Delicious FruitLatest Reviews
cLOUDDEAD
For: 暇つぶしアイワナ
For: 暇つぶしアイワナ
a mindboggling adventure with twists at every turn
[0] Likes
Rating: N/A
Difficulty: 53 53
Nov 26, 2020
fubukiofficial
For: I wanna Aimai
For: I wanna Aimai
Good music but some attacks are not good.
[0] Likes
Rating: 6.9 69
Difficulty: 53 53
Nov 25, 2020
fubukiofficial
For: Crimson Needle 2
For: Crimson Needle 2
Rating based on v1.3 (aka v1.92) and doesnt include floor 39 many saves / secret 92 and final boss.
Perfect needle. There is no single save i dislike
[0] Likes
Perfect needle. There is no single save i dislike
Rating: 9.0 90
Difficulty: 83 83
Nov 25, 2020
TheNewDerf
For: I wanna walk to the store
For: I wanna walk to the store
When I think of the fangames that have had the most impact on me, 'I wanna walk to the store' is one of the first that comes to mind. It's a short game, and it's an easy game, but what it does so well is take a aspect not often at the fore-front of fangame design, save length, and spin it into a whole game. Many needle games have famously long saves, of course, but what I'm most drawn to is those games that go straight for the jugular and see how much emotion they can wring out of denying a player the chance to bank their progress.
For instance, the 'Get Lucky' screen in kakoka's 'I Wanna be the Earth Temple' uses its length to produce a farce that only becomes more amusing the longer it progresses; one screen has a relatively benign message telling you that you're almost near the end (of course, you aren't) and the next has that message spammed multiple times across the screen just to twist the knife if you took the first message seriously. On the other hand, pserafi's 'I Wanna be the Wait' asks the player to wait 6 minutes before getting a single attempt to clear a gate jump. Yes, the game might be a 'joke', but at least to me it succeeds in creating a real sense of doubt. Obviously a gate jump is one of the most trivial jumps imaginable, but you have 6 minutes to sit there and psych yourself out into believing you might choke when the time comes.
In distinction to those games, what 'I wanna walk to the store' excels at is producing dread. By forcing the player to make a return journey through a warped version of the level they have just traversed, the game introduces a very specific anxiety: If things in the environment have changed, in what way and how much have they changed? The fact that multiple reviews make reference to an expectation of a jump scare is proof of how much this game primes players to anticipate the worst. In real life going to store is such a trivial task, however when compounded by the well-worn trope of people going out to buy alcohol/cigarettes and never returning, this reference points suddenly adds a thematic weight to the journey the player takes in this game that isn't present in either of other titles I mentioned. That, in short, is what makes this game so special to me.
Anyway, I don't want to go on about this too much -- I'm sure some people were turned away by my serious treatment of a kakoka game. But, I just think there's something so special about these small games that explore such seemingly simple concepts. Because the fangame community is so tight-knit, and because we draw from a very limited (but undeniably rich) source of mechanics, it allows fangame creators to get into the psychology of their players much more easily than a indie dev that has no real connection to their audience making an entirely new game. 'I Wanna be the Wait' draws on the cultural meaning of a gate jump--trivial, but capable (rarely) of being choked. 'I wanna walk to the store' understands the uncertainty that unusually shaped player-killers creates, even if they are ultimately easy to navigate. This is intelligent game design to me, but I think it's easy to ignore it given the length and presentation of these games.
Sometimes I think we're so spoiled by the abundance of long high-quality fangames, that it's easy to dismiss shorter and easier games that aim to deliver a very specific idea/atmosphere within a compact frame. But discussing that gets us away from the point of this review. The last thing I will say is that my fascination with save length and its ability to produce anxiety lead to the creation of XIFT and to the 'depths' area in HB2. Games like this have been, and remain, a big influence on me and how I make fangames.
TL;DR Dopamine made this, so obviously it's great. Duh!
[11] Likes
For instance, the 'Get Lucky' screen in kakoka's 'I Wanna be the Earth Temple' uses its length to produce a farce that only becomes more amusing the longer it progresses; one screen has a relatively benign message telling you that you're almost near the end (of course, you aren't) and the next has that message spammed multiple times across the screen just to twist the knife if you took the first message seriously. On the other hand, pserafi's 'I Wanna be the Wait' asks the player to wait 6 minutes before getting a single attempt to clear a gate jump. Yes, the game might be a 'joke', but at least to me it succeeds in creating a real sense of doubt. Obviously a gate jump is one of the most trivial jumps imaginable, but you have 6 minutes to sit there and psych yourself out into believing you might choke when the time comes.
In distinction to those games, what 'I wanna walk to the store' excels at is producing dread. By forcing the player to make a return journey through a warped version of the level they have just traversed, the game introduces a very specific anxiety: If things in the environment have changed, in what way and how much have they changed? The fact that multiple reviews make reference to an expectation of a jump scare is proof of how much this game primes players to anticipate the worst. In real life going to store is such a trivial task, however when compounded by the well-worn trope of people going out to buy alcohol/cigarettes and never returning, this reference points suddenly adds a thematic weight to the journey the player takes in this game that isn't present in either of other titles I mentioned. That, in short, is what makes this game so special to me.
Anyway, I don't want to go on about this too much -- I'm sure some people were turned away by my serious treatment of a kakoka game. But, I just think there's something so special about these small games that explore such seemingly simple concepts. Because the fangame community is so tight-knit, and because we draw from a very limited (but undeniably rich) source of mechanics, it allows fangame creators to get into the psychology of their players much more easily than a indie dev that has no real connection to their audience making an entirely new game. 'I Wanna be the Wait' draws on the cultural meaning of a gate jump--trivial, but capable (rarely) of being choked. 'I wanna walk to the store' understands the uncertainty that unusually shaped player-killers creates, even if they are ultimately easy to navigate. This is intelligent game design to me, but I think it's easy to ignore it given the length and presentation of these games.
Sometimes I think we're so spoiled by the abundance of long high-quality fangames, that it's easy to dismiss shorter and easier games that aim to deliver a very specific idea/atmosphere within a compact frame. But discussing that gets us away from the point of this review. The last thing I will say is that my fascination with save length and its ability to produce anxiety lead to the creation of XIFT and to the 'depths' area in HB2. Games like this have been, and remain, a big influence on me and how I make fangames.
TL;DR Dopamine made this, so obviously it's great. Duh!
Rating: 10.0 100
Difficulty: 10 10
Nov 25, 2020
Synthasmagoria [Creator]
For: Synth Engine GMS2
For: Synth Engine GMS2
I recommend this engine :)
More details on the github page
[2] Likes
More details on the github page
Rating: N/A
Difficulty: N/A
Nov 25, 2020
BoshyGo11
For: I Wanna Pointillism
For: I Wanna Pointillism
I would never think I could enjoy dotkid needle as much, but this game is just fantastic! The pacing, the screens themselves, the customisations, everything just feels so amazing!
To begin with this has CN3-tier gimmicks with dotkid, like it was in VoVoVo with VKid, which makes the variety of platforming so much better. The thing that helps tie it all together is that the game is not a 50-floor game as in 50 consecutive screens, but 50 short stages with multiple unlocking at once.
I could go describing each thing I liked about Pointillism, but that would spoil all the fun. Just go and play the game yourself, it's really worth it!
Notes after doing 93%: finishing off most of the screens paid off, but some particular ones were too tight and hard for me to do, so I stopped my way to 100%. How Wolsk put it in his review, just do whatever screens you like and skip ones you don't, there is just enough wiggle room for that.
Notes after doing 100%: if you are rather skilled you can do the 100% and it's great, otherwise don't go for it, 75 diff
[0] Likes
To begin with this has CN3-tier gimmicks with dotkid, like it was in VoVoVo with VKid, which makes the variety of platforming so much better. The thing that helps tie it all together is that the game is not a 50-floor game as in 50 consecutive screens, but 50 short stages with multiple unlocking at once.
I could go describing each thing I liked about Pointillism, but that would spoil all the fun. Just go and play the game yourself, it's really worth it!
Notes after doing 93%: finishing off most of the screens paid off, but some particular ones were too tight and hard for me to do, so I stopped my way to 100%. How Wolsk put it in his review, just do whatever screens you like and skip ones you don't, there is just enough wiggle room for that.
Notes after doing 100%: if you are rather skilled you can do the 100% and it's great, otherwise don't go for it, 75 diff
Rating: 10.0 100
Difficulty: 70 70
Nov 25, 2020