2006 2007
Is that thing a penguin?
Monday, February 5, 2007
OK, so sometimes a thing is just too cool.
I recently discovered such a thing here. It’s a game called Line Rider. And it’s amazing.
Basically you draw a course for a penguin (at least, I think it’s a penguin…) who slides down and up and sideways on a sled. There’s no course when you come to the site. You make it all yourself. The goal is really just to make the coolest course you possibly can. It’s fun. And it’s addictive ... even when you’re bad at it like me –
Lots of people are playing this game – there are more than 50,000 video clips of it at YouTube. Two of my favorites are this one and this one.
What’s special about this game? Well, one thing is the simple and elegant design of the thing. The physics are quite something. I actually felt the WHOOSH of the movement as my little guy slid to his demise. And I have to say that it was pretty exciting.
The other thing that’s special about this game is that you make it. As I already mentioned, there’s no course when you start – it’s a total blank slate. So your experience with the game is totally up to you. And that’s pretty much the best game design in the world, as far as I can tell. Because, well, there’s nothing more engaging than making our own stuff, whether it’s out in the world or in some kind of virtual environment. I think that a lot of the best games are great because they give players a context to be creative and to feel that WHOOSH (no matter what kind of WHOOSH that might be ... ).
Give it a try. I’d love to hear what folks have to say about it.
Double Game
Monday, February 26, 2007
OK, so a game that proudly advertises itself as “irritating” might not be ideal for a Newbie like me. But I was feeling frisky, so I tried it.
It’s called “Double Game.” And it exists to taunt. (And its instructions are in French - click the small British flag after you follow the link for an English-language version.)
So Double Game looks like this ...
The deal is that you use the mouse to basically keep both balls up in the air. The top section of the game is kind of like Pong-for-one – you bat the little ball with the white slider. And the bottom part is like a seesaw – the blue ball rolls off unless you keep the seesaw balanced.
Now each of these individual tasks is not that difficult. However, when you have to do them both at the same time… with the same mouse (meaning a move that keeps the top ball in the air might doom its brethren below), it can get pretty tricky.
Now concerning the taunting, let’s chart my progress.
On my very first try, you’ll see at the bottom of this screen grab that I was “almost as smart as a poodle.”
It was the “almost” that really hurt.
After quite a bit of failure, I managed to make it up the food chain of achievement, reaching the same status as an oh-so-famous heiress/gal-about-town ...
Now the game wasn’t just taunting me. It was taunting poodles, too!
Finally, after a good chunk of afternoon, I reached the pinnacle ...
I was not “amazing,” but I was “sufficient”… for someone like me, that is.
Talk about setting the bar low!
Why did I keep playing this game?
Well, for one thing, the game is quick. I didn’t have to make a big time investment each time I played. It was generally just a few seconds and then I could try again. Or not.
The other thing is that the game is simple. Or at least, the mechanism of the game is simple. There aren’t a million layers, a bunch of characters, tons of tasks to achieve. It’s all there on that one screen.
And because of that, it seems like I ought to be able to win.
The simplicity makes it feel winnable, in a way that “The Sims” and other really complicated games never feel for me. I KNOW I’m going to be bad at those games. But “Double Game,” in its simple elegance, invites me in and says “Welcome, Newbie. Go ahead and win now.”
And then it taunts me. And even worse, it taunts the poodles ...