I was expecting a collection of games from around the world (like, traditional folk games, or popular card/board games) but this collection of 17 minigames is...well, a collection of 17 random mini games that really have nothing much in common (sometimes there are shared mechanics, but not always) other than low production values, janky gameplay (in some of them), and weird/strange/unusual theming...
I played almost all of them and was surprised by how much variety there was - at first I thought they'd all be variations on whack-a-mole or target practice...but there's a quasi-endless runner, an arkanoid/breakout clone, a quasi-endless jumper (jump to next platform up, but avoid enemy and fish spitball), and a few more. TO be fair, many are variations on whack-a-mole...
As I'm playing the collection I'm thinking - wow, collecting a bunch of small mini-games might be a really good way to get a very large team of students to work on a single game together. Each mini-game would have to be super well executed and can be done in relative isolation from other teams, but the collection would have to be cool - with some overarching theme/reason to bring them all together (not like this game, which is basically a jukebox selector).
Even the production values on these games is low (even for the time the game was made, to be fair) - and looking at the list of credits I see about 6 different people listed (2 of which are audio), so - a small team indeed! I wonder how long they had to make the game, six months?
I'm not a fan of people making fun of "bad games" because they're bad - generally in my experience it's just a series of problems usually relating to not enough time, budget, or experience. No one sets out really to make a bad game (on purpose). Ok, I'm sure there are exceptions, but for commercial release - especially in a physical format - that just seems like a bad business decision. So, is this collection "bad"? Yes - BUT...the but being, I have no idea how much time, money, etc. they had to make the game...
Ugh...so I played a few more levels and ran into more "what does this clue even mean?" and "why did this not work? situations as well as a few more technically glitched levels...so, I think I'm done.
I did get far enough to unlock some special levels that are action (rather than puzzle) based in that you have to solve tings by interacting with stuff in the world.
Now that ChatGPT and all these significantly more powerful AI tools are out there - I wonder if all the hand-scripting I' pretty sure (from a podcast?) was done to get all the words and theirs possible meanings could be a huge boon for this game? Like, is it time for super-turbo-charged Scribblenauts? (could the predictive part of the AI model make sense of people's understanding/interpretation/intent when picking certain words and then say "yeah, that works even though we hadn't considered it"?
Weird/interesting/unexpected features in this game:
(a) It has a "trophy" system that rewards you for - well, dong stuff like most trophy systems. E.g. using different words, colors, etc. as well as a few that are "wacky" (connecting lots of objects to each other!). If I recall, trophy systems were JUST starting to become a thing at the platform level (achievements in xbox) AND - as I write this - I think that it's a weird feature in that I think they started at the platform meta-level and THEN made their way into individual games as a game-only in-game feature. What I mean is that Super Scribblenauts has "trophies" but they only exist in the context of this game - there's no separate online profile that reads them, connects to them, or anything else. If this is the case - it seems like an unusual design trajectory! (it going from big to small - as a platform-wide to single game)
(b) THe game has a level editor/creator! Like, WHAT?! I need to explore this further...
It's been such a long time since I played Scribblenauts that I'm not sure how what I'm playing now compares to the original game. They added adjectives - which sounds like a huge challenge and giant leap - but the overall structure of the game I'm less certain of. I'll have to back and look because it seems to me that the game's structure is better this time around?
So, the game is structured around challenges - each of them a puzzle where (at the least) you just need to type in an object that solves the challenge. Some challenges have multiple objects and others have a few steps - but so far nothing super complicated. If you create a correct object and then place it/use it correctly, a star appears and you clear the level. The challenges themselves are organized into groups called constellations, and (I think) as soon as you've clear a certain number of challenges (stars?) in each constellation, the next one pops up. So far (only gotten to the 3rd constellations) you don't to clear all of a constellation's challenges in order to unlock the next (I think this is a good idea).
How's it going so far? Mostly well, but a mixed bag or sorts...
(a) I've run into some issues where I've cleared a challenge (didn't notice that the star you have to pick up was available) and the hint system threw me off into thinking that I had not cleared the level.
(b) There was a level where I was almost unable to get to the star because there was a trampoline I had created in front of it, so as I walked to the star I'd bounce off the trampoline. Since the level was clear, I could not pick up the trampoline...so, I was able to clear it by creating a new item (hammer) using it to destroy the trampoline and then getting the star. I did feel clever, but also lucky that I did not need to restart...
(c) There's a challenge where you have to make a potion out of something sweet, slimy and beautiful. Then you're supposed to pick up the potion and give it to a beast. I was not able to pick up the potion (with the stylus) so I went down another path - creating a "sweet beautiful slimy potion" I then placed on the beast - assuming that would solve it. That didn't work - though the beast did change! Apparently I had to pick up the potion with the character - not stylus - wander over to the beast and hand it to them...
So, there's been a few puzzles that have felt like I was doing the right thing, but it didn't work...
On the other hand, some of the other challenges have been fun! I think for now I'll try to unlock all the constellations just to see how the difficulty ramps up.
Oh, I also like how the game scaffolds when you should focus on nouns and when on adjectives.
I don't understand this game's name. I'm guessing it will become clearer later in the experience, but for now I'm just confused. And, it makes it hard for me to remember this game. Naming a game isn't easy - you want something short, but memorable, and evocative of the game. There should ideally be some strong connection in the player's mind between the game and the name. This game hasn't done that yet for me.
I've only played once, though I did finish the first chapter/section. Or at least I got to a point that felt like a natural "end". I escaped from the building (center? lab? office?) having (I think) accomplished what I was supposed to do...which, as I write this, about a month after having played, I'm not entirely sure what it was - I think I took a copy of some files or something from a computer? I'm guessing a quick read of a guide will get me back up to speed...
The game's setting is pretty neat - as far as I can tell it's sort of a 1980's alternate dystopian past set in England. Now that I think about it, it sort of seems like the sort of thing you could have read about in the 1980s, but that would have been (when it was created in the 1980s) been futuristic, but for this game it's in the past. For example, in the 1980s I read Alan Moore's "V for Vendetta" which was dark and dystopian but set in a future from when it was written, but THAT future (in V for Vendetta) is now our present (in terms of the calendar) - but this game is sort of set in the 1980s but as if they were more like the future that was imagined then - but the game was made now. Oh! It's a similar relationship that steampunk has to cyberpunk - like an imagined alternate future for the past...
Anyways...
The game sits to fit in the Gone Home/Firewatch style of games - but with more puzzles...and possibly more danger/game ending situations? I didn't see any in my playthrough, but I got the sense that there are ways to "lose" that require a new start....
