Yesterday I played six different, mostly flash-based, video games. Today I’ll be discuss three of the games that I played including one that I both watched and played.
The first game we have is This is the Only Level by Armor Games. This is a platformer type game in which you control a small elephant and try to reach the exit pipe. Although it is only one level there are different stages as you progress with each stage having a different rule set, such as the elephant being super bouncy.
The next game we have is Horse Master: The Game of Horse Mastery by Tom McHenry. This game was made with Twine, which is a tool that allows you to create interactive story lines. Here you are an aspiring Horse Master and start your journey by buying a horse. You then go about training and caring for your horse in the days leading to the Horse Master Competition. I ended up choosing the most expensive horse(at least I think it was) and eventually ended up being evicted from my house and having to scavenge in the last days before the competition.
Finally we have Spectrum by Garrett Dickinson. This game is another platformer type game with an added twist. The entire level is invisble except for a ring of light around your character and a few objects in the level. Thus a lot of your first tries on a level will likely end with you falling down a hole. Overall though it is a very simple yet elegant game that was a lot of fun to play and watch. As my partner was the first to play I was able to analyze the game and give a few tips that I thought might be helpful. Yet I could still feel excitement while watching him play. When I got to play, it was just as fun and even better when I realized there was some pretty cool music to go with it.
The games that were fairly similar were This is the Only Level and Spectrum. In terms of mechanics both are platformer games with an added mechanic to make it more interesting. In terms of aesthetics, I feel that both can fall under the challenge and discovery categories. For Spectrum, the invisibility of the level creates a unique challenge for the player. This also adds a level of discovery as the player must do trial and error for pretty much every level to find the best path. For This is the Only Level, the changing rules also add a level of difficulty especially on the first run. However, it allows players to discover what their new rule is every stage and how they might use it to complete the level.
Overall I really enjoyed playing these games, and highly recommend you try them or any other games you might find when roaming the internet.
One Game At A Time 