videogamelab

[videogamelab]

Digital Game Lab blog

The Is The Only Level

Mechanics: problem solver, beat the time, 2D platformer

This Is The Only Level is a 2D platformer where the objective is to get the elephant into the tube on the lower-right side of the screen in order to progress to the next level. The level design remains the same for each, well, level with variations in the control and physics to challenge the player. The art style is simple with no narrative, which makes for a fun and casual game that any age can play. The main difference between playing the game and watching someone else play is understanding the challenge of each level. The game does not really tell you how the controls are changed, besides the playful level name, so you would have to rely on the player telling you. It is only through playing that you can actually understand the difficulty of each level as you have to figure out the changes in control and physics yourself.

Fry Adventures

Mechanics: 2D platformer, problem solver, physics

On the other hand, Fry Adventures is another 2D platformer where the objective is to get your character across a series of obstacles to get to the sign post and reach the next level. The level design here is much more complicated, featuring parts that require you to jump off of NPCs or to balance on a platform. If you fall off of them or collide with one of the enemies that can kill you, you die. The obstacles change each time you reach a new level as well. Since the levels are longer than the previous game, checkpoints were added to not make the player start from the beginning. A big component of this game is the physics system where you have to push enemies out of the way to progress or, as mentioned before, go over obstacles by doing things like jumping off of NPCs and rotating platforms. Another difference is that you can throw projectiles, which really only serves the purpose of pushing things but it does allow for variability in choosing how you play. The artstyle here is more complicated and there is even a slight narrative. I think the main difference between playing the game and watching someone else is understanding the physics system. Unlike the previous game, this one maintains the same controls throughout every level with the only difference being the obstacles. Due to this, an understanding of the physics and how each level builds upon the difficulty of the previous is crucial to enjoying the game. Since the obstacles are fairly basic, the difficulty relies upon how the physics behaves and how the player chooses to interact with it. 

Freddy Fazbear’s Dating Simulator

Mechanics: Dialogue choice, love meter management, health management, combat choices, special abilities

On a different note, Freddy Fazbear’s Dating Simulator is a narrative driven dating simulator where you try to get into a relationship with the character Freddy Fazbear while fighting off romantic rivals. This game is a fan-made project of the game Five Nights at Freddy’s. The story is of course much more complicated than the other two games and you can get different endings depending on your choices. Although this game features no platforming obstacles or movement controls of any kind, it does feature combat. The gameplay aspect is just choosing dialogues with some combat where you once again click which attack moves you want to make. You have to manage your health through abilities and decide which attack moves to make to defeat the enemy. Although this game is very different from the past two, it does still feature that aesthetic of challenge in that you have to get over a series of hurdles in order to win, or at least finish the game. The differences between playing this game and watching others play is getting to make the dialogue choices yourself. Through playing, you get to face the consequences of your own actions which you do not get to do by just watching. Another difference is the satisfaction of defeating a rival. For me personally, the combat in this game was difficult and it took me multiple tries just to beat the first rival. When I finally defeated the rival, my excitement was through the roof as I did it myself. This same feeling would not be achievable if I only watched someone else playing it.