Not so much a review as its too odd reviewing your own games, just a quick message about my new game

Well the latest game went up 2 weeks ago, its called Synapsis and its a voyage into the mind of David Carter, a completely odd adventure game that I’ve been trying to make for about 3 years. The production started about June time 2007 but the idea had been floating round my head in various forms for ages, the only problem was that it was June before I’d got good enough at programming to be able to make it. The actual game is pretty straightforward as I really didn’t want to do anything too illogical although the settings and the atmosphere of the game is really “David Lynch”. I’ve half got the sequel worked on but I need a break, this game completely did my head in during the last month of development.

The game was half designed by Jason Jackson, who was at work experience were I used to work, his 2 rooms were the church and the cell, I thought he did a pretty amazing job.
Its been reviewed on a couple of the big casual games sites like Jayisgames and has gone down really well. I’ve also had endless people email me in the last week for help as they are stuck, if you are one of them there’s a really nice synapsis walkthrough on mousebreaker.

Now that its finished I’m taking a well earned rest from stupid projects and am going to sit back with a beer and watch football for at least 3 days before starting on the sequel.

Anyway enough of me waffling on about, if you want to loose 15 minutes of your life go and play Synapsis.

When I think back to the ‘classic’ arcade games I think of Pac man, Space Invaders, Galaxian and Missile Command. I always felt Missile Command was very much a product of its time. Firing into the sky so the resulting explosions would detonate the incoming nuclear missiles. Living in the West Midlands if a city ever use to get destroyed I use to pretend it was Coventry, because whoever rebuilt that place deserved to be hit full in the chops by a nuclear missile. Failing that I use to pretend it was Milton Keynes but then again any missile aimed at Milton Keynes would get stuck going around one of their many flipping roundabouts. (Now before I got any hate mail simply replace the chosen city with which ever relevant dump is closest to you!) In fact was I the only one who noticed John Connor playing Missile Command in Terminator 2? Just think if you play that game enough you too could be fighting Terminators in a near future leading the free world against…. Oops looks like I am going off on a tangent again. Back to the review!

I mention Missile Command because at some level Boomshine is a reinvention of that sort of game and I would say it is very much a product of its time as well. Gone are monochrome colours and digital cities and instead they are replaced by a free form, free flowing selections of colour simply floating across the screen. The music carries you along and instead of firing desperately into the sky trying to avoid Armageddon (yes I thought the film was crap too!) you simply hit a colour with a click of a mouse and watch it expand. Then if any other colour hits it, it expands as well. However the resulting expansion only stays for a short amount of time unless hit by another colour. I suppose it’s a bit like that Sony Bravia advert where they shoot paint up a block of flats. (Again see Coventry for reference)

But there is a purpose to this game (apart from supplying me cheap shots at certain Midland conurbations). There are a number of colour balls on the screen and you only get one chance at starting a colourful chain reaction. You have to remove a number of balls in one go and believe me when I say it is a lot more difficult that it sounds. I was able to move through the levels with comparative easy until I had to get 45 out of 50 balls and I hit a brick wall. However you won’t have realised the amount of time you have just spent getting to that point, and then that right, you realise the game has you.

This really is the epitome of the casual game, and a kind of reworking of an old classic (although I don’t think that was the author’s intention). A common game mechanic but a very different gaming experience. Very highly recommended.

As a youngster before the likes of satellite TV we had well, terrestrial TV and that was it. There would be a couple of hours of The Monkeys (not to be confused with the kung-fu fighting monkey of BBC2!) and the Bananananananana Splits and that was is it. Then we were left to our own devices. There weren’t any consoles so it meant the choices were going out and hanging around street corners and setting fire to the occasional car or there were puzzle games. Luckily having both parents as teachers, it meant it was puzzle games for me. I had a kind of love hate relationship with them as I seemed to be not particularly any good at them, but I persevered and well, it made the time go by. Then along came computers and I waved goodbye to the puzzle game.

A couple of decades went by, governments changed, aliens landed and then decided we weren’t much fun and disappeared back through their own portal and in that haze of studentdom and that period of time I simply refer to as my “twenties stage” there was one shining image. That image was of Carol Vorderman. Suddenly the worlds of puzzles had a champion. A sort of intellectual She-Ra who could convert numbers in to well other numbers, but it was the fact that she did it unaided in the world of the pocket calculator.

Now I could go on about Carol Vorderman, but it is actually detracting somewhat from the original point. Carol Vorderman started to champion Sudoko, now quite frankly I hate that game because.. ok ok I admit I am hopeless at it, however there are other numerical based puzzle games which have been around in various forms for some time now and Picross is one that falls into the category.

One of big problems puzzle game have, is their presentation. We live in the world of Halo 3 where bigger is better. We want and explosions and…. well that’s something puzzles games don’t have but they are easy to pick up and play, so the casual gamer (as the media has now seen fit to label us) needs to approach things at a more sedate pace.

From the minute the game loads in your browser you are met with a soothing selection of easy listening music. The sort of thing you use to hear in the background whilst Ceefax was on your TV or you were waiting for a schools and colleges program to start. It welcomes you into the environment and the graphics are nice, crisp and functional.

The screen is set up in an easy to follow format and the text is easily to follow. It is these sorts of things which seem simple, but are actually often over looked. I decided to read the instructions for once in my life and that was is it I was ready to go. Basically you have a grid with a selection of numbers on either axis. The number refers to how many tiles there are on the grid. So for example on the horizontal grid you may have the number 1,1,1. This means on that line there are three tiles that have a space of 1 between them. Then you compare that against the vertical number and it will help you to fill up the tiles on the grid. Once you have successfully filled up the grid, it gives up the image of the shape at the end of it. It also kind of explains why the game has the name it does! If you are clever clogs and complete the challenge in the allotted time, then you can also unlock extra packs and challenges.

So then I have read the instructions and I am ready to start the first challenge. The house challenge. Well that looks easy enough, and ….. Damn ok that was stupid of me I got it wrong. Let me try that again. Ahhh! I see what I did wrong, I wasn’t following the instructions! It all sort of makes sense now. Ha! a time of 55 seconds, until my wife came in and did it in 25 seconds. Gutted! And then it happens. The game begins to get up hooked. I pass the Titanic and Family Talk and then suddenly it becomes a lot more difficult.

Suddenly I don’t feel the urge to smite people on Halo 3 because I my wife has hurt my pride and thrashed my times. So back I go. So in the space of I would say 20 minutes, a very simple game has got you hooked. Damn you Picross!!

A simple but addictive game that is very well presented. I defy you not to go back and challenge your own times!