games didn’t have randomly generated content. But I was sitting there, thinking: “If only the item placement on this was random, even without changing the level’s layout, you could replay to your heart’s content”.

Then, it hit me. With today’s technology, an amateur designer could make exactly this same game on his home computer AND add this nifty “item hiding” feature. Somewhere along the line, the graphical aspects of games where prioritized, so whenever processing power increased, only graphics improved, not gameplay.


Nowadays, some stuff started showing up to correct that. First, it was online gaming. While nice, it never actually worked for me. But then, indie developers started making games with low quality graphics and great features, mostly “procedural” or “randomly” generated content.

I like where this is going, and even though I won’t talk about exclusively commercial games in this blog, it’s worth saying that there are a few great gems out there. I see myself included in the target market for video games for the first time in years.


So, you ask yourself, what about free games?

Free games can benefit a lot from procedural generated content, and a lot more than you may think. Low quality graphics and high replayability are the staples of a lot of free gaming.


Aspiring game designers, whatever your goals are commercial or non-commercial, just remember. It’s not about graphics anymore. With the help of our handy internet, spreading your work is easier. Thankfully, that means the game environment is more rich and varied, so both designers can defend their vision, and we players get a lot more to choose from. Good times indeed!

- The Storeman

Forget-Me-Not, as if I could

Review #33 – Free Video Game

Forget-Me-Not, as if I could

Let's keep the arcade vibe going, shall we? After all, it's still Dazzling March!

Today's item comes from an unknown dimension. I may have set a precedent of playing things without fully grasping their rules, but this time it's not my fault. In Forget-me-not, you (and up to another player) run around a Pac-Man-like maze, trying to collect all the little flowers and securing the key to the exit. The problem is, there are so many different (and randomly chosen) enemies that I'm still finding new ones!

The difficulty here comes in two flavors:

The enemies interact with everything in a lot of weird ways. Some can destroy the level around you (making it possible to shot yourself in the back, thanks to warping screen borders), stealing your key, eating the flowers (making the level end faster, while making you earn less point), killing each other (fun, until they multiply and/or explode), and a lot more stuff.

 

Keeping track of everything is pretty hard without even taking into account that...

A direct confrontation with most enemies is impossible. Really. Even the most basic enemy will eat (quite literally, you'll see) at least half your life bar before dying.  And that's just the little ones.

You will find yourself having to employ interdimensional marksman tactics to kill them before they kill you.

Given that the enemies are randomly generated and that the difficulty is pretty high, it will keep fresh for a long, long time. Enjoy.

- The Storeman

Disclaimer: I didn’t upload any of the content in the following link. I have downloaded and checked it as I always do. I have even executed it in my own computer and did not experience any kind of problems. But I can’t ensure that it is free of virus and/or malware that my anti-virus programs couldn’t find. That’s the author’s responsibility.

External Link: http://nyarlu.net/games.html

Lessons from the arcade

Babbling at the Counter #32 – Video Games

Lessons from the arcade

Arcade games had three very important things that I feel got lost along the way. Modern games like Endless Forms Most Beautiful are bringing this stuff back:

They where easy to learn:

Simple controls that don't change through the game.

I see the appeal in mastering a complicated set of combinations to get the best results and perform awesome maneuvers, but sometimes I just want to sit down and play a game without having to look for information online or having to practice the aforementioned combos before I'm ready to actually enjoy my game.

Arcades were simple because they needed you to get hooked up easily. Watching someone else play or the helpful hints displayed during the “insert coin” screen had to be enough to get you started.

Just because we can make extremely more complex games today, it doesn't mean we should ignore how nice it is to just start a game and be able to play it. No online study, no long tutorials. Just a game.

They exploited every Detail:

This is more of a wake up call to prospective game designers than anything else.

Some games change your character as you progress. So, new obstacles are avoided with new powers. That doesn't make the game actually hard, mind you. It just means the player has to learn a few more tricks, and the designers can use new basic traps instead of improving the old ones.

And that's my point. Take EFMB. As the best way to move around is using the teleporting platforms, most of the traps are built around them. Putting spikes on them, having a floor completely devoid of them, giving enemies the ability to use them too, etc.

If halfway through the game you got, say, the ability to push blocks, then gameplay changes completely. From that point on, you start finding easy block puzzles so you can get used to them, instead of finding new (and tougher) platform puzzles.

This kind of stuff makes the game longer, but not in a way I find nice. You shouldn't be saying “I died because I forgot how gliding works”. The character is your avatar, controlling it should be intuitive after only a few rounds.

They had replay value in mind:

This is the aspect of replay value I want to talk about today: Coffebreak Games.

You can sit down, play something between fifteen minutes or half an hour and then get back to other things. Here's more information about the coffebreak concept. Arcades have that.

But to be a good coffebreak game, it has to have both simple controls and be short enough to be beaten in less than an hour.

Closing Up:

I know there are a few negative aspects to this old games that we don't want to see anymore. Inflated difficulty to keep you hooked, and having to play until you memorized the level in order to survive it are not features I remember fondly. Those are not what I'm talking about.

I'm not talking about pure nostalgia, either. It's not about making old games, it's making games the old way. Why make a fifty-hour long game if it's chock full of filler? Why not use fewer different abilities in the same game and use them to make other games?

I know the answer, money. Big companies won't get much from this ideas. Good luck we don't work there, then. I guess our projects can actually do some things those big names can't.

- The Storeman

I realize this post has a lot in common with Locomalito's philosophy.

“Lessons from the arcade” was already written when I found that on his site, so I decided to keep mine and just link to him.

Endless Forms Most Beautiful, The Hunt for the Psychedelic Microscopic Imps

Review #32 – Free Video Game

Endless Forms Most Beautiful, The Hunt for the Psychedelic Microscopic Imps

Up to two players can take control of Moebius and Pucky in this mind bending arcade. Teleporting platforms are the only way to navigate the twisting passages on each screen, where the bold protagonists (and, of course, the players) must capture each and every imp to advance.

This is a very simple arcade-inspired game that only uses the directional arrows. True to its source material, the pace is frenetic and addictive, pushing you to gather power-ups and points without making you feed quarters into the machine.

The treasured imps have tons of different skins and at the beginning of each level you have a little description of the buggers. It's mostly for color, but a nice touch nevertheless.

Actually, the game changes both the imps' and stages' design every time, so even if the levels are not randomly generated, there's enough variance to keep things fresh.

Add to that: nostalgic arcade graphics, really fun music and unique mechanics. Now you have a must-play masterpiece. Would you like the download link?

- The Storeman

Disclaimer: I didn’t upload any of the content in the following link. I have downloaded and checked it as I always do. I have even executed it in my own computer and did not experience any kind of problems. But I can’t ensure that it is free of virus and/or malware that my anti-virus programs couldn’t find. That’s the author’s responsibility.

External Link: http://www.locomalito.com/efmb.php

What’s Dazzling March?

Babbling at the Counter #31 – Blogging

What’s Dazzling March?

Ok, so, I thought it was time this little Warehouse got its stuff together and started improving as a blog. That’s why this month is Dazzling March!

Now, what’s Dazzling March? It’s a themed event focusing on the bizarre and brightly colored. It’s the first of what I hope can be a long line of wacky themes. It’s the Warehouse growing.

I decided to prepare this for two different reasons:

First, as I said, to work more on the blog. Instead of just using a list of games and stuff that I like, I had to hunt for content that could work with both NeonPlat Adventure and the game I’ll talk about next week (those two inspired the Dazzling theme). That was fun.

Second, while playing next week’s game, someone said to me “you play such childish things”. And I thought: “Yes, they have quirky music and are colorful, silly, and nonsensical, but childish?” Then I realized. It’s not that they are childish, it’s that they remind people of old games. Simple games. Games we played when we were younger.

So, that’s Dazzling March. It’s the same reason I opened the Warehouse on the first place, to celebrate simple to understand and simple to play games. See you all later, we still have a whole month to go!

- The Storeman

NeonPlat Adventures, a Colorful Calendar Composition

Review #31 – Free Video Game

NeonPlat Adventures, a Colorful Calendar Composition

With this post, Dazzling March has officially begun! More information about the event will be available on this week’s Babble.

NeonPlat Adventures is a whimsical plataformer that makes more levels every day. The level selection menu is a calendar, and you can choose to play any day up until the current date. Every morning, a new one becomes unlocked and fully playable.

Each day includes four stages, with their own (semi-randomized) layout, enemies and name. The names are important because they give useful clues about what you will actually find in that level.

Also, different days have different characteristics. Levels from Monday to Friday make up an adventure, with increasing difficulty each day. Saturday Strolls have longer levels, while Sunday Shorts are... shorter than average.

The game is populated by a wide variety of enemies, and capturing them can give PlatDude both useful and not-so-useful abilities. You’ll still want to get all of them at least once, to complete the achievement card.

Side effects of staring at the pause screen include mild dementia and craving for pickles.

All in all, NeonPlat Adventures is an awesome game that keeps on giving. You can play a game a day at a coffebreak pace, or stack them up to run through a whole adventure during the weekend. The graphics and music are pleasant too, so that’s a plus.

- The Storeman

Disclaimer: I didn’t upload any of the content in the following link. I have downloaded and checked it as I always do. I have even executed it in my own computer and did not experience any kind of problems. But I can’t ensure that it is free of virus and/or malware that my anti-virus programs couldn’t find. That’s the author’s responsibility.

External Link: https://sites.google.com/site/neonplat/download