GAME > Reflexion 2.0 (Juho Pohjonen)

The sequel to the 2002 original, Reflexion 2.0, is a very challenging puzzler that will probably leave your brain aching. The underlying concept is extremely straightforward – you must flip mirrors so that the endlessly bouncing ball gathers all the blue gems before reaching the finish. But with the brilliant level design, numerous supplementary features and the fact that there are an impressive sixty levels to scratch your head through, the game is harder than it sounds. The graphics are fairly simple, but very well made (you won’t find cheap retro sprites here). I’m not too keen on the white background; it’s a bit plain and boring, although it does reflect the simplicity. The music is quiet, smooth and generally fitting for the whole style of the game – well chosen indeed. The sound effects are also nice and subtle, rounding off a very sweet experience. If you’re looking for something to play for a good while, choose Reflexion 2.0.

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WEBSITE > Time: Game Maker Blog (Connor Ullmann)

Time: Game Maker Blog covers the GameMaker-related goings on of Connor Ullmann (aka Time). He has and has had many interesting projects which you can follow easily on this blog. The appearance is particularly attractive, with some very nice graphical effects; it’s certainly nice to see a blog with some effort put into the look rather than a plain template with minimal editing. In addition, there’s a nice little feature that lets you see all the online high score tables for his games on the right side of the blog – very handy. Go check it out now.

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GAME > Scraap (Andrew Brophy)

Scraap is a generally rough-looking shooter, but that doesn’t harm the fun factor. You face a large array of chaotic enemies, all bent on creating destruction. Simply fire your colourful multihued beam at the torrent of enemies to turn them into, well… scrap. The abstract visuals are well blended to create a haphazard atmosphere, appropriate for the ‘Explosions’ competition it’s been entered in. The high tempo music fits the pace of the game and complements the sound effects that enhance the feel of blasting those adversaries to pieces. Overall, it’s a short but interesting shooter that all action-lovers will enjoy (if it doesn’t lag your computer).

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GAME > Swing 2 (Liam Berry)

Swing 2 is a remake of Liam’s original Swing game, expanding the idea with much more content; there are five modes each with an online leaderboard. The aim of the game is to destroy the attacking circular enemies by colliding the small circling ball with them, while making sure you avoid losing the three lives you begin with. However, this is an exception in two of the modes, where the rules are slightly altered. The visuals are subtly improved over the original, with more panache and nicer colours. Pretty much all aspects of the graphics have been enhanced in some way. The music is extremely repetitive, but the swift tempo fits the style and speed. Overall, Swing 2 has much more replayability than the original and it’s clear more effort has been put into the development side.

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GAME > Godhood (Lord Raijin)

Godhood isn’t an entirely normal game, nor is it very lengthy. The objective is to ‘identify yourself with habits of average villagers of your realm on your quest to become next god’, and you’d do well to fulfil this without using the handy dandy walkthrough. A lot of the solutions feel quite random and unobvious and that’s basically what makes it so damn confusingly hard. The pixelized graphics are quite pretty and consistent, giving the experience a fresh feel – perfect for what it is. The music is atmospheric and fits the aim of the game very well, although the sound effects get quite repetitive; a little variation would have been nice in that department. Overall, though, a short but certainly unique game.

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GAME > Tower of Heaven (Askiisoft)

Tower of Heaven is a fairly short (although it took two years to create) puzzle platformer where you must complete each level in a certain time limit to successfully scale the tower. After the introduction, the game bases itself upon laws that are gradually introduced by God, as you progress through each stage. This concept makes each level increasingly tricky and also gives the opportunity for good design. After you complete the game the first time, you can go back through it in the ‘Speed Run’ mode, where you are timed for the whole adventure. The developers of Tower of Heaven is even holding a promotional Speed Run contest where you can win some cool stuff. As for the looks, Tower of Heaven bears a well presented 3-colour pixelized style, with some nice effects that give great polish. This style matches very well with the audio, which is also nice and old-school (very Game Boy-esque). Overall, a well refined and fun platformer.

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GAME > PyRO (Zack Banack)

PyRO instantly reminded me of a previously reviewed game, For Now. And it’s easy to see why. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting platformer with a nice gimmick - interactively rotating visuals. You supposedly play as a child who ‘fears the flame’; you can make your own mind up whether a small yellow cube adequately represents a child. Over the thirty levels, there are a number of new puzzling features introduced to increase PyRO’s challenge and variety, as well as a level editor for more extensibility. Although I do have a problem with the slow player movement; it makes every move feel very heavy and laborious. The visuals look quite smooth and the rotating cubes aren’t too extreme. PyRO features a soothing and atmospheric background tune which fits nicely with the leisurely movement and the game’s eccentricity. By the way, the platformer was made for Game Jolt’s Axiom contest and surely must stand a decent chance.

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WEBSITE > Vitarsi Vex D (Vishnu Aravind)

Vitarsi Vex D is the latest version of Vishnu’s easy-to-use GameMaker online highscores service. This is a very impressive update, with data encryption, scores shown within games and no freezing being only a few of the new features. All you need to do is create an account, set up some stuff, use the well explained example to integrate the scores, and there you go! In addition, the website is laid out cleanly and navigating is effortless – this just makes the process even simpler than it already is. Adding online features to your games gives them much more depth and replayability, so I’d certainly advise you to take a good look at Vex D.

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GAME > Sound Shower (EasyBeak)

Sound Shower employs a very straightforward concept, but the variety and nice-looking visuals make this game fun to play. As the music notes fall from the top of the screen in tune with the background song, you must make the faceless character stand on a button to destroy the correspondingly coloured plummeting notes. There are four modes of increasing difficulty, each with their own song, although generally, the game is fairly easy. The graphics are nice to look at and are polished well. Some nice effects are included and the whole game just seems to flow very well. The music is nice to listen to and the nature of it allows for some varied note patterns. This is a small game that’s well rounded in every aspect.

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WEBSITE > zachTaylor (Zach Taylor)

Zach Taylor’s website is another interesting one from a promising game developer. The predominant feature is the fact that the whole site has no images at all - there’s a picture, except it’s constructed with ASCII – a bit gimmicky, but pretty nifty if you ask me. The site’s colour theme is a bit iffy and many probably won’t like it much. There’s a bit of content to read as well as Zach’s Twitter feed and his blog. All three of his games are also available to download. Heck, just go and check it out right now.

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WEBSITE > NALGames (Andrew McCluskey)

The latest update of NALGames is somewhat radical. As you’ll probably first notice, the look of the site is interesting to say the least; I’m not sure whether I like it or not, but I do know it conveys a very bold manner and I akin to that. The site boasts more than a few pages of interesting content (I found the ‘About’ section particularly fascinating), all organised in a structured fashion and easily accessible through the comprehensible navigation bar. With all of Andrew’s top quality games there to download, it should keep you busy for a while, especially if you’re new to this great developer. The newest version of the website also includes a blog which so far has been very frequently updated, mainly with posts regarding his new game in progress. On the whole, this site is very interesting to both look at and read, especially if you’re a fan of McCluskey and his work.

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GAME > ScattleWare (David Scatliffe)

ScattleWare is a game quite clearly inspired by WarioWare; simply, it features several very quick minigames that are controlled by either the mouse or keyboard. The fast-paced style makes for a fittingly overdramatic and challenging experience and quick thinking is an absolute must here. ScattleWare is visually represented very nicely, with an attractive cartoon style complementing the funny slapdash approach. Strangely, there’s no background music (which would arguably be appropriate for this style of game). There are a few cheesy sound effects and an amusing portion of music from Michael Jackson, however. Overall, if the game had a few more minigames it’d definitely be worth a good play.

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GAME > Miniblip (Andrew Brophy)

Miniblip is an extremely small game, created in only two hours. But what’s there is fun. You control a simple ship and basically just shoot the skulls that come from the top of the screen. Strategy is added with the possibility of building up huge multipliers to gain massive scores which greatly enhances the depth of the shooter. The graphics are aptly minimalistic, but a nice touch allows you to change the main colour to any you wish. There’s also a cool blurry effect which crops up throughout, adding more interest to the visual side. The retro-ish background music is nice to listen to and the sound effects are fitting. Overall, while it may not exactly be revolutionary, it’s a cool little shooter.

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GAME > Mr. Jones’ Dream (David Sulon)

Mr. Jones’ Dream is an exploration platformer that focuses on a businessman who’s just been laid off. The game follows the vivid dream of Mr. Jones when he goes home and falls asleep. Taken as a whole, it’s a pretty unsystematic platformer, with an array of challenges at hand; quite a fitting scene for a dream. The pixelized graphics are nothing particularly special, but they are well pulled off and the visual consistency is nice. Also, the simplicity reflects the dreamy environment. The range of background music, although fundamentally basic, fits the atmosphere nicely and it’s great to see that the developer actually made them himself. Incidentally, the game has been entered into TIGSource’s Adult/Educational competition.

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