There’s a new Shift game out! In Shift the primary mechanic is being able to switch from black to white, turning platforms and walls into walkable space and so forth. Conceptually, the game bears more than a passing resemblance to Portal and Negative Space/Yin Yang, but… maybe we shouldn’t even go there! It’s a fun, mind-bending game that stands on its own merit.
Whereas in the previous games you progressed linearly from room-to-room, Shift 3 lets you go back and forth. And your actions in some rooms will affect other rooms. This game also delves into the story a bit more, provided that you take the time to read the clues!
Colin Northway’s Fantastic Contraption is a super-nifty Flash-based physics toy that follows in the steps of games like Armadillo Run and Crayon Physics. The goal in FC is to get a red polygon into a goal area by attaching to it various wheels and rods. It’s an elegant concept, it’s executed very well, and it’s tons o’ fun! Some of the later levels are just devious, too…
A paltry $10 lets you create your own levels and share them with other registered players.
(Thanks, reetva!)
P.S. Does anyone else see something a little, ah, Freudian about that screenshot up there?
Well, someone’s finally gone and put a game in a favicon. Mathieu ‘p01’ Henri’s DEFENDER of the favicon is a simple remake of Eugene Jarvis’s classic shoot ‘em up. It’s 16×16, making it even smaller than the 18×18 games at guimp. It’s also in a friggin’ favicon.
The game works in Opera and Firefox, although Firefox 3 causes the game to hiccup. It doesn’t work at all in any version of Internet Explorer.
Mathieu is also responsible for the 4k Javascript FPS3D TOMB II.
Nice, a game where the goal is to be hit by enemy fire! In IndestructoTank A.E. you play the titular tank (heh). Your goal? To get hit by bombs, missiles, and what have you, and get propelled into the sky, whereupon you can unleash havoc on your foes by bouncing around on top of them. Combos earn you experience points which can then be spent to buy more enemies. The game ends when you run out of fuel.
But I thought tanks are supposed to have guns? IndestructoBuggy, more like? Ah well.
Treasure Seas Incorporated is a game from Felix Wiesner over at Mausland Entertainment. It’s an Arcade/Adventure game with RPG elements about deep-sea treasure hunting, with the player using a miniature submarine to plumb the depths in search of gold. But Neptune isn’t just handing out gold for free: the depths are full of deadly obstacles such as giant sharks, absolute darkness, and crushing pressure. Who knows what might gaze back at you from the abyss…
If all three of your submarine pilots become lost to the sea, your exploring days are through.
What I found most interesting about this game was its incorporation of Role-Playing elements into the gameplay. As the player, you can use the gold you’ve recovered to outfit your submarine with upgraded equipment, allowing you to gather more gold. These upgrades include improvements of the sub’s air-supply (for staying down longer), pressure-plating (for diving deeper), and propeller (for moving faster).
The more you refit your sub, the more gold you can get. Get enough gold and maybe you’ll earn a spot on the online Hall-of-Fame.
So take one last glance at the surface, and prepare to dive. Good hunting…
Dirk Valentine combines sweet pixel art with mustachioed gentlemen and steampunk. And a chain cannon. I feel like it could be great instead of just good if Nitrome would only:
1. Take out like 3/4’s of the messages from “Monty,” the irritating old fart that enjoys telling you things like “avoid the deadly green gas!” and basically spoiling the fun of figuring anything out for yourself for the first dozen or so levels.
2. Add a little variation in the level artwork. As good as it is, it gets a bit tedious toward the end.
I also wish that secondary objectives like collecting medals and rescuing gents were meaningful gameplay-wise, but that’s a minor quibble. Otherwise, I had a good time with this one – the chain cannon’s abilities are pretty interesting, and the puzzles inspired by them are well thought-out.
A new Orisinal game, hurrah! Sunny Day Sky is another incredibly endearing, life-affirming project from the mind of Ferry Halim (gad, what must it be like in there?). In the game you control a small bear who’s whose goal is to fly over as many cars as possible with his umbrella. By opening and closing your “brolly” you can catch some serious air. And catching tomatoes will let you stay afloat longer.
The game opens itself up to some serious combo/multiplier action. In my last game I netted nearly 500,000 points on a single jump, but it’s definitely very possible to go way, way higher! I think if the game ramped up in difficulty a bit faster, it’d be perfect.
Posted by Guest Reviewer
Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:59:00 GMT
[Guest review by J. Thompson]
Sunny Day Sky is another degenerate “danger simulator” from the twisted mind of Ferry Halim. Disguised as entertainment for children, this program promotes, among other things, playing in traffic and eating “red tomatoes” (possibly a street name for meth) to gain super powers, like the ability to fly by simply holding an umbrella. Make no mistake about it, your kids are at the mercy of this foul “gamer,” who undoubtedly gets sick satisfaction from reading the obituaries of his victims. To protect them, I strongly suggest keeping them away from computers, televisions, or any other “devil boxes” where the game could be “played.”
Previous “danger simulators” by Mr. Halim include What Comes Around, which promotes animal cruelty, and Midnight Serenade, a game in which you play a stalker preying upon a young woman. Good Christians should also take note that Mr. Halim calls himself “Orisinal,” a name which is most likely shorthand for “Original Sin.” The pagan bastard.
Now give me my license back before I punch you in the goddamn face.
I considered writing a two-word review for this game: “fart jetpack.”
But hey, there’s a lot more I’d like to say about Puzzle Farter, like how I enjoy how deep and rich the farts in the game sound, how much they made me chuckle, and how great the character designs are. How easily Pet Tomato (another great company name, by the way) could have made the main character a fat guy with a beer gut rather than a cute, nerdy fish-head boy with a Hawaiian T-shirt on. Fun game.
Click here for an interview with one of the creators.
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