Game review: Five

Five is a puzzle-style flash game I'd found hosted on Armor Games. The game's objective is for the player to unlock all the rooms and reach the end goal within five minutes.

Summary of analysis
Whole game = new player experience, mildly frustrating gameplay experience,

Tutorial/New player experience
The game assumes the player to know the basic movement keys, always a risky choice, but thankfully explains (albeit briefly) the map rearrangement mechanics. By the time a player's mastered layout and rearrangement, chances are they've completed the game, meaning that the entire game is effectively a new player experience.

Gameplay experience
There's a mildly aggravating element of trial and error involved in the game due to how picky it is about lining up certain rooms, rather than simplifying the entry/exit points there are a number of rooms that look like they will connect but, for some never explained reason, result in false-positive dead ends. I'd found that the easiest solution to this is to just put an arbitrary hallway between the two (it usually worked).

Interface & Controls
Both mouse and keyboard are required, keyboard for movement and entering/exiting map layout, mouse to change room layouts.
Navigating the rooms is largely interface-free, except for the music toggle and the timer, the map layout section is pure interface.

Graphics
Silhouetted characters and room architecture populate this game with moving backgrounds helping to create a sense of a 'living' environment. Given the game's themes, the graphics are one of the best decisions the creator made in designing the game. The focus is kept on the gameplay and the graphics help emphasize the mood.

Music & Sound
Five's background music is the other great design decisions, featuring what seems to be an originally-composed song that evokes the puzzle element of gameplay, I'd say it helps to motivate the player into figuring out what is going on in the game's story.

Commentary
Short, relatively simple, interesting concept, the game is a decent play. I'd say that aside from the layout quirkiness, the biggest detraction is trying to include a narrative story, but I've no intention to fault the game for its inclusion. As with anything included in commentary sections, these are matters of comparison and consideration rather than critique or evaluation of a game's elements.

Game review: Isoball X1

Isoball X1 is a level pack for the Isoball game series created by Candyflame Games. Isoball X1, like the others in its series is a puzzle game where the player is required to build the solution from the available blocks that will allow the ball to arrive at and enter the goal.

Summary of analysis
Hopefully unnecessary tutorial elements, very challenging gameplay experience, easily-understandable interface primarily mouse-driven control scheme, simple and effective graphics scheme, decent music and sound.

Tutorial/New player experience
The game demonstrates new blocks in an animation around the point that those blocks first come into play. There's also a similar tutorial animation for the game's basic concept. While the animations can be replayed when they first occur, there appears to be no way to review them later (or at all if the player skips them).

Gameplay experience
There's appears to be a quick escalation of challenge in Isoball X1, whether this was the intention of the game's design or a result of the assumption that players will have experience with the other Isoball games is difficult to determine. In either case, the number of levels combined with the difficulty curve is most likely to result in a hardcore style of play.

An achievement system exists to aid in motivation or rewards of players inclined towards such pursuits.

Interface & Controls
The game's interface consists of the play area, a few menu options, and the tile selection frame. While there are keyboard shortcuts for the tile selections, most players will probably opt for mouse-only controls as the keyboard shortcuts have no notation on the tile selection frame.

Graphics
Yet another game that shows more emphasis on the gameplay design and challenge than on flashy graphics covering up flaws. Isoball X1's graphic scheme gets the point across quite well using basic shapes in an isometric environment.

Music & Sound
There's plenty of sound effects, mostly interface-related, that aid a player in knowing that an action has been performed in addition to level start and finish effects. In addition, the game features a catchy, easy-listening background music (which may require the player to toggle music off then back on to start it).

Commentary
As a primarily casual style player with abundant time constraints, Isoball X1 was a significant investment of time just to play enough to be able to blog about. Thankfully, it managed to remember level progress so I could see more than the first six levels over the course of two days time. There other three Isoball games featured a level scoring system that I'm honestly glad to see removed from this particular title in the series, but I'm certain would be of great appeal to many differently-minded players.

Game review: Fast Racing League (Wii, Demo)

Fast Racing League is a WiiWare action, racing game by Shin'en Multimedia. Like most racing games, the premise is to arrive at the end of circuit goal three times ideally faster than the opposition.

Summary of analysis
Awkward but decent new player experience, disappointing gameplay experience, multiple control scheme choices, nice graphics albeit overdeveloped in my opinion, well-accomplished background music and sound effects.

Tutorial/New player experience
While adequate, it seems a bit clumsy to have a text window tutorial pop up in the course of piloting a high-speed vehicle, especially from a third-person point of view. Thankfully, there's very few controls and concepts that need to be taught in the game.

Gameplay experience
In a word, aggravating. I'm imagining that the designers at Shin'en Multimedia either missed the concept of a demo, the concept of player rewards, or they actually enjoy cock-teasing a player and think it's a great way to encourage a player to buy the full version. I say the prior sentence because while the game has a demo level to play through, they pull the opportunity to finish it in the last second or two, leaving the player with a "Buy our game" splash screen and no amount of success for their efforts.

But I digress (bitterly), the game featured a mechanic called phasing, which allowed players to swap between black or white color-schemes in order to exploit speed-boosting track features in addition to building up boost energy. The features are track, ceiling, and ramp pads (unless more are introduced outside the demo) with the first two boosting speed (the ceiling one pulling the player onto itself temporarily) and the ramp pad essentially appears to be a phase or die opportunity on the demo track.

Interface & Controls
There's a choice of three control schemes for the game: WiiMote alone, WiiMote with Nunchuk attachment, or Wii Classic Controler. Controller choice basically is a matter of taste or self-imposed difficulty modification. WiiMote operates on a steering-wheel tilt concept, it and the Classic Controller utilize a three-button control scheme (accelerate, phase, boost), the WiiMote with Nunchuk utilizes a two-button scheme (accelerate and phase) with boost functionality changed into shaking the WiiMote.

Graphics
Judging from the test level and the game's official site gallery, there's a lot of well-developed backgrounds. I cannot imagine this being a point of design focus given that there's effectively no time to enjoy it in the course of a race. By comparison, the tracks are decent and the vehicles are passable. They even took the time to put in particle effects of pieces of track tearing off upon vehicular collisions especially every ramp landing.

Music & Sound
The background music was well-accomplished and the sound effects were engaging, kind of forgettable but probably the best accomplished piece of the whole game.

Commentary
Overall, it's a mediocre game that has the distinguishing feature of being a good concept and, from what I can tell, well-debugged. I'm a bit surprised with the extremely high accolades the game cites in its reviews section, but can easily accept them from a stand-alone point of view. There's also the chance that the full game is a lot better than its very disappointing demo, especially in consideration of how much of the game is kept out of the demo's gameplay experience. Final evaluation: promising gamble.

Game review: Mushroom Madness 3

Mushroom Mandess 3 is an action game by Silen Games. The (usual) player objectives is to protect mushroom patches from various critters through a variety of traps and weaponry.

Summary of analysis
Good new player experience, abundant gameplay modes with mostly good gameplay experience, mouse or mouse and keyboard controls on a mildly-burdened interface, mixed bag graphics, very good music and sound.

Tutorial/New player experience
There's a tutorial section available in the main menu and elements of it appear in the objectives screens of the game's adventure mode. Aside from being a bit rushed to learn the basics in the action, the game has a well-accomplished new player experience.

Gameplay experience
The game features nine gameplay modes, allowing players to improve specific skillsets or indulge in their favorite style of play. Each of the levels also features optional objectives, offering replayability and challenging the player to improve in order to maximize rewards (used mostly to upgrade character skills).

Interface & Controls
Primarily mouse-controlled with keyboard hotkeys that may be opted for instead of clicking on interface buttons. The secondary weapons' interface buttons are helpful for someone that wants to focus on using only the mouse, though I found it to be cluttering the game's interface.

Graphics
Cartoon-style graphics are featured in the game. The choice of graphics creates both a semi-comical detachment at the same time as being potentially guilting having to beat up the cute critters.

Music & Sound
The game has a selection of relaxing background musics, an interesting choice given the fast-paced gameplay. There's also a good selection of sound effects.

Commentary
A definite continuation of improvement over the previous two titles. If anything, the game is getting complex enough that it could either go console/handheld or start splitting up into a number of offshot titles of itself due to the various gameplay modes being nearly enough to be a stand alone game each.

Game review: Enemy 585

Enemy 585 is a puzzle-platformer game by Nitrome.The player's role is as a movable platform, helping to guide the last remaining henchman safely through levels.

Summary of analysis
Interesting but somewhat ineffective new player experience, challenging gameplay experience with potential replayability for optional objectives, simple and effective interface and controls, appeasing graphics, satisfying background music and sounds.

Tutorial/New player experience
There are a number of tutorial elements that will help the player master new skills in order to progress, though they're easily missed given that they're pop-up dialogue boxes that occur during active gameplay. Thankfully, it's easy enough to figure out the basics of the game through trial and error.

Gameplay experience
Reflexes and spatial reasoning are the most important things in progressing within the game. The player's block character has various shapes that will need to be manipulated in order to pursue completion of levels as well as the optional objectives or coins or time scores.

Interface & Controls
Keyboard directional controls and space bar rotation control scheme. There are tracking interface elements in addition to the level completion summary window, but nothing particularly distracting during gameplay moments.

Graphics
The game features an interesting graphical style that's fun, even though it's a little difficult to empathize with Enemy 585 given a complete lack of emotive capaqcity, though the platform will show moments of it when bearing the weight of the henchman.

Music & Sound
There's background musics reminiscent of Nintendo Entertainment System era video games, both well done and nostalgic for those old enough to have played on the system. The sound effects are also quite effectively accomplished in aiding the player experience.

Commentary
It's interesting to see a less directly controlled game design. The player has to compete with the challenges present in the environment and the automated movement scheme of the important objective in order to progress and pursue objectives. I would be ecstatic to see more user reviews and be able to study the specific player demographic appeal of this manner of game in detail.

Game review: Monst

Monst is a point and click adventure game by BeGamer.com.The player's objective is to bring the people out into the open somehow and then scare them.

Summary of analysis
Two-words define the tutorial element: use mouse, simple and disappointing gameplay, mouse controls external links interface, graphics that seem to indicate the game's target audience, decent background music and sound effects.

Tutorial/New player experience
There's very little to learning how to play the game. Click on objects in the game's environment, every level's going to have its own mini-objectives and likely a few decoy objects that do nothing to aid progression.

Gameplay experience
There's very little challenge to this game, just clicking randomly a player is likely to eventually figure out how to accomplish every level's objectives. Personally, I felt it was lacking in entertainment value, but perhaps there is an audience more receptive to the game's themes and gameplay difficulty.

Interface & Controls
Completely mouse-driven control scheme, almost non-existent user-interface.

Graphics
Judging from the game's graphics, I'd say the game is most likely meant for a much younger audience. The characters are virtually caricatures and there is an overarching cartoon-style theme.

Music & Sound
The background music is okay and there are plenty of entertaining sound effects.

Commentary
It's always a little difficult to go about reviewing games which seem to be designed for a very different target audience than oneself. Possibly the best way to go about such a thing is to have access to someone that fits the game's demographic, watch them play it and ask them a few simple questions about their gameplay experience later. Trying to get into an alternate mind-set is another way to attempt to give an audience-fair review, but it is still likely to be merely an interpretation from one's point of view.
Had I to guess, I'd estimate the game's appeal would be best with an audience pre-grade school based on the complexity of the games that my nephews and nieces are playing at slightly older ages than my guess. But then again, perhaps there's also an appeal with a much different mindset than my own and one should never underestimate the value of a low difficulty game after stressful days.

Gaming theory: Set interval reward mechanics

Set interval is a player reward mechanic that regularly rewards a player upon reaching a specified interval (such as completion of a task). The reward itself may be randomized but the player has the assurance that when the interval is reached during gameplay, they will be rewarded.

Cons
Set interval systems require significant planning and programming/implementation to balance gameplay and progression
As complexity of game increases, the amount of work going into planning said systems increases, sometimes exponentially  (More below)
May be simpler to let players choose rewards rather than automating rewards

Pros
Often an ideal choice for progression systems (if progression systems are universally equal for all player options)
Consistency of rewards to efforts reinforces player expectations
Easier to plan escalating challenges with due to higher consistency of gameplay milestones

Commentary
Example of increase: game starts out with two player options - classes each with unique tools to aid their efforts; as a third option (class) is added a set interval reward system would ideally need to create a reward set specific to that option to adequately reward the player rather than giving them a chance at rewards useful to them which are tacked onto the rewards set of the other options.

Definitely less exciting than random interval reward systems, but set interval's strength is in long term planning and use. Set interval establishes reliable rates and is a staple of complex and/or lengthy duration games.