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Plants vs. Zombies Review

Based on Windows version Purchased from Steam

Striking the balance between complexity and accessibility will always prove a challenge for a game developer. Often developers find it rather difficult to convey to players difficult mechanics are essential to the gameplay experience they intend to create. The easiest solution is to have some sort of rigid tutorial which explains and demonstrates the individual elements of a game. While this method does ensure that no player is left behind, it is not entirely an ideal solution. The main problem being that a player’s first impression of a game becomes instructions rather than play. Enter Plants vs. Zombies, a deceptively complex game in the guise of a casual game that conveys its mechanics to the player so that players may even start to feel like experts from early on.

Plants vs. Zombies is a “tower-defense game”, which is a subgenre of strategy games where the player is tasked with defending their “base” from oncoming enemies by placing down immobile units each of which performs a specific action. These actions include such things attacking or obstructing the incoming enemies in various ways. PvZ smartly streamlines these elements to a fault, toning the experience associated with the genre down to its basic elements. Despite this, it is a rather deep and complex game with many different mechanics that drive the experience.

The main campaign of PvZ is essentially framed as a very long elaborate tutorial. New elements and mechanics are constantly being introduced to the game. Even as late as the lattermost levels, the game is still introducing new units and enemies. The player becomes slowly acclimated to all of them game’s individual elements over time. Each new unit and enemy type are given enough time in the spotlight for the player to understand how it works and how they will be able to use them or deal with them. The cartoony and exaggerated visual aesthetics also help ease the player into the experience by conveying information visually and clearly.

Due to the very natural progression PvZ has in teaching the its mechanics, players come to quickly understand how nearly everything about the game works to a point where they are already devising strategies from their earliest experience with the game. This ultimately creates a flow state in the experience of players. PvZ’s main campaign is not overly challenging, and the player has all the tools given and taught to them to overcome the challenges. However, the game is not a walk in the park either. Yet despite the surprising complexity of the game, the player will always be progressing at a smooth rate. Challenges are introduced at the same rate as the tools the player uses against the challenges. And since the game as smoothly taught the player how its mechanics work, the player will always know exactly what is happening no matter how chaotic the game eventually becomes. So the game can get really addicting, players become naturally driven to play more efficiently once they know exactly how each piece of the game works.

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Rocket League Review

Based on Windows version from Epic Game Store

While typically classified as a “sports” game Rocket League can be considered a unique entry in the genre. The idea of playing a common sport with a twist is not entirely original and there have been games in the past that have attempted something comparable to Rocket League including its own predecessor. What makes Rocket League work as well as it does is not its concept but rather the execution of it. Rocket League does not feel like an experiment or prototype, it is very deliberately designed to be the way it is. If they stopped at a just a novelty game, it would be no better than their previous game which received poor reception for lack of polish and content.

Rocket League is a game where players individually control rocket powered RC cars to play a game that resembles soccer. Matches are played in teams, though a one-versus-one option is also available. The game places emphasis on mastery of the car’s handling and abilities. The basic handling of the RC cars is about what one would normally expect. While far from an actual vehicle, the cars do still move and turn like you would expect a car to be able to do. Cars can boost forward depending on stored energy which can be replenished by driving over specific spots on the playing field. Boosting also allows players to effectively “knock-out” opponent players temporarily but only if they can reach a certain speed which is done by maintaining boost for about a whole second. Cars can also jump and even perform a flip in mid air to help with striking the ball or performing tricks. Tricks usually involve twisting the car in different directions, even aligning it such that a boost will provide some lift-off. These abilities combined with some of the potential tactics that this game shares with actual soccer means that players already have a variety of choices on what they intend to do in the game’s short matches. Something as simple as striking the ball requires a certain amount of finesse to execute, the angle and velocity of the cars can greatly affect where the ball will go. As a result, the player’s choice of how they want to approach the ball has an immediate discernable outcome.

Missing the ball or hitting it the wrong way than was intended can become troublesome right away especially if it results in a favourable outcome for the opposing team. Yet landing a shot just as intended can be very satisfying. Teamplay is possible and even somewhat encouraged, however it is far more likely for a match to descend into chaos as all the players continue to launch themselves at the bad for a chance to score a goal. The game acknowledges this by naming its 4v4 mode literally “Chaos”. Regardless, players have several tactics to choose from when it comes to playing out a match. Players can focus on taking out the opponents by prioritizing boost energy replenishment. Which not directly going for the ball, taking out opponents can stall for time for the opposing team members and keep them away from the ball. Players can also stay near the opposing goal for a chance to score should the ball come flying towards the goal at any point. The same can be done for their own goal to defend against the opponents. Another less common tactic would be to keep distance from the ball and other players that are trying to ram into it and wait for an opportunity to knock the ball in a favourable direction. Skilled players may even be able to dribble the ball towards the opposing goal. Any of these micro choices can contribute towards a win and its ultimately onto the player how they want to approach the matches.

Despite the game’s best attempts at fluidity in mechanics and gameplay, every aspect of how matches play out is placed at the mercy of the game’s physics engine. There is a certain undeniable element of chaos to how matches play out even in 1v1 mode. It is entirely up to the player how they intend to put up with this chaotic aspect of the game. The ball and car may simply not move and behave as intended, especially when flying through the air, and it is entirely possible for a tried and true tactic to not work at all simply because one hair was out of place.

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Among US Review

Reviewed on PC via Steam copy

Among Us is labeled as a multiplayer social deduction game. The game is some ways comparable to the classic board game Clue, albeit with more tactile rules and much more focused on the social experience. Players are ideally divided into two uneven teams, ‘crewmates’ are tasked with completing a series of objectives, and ‘imposters’ are tasked with killing the crewmates and thinning their ranks until the number of crewmates matches the imposters. From the premise alone Among Us sets up engagement with players. Whodunit stories are instantly appealing for their contained and approachable setup of mystery and gradual deduction. Among Us takes this premise and focuses on the social aspect of the experience, asking of players placed in the role of the crewmates to find clues organically based on actions of other players. The imposters are tasked with pretending to be crewmates and avoiding suspicion. The meetings that occur upon discovering a dead body or being triggered manually are a very clever means of giving the crewmates agency over the game experience but also put every player on both sides at risk.

At its core Among Us is a strategic experience, presenting players with a few different options that will dictate how a session plays out. The game is never unbalanced in favour of either team, to keep crewmates from only looking for the imposters they must fill out a checklist of objectives presented through simple minigames. Completing this checklist can net a win for the crewmates but focusing on them too much will make them blind to the antics of the imposters. The game creates a sense of engagement for the players playing as the crewmates by having them decide on a moment to moment basis about how they will process. Do they choose objectives or patrolling for suspicious behavior? Either way is a valid form of play for the crewmates but focusing on one over the other is not ideal. In fact, focusing on exploring and patrolling can cause themselves to be labeled as suspicious.

Likewise playing as the imposters facilitates its own set of rules that provide engagement. The requirements for the imposters win condition is simple but requires a greater degree of strategy to achieve. The imposters almost entirely determine how sessions play out, but this comes at a cost of greater risk. While putting the crewmates at constant danger, the imposters also put themselves in constant danger. If they do not play carefully and avoid suspicion, they will be easily ratted out and ejected from the session by crewmates. In a brilliant design choice, crewmates killed by imposters are not taken out of the session. They will continue to exist as ghosts and are still tasked with completing their objective which effectively puts the imposters on a timer for completing their goal of thinning down the crewmates. Imposters are presented with certain tools they can use to tilt the balance of the game more in their favour, this includes sabotaging which draws attention of crewmates away from the action they were partaking or using vents to make their way quickly around the environment. These tools are useful but making effective use of them requires timing and strategy to not be caught using them. This creates an engaging balancing act for the imposters during play where they must deploy their actions strategically to prevent crewmates from becoming suspicious of them.

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Once Upon a Tower Review

Game reviewed on an iPad

Once Upon a Tower, or “Tower”, is an action-puzzle game for iOS and Android devices. The initial premise of the game is set up as a basic subversion of the “girl in the tower” trope by casting the player in the role of a princess that is clearing her own way of out her prison. Players are tasked with digging their way down the tower in order to reach the bottom. Along the way the player must avoid or destroy obstacles as well as collect points to spend on power-ups.

Tower is designed with a vertical screen in mind, specifically a smartphone screen, and is controlled entirely through touchscreen swipe gestures in only four directions. The game follows a tile-based format with the player movement being restricted by the tiles. Complimenting the elegance of the controls and basic mechanics is the aesthetics. Tower employs a charming visual style, simplistic in detail but with bright colours and exaggerated designs that immediately communicate the elements of the game including obstacles and collectables.

At its core Tower is a skill-based action game, reliant on timing and quick judgement to make substantial progress. Puzzle elements also present, requiring the player to employ a certain level of strategy to proceed unharmed. This is essential because there is no basic health system, taking a hit from a single obstacle such as traps or monsters usually results in the end of a run. The tiles which consist of obstacles, different destructible terrain, and collectables are randomized for each run which in theory means that each run of the game will be unique to some degree. As such the skill required to effectively play through Tower is not determined by memorizing patterns or positions of obstacles, but by becoming familiar with the game’s mechanics through repeated and usually unsuccessful runs. This is an area which meaningful play can be found.

Though a brief tutorial is present, the player’s knowledge of the game’s elements is primarily achieved through play. Repeated playthroughs familiarize players with the game’s many different mechanics. As players become more accustomed to the mechanics, they become more able to discern their next move and therefore make calculated and ultimately meaningful choices about how to progress. They could just try to reach the end of the level quickly, but that could put them at risk if they rush too much. They could attempt to slow down and assess the area before proceeding, but the whole level is not visible at once so they will still need proceed down and take their chances for the next opportunity to stop and assess. They can try to maximize the amount of points they have by prioritizing collecting fireflies which add points and destroying enemies which also adds points. Any of these choices and more are viable in Tower, with differing results depending on how well the player has understood the mechanics and consequences.

The choice to collect as many points as possible is both for the purpose of high score and used as a form of currency. Starting from the second level onward, the player has the choice to spend their points on power-ups that can be of huge aid to the player. These power-ups include screen-clearing bombs, a parachute to slow down falling speed, something that allows the complete disregard of a specific common obstacle, and a single point of protection against any damage. Certain power-ups are consumables such as the bomb, they may only be used or invoked once. Other power-ups are effectively upgrades and last until the end of a run. The challenge of Tower ramps up considerably as progress is made from one level to the next, as new obstacles and challenges are introduced. This combined with the randomization means the player will be constantly put at the mercy of the game’s challenge if the have not completely mastered the mechanics of the game. These power-ups give players the edge they need, but only if they make the choice of prioritizing collection of points. This is another area where meaningful play can be achieved. Early on power-ups are somewhat cheap, however as the game proceeds from level to level the power-ups become more expensive. So should the player make the choice of collecting as many points as they can, they may be able to acquire a steady stream of power-ups which in turn can aid them through the game’s many difficult challenges. The Tower is not endless, there is a bottom and thus a win state and a goal for players to strive for, and each run brings players closer to that win state.

Tower does have at least one fundamental problem that complicates the skill-driven design of its gameplay mechanics, and that is the choice of platform and thus the method of control. Once Upon a Tower’s controls are as simplistic as Pac-Man, only consisting of four directional inputs. However, unlike Pac-Man, Tower relies on touchscreen controls limited to swipe gestures. A skill-based action game that relies on quick inputs and timing does not ideally function with touchscreen swipe controls. It is simply not as accurate as buttons or even a control stick. Tower is far from unplayable with the control method that it opts for, but the lack of precision in inputs can potentially lead to an abrupt end of a run just because a swipe in a direction was not read properly by the device. Tower can potentially be a substantially more rewarding and therefore meaningful play experience given more precise and direct controls that eliminate any sort of guesswork by the device about the player’s inputs.

Overall, Once Upon a Tower provides a varied and skill-driven experience with simplistic mechanics and scope, steadily challenging and rewarding the player as they make progress, while encouraging them to try again upon losing.