Pulsus (Anthony Mattox)
Pulsus was released more than a year ago, but I found the url around and I played it again.
It's a puzzle game where particles of different colours are emitted in all directions; players control objects that attract or repel these particles in order to direct them to one or several goals around the screen.
The concept is very simple, but effective. After a few initial levels different coloured particles need to be directed to different goals, add to this that the time and control objects are limited, and the result is a very challenging and addictive game.
Collateral (Jonathan Whiting)
Collateral is Jonathan Whiting's Ludum Dare 18 entry. It begins as an action platformer in which you need to infiltrate a military base to retrieve some secret documents. As you make your way down the game might feel a bit easy. But only until you find the documents and decide to go back up. Then the game turns into a puzzle platformer and you need to think through every move and shot.
One Button Arthur (Ninjadoodle)
Following One Button Bob NinjaDoodle has released One Button Arthur where players help King Arthur get to Scalibur. On each different screen -by pressing just one button- Arthur will jump, walk, stop, attack and walk through doors.
The score is the number of clicks you make. The less you click the better you'll rank in the scoreboard.
It took me 10 minutes to complete, but I can't wait to play again and beat my score.
Liferaft – Zero (Mikengreg Games)
In this game you control one of many many sisters who are subject of some strange experiments in a lab. You will need to run, jump and swing until you real the target bell. In some levels, the scientists behind the glass have placed a piece of candy to tempt you through more risky paths.
It's interest how the game setting might be an analogy of what the developers are actually doing; it is very likely that they're tracking the user behaviour in order to tune their game and find design flaws. This would make them the very scientists they show in the game.
Solipskier (Mikengreg Games)
Solipskier is a fast-paced action game where you draw -with your mouse or finger-the mountain where your character is skiing. You need to draw a downhill slope for the guy to build up speed, then uphill for a jump, while aiming for green gates, steering away from red ones and going throw blue tunnels at an incredible high speed.
You can play Solipskier for free on the web or download an iPhone app for $2.99 (USD). There's an Android version coming soon.
Nudo (by Hero Twin)
I came across Nudo by Hero Twin and I can't stop playing it. Actually I got stuck on level 16 so I stopped playing to write this post, then I need to keep trying.
I like to think the best games are the simplest. In Nudo you control the character with W A S D but you can also shift the blocks around you by using the arrow keys. This plus some special blocks make for an excellent puzzle platformer.
The game contains 32 levels and the developers claim it takes about an hour to complete.
Here's the official trailer:
Shaun’s Big Lunch (shaunthesheep.com)
This game has been around for a while now, but I thought I'd write about it because I think is very good.
The core mechanic is very simple and effective: move the slice of pie in the central tray to one of the four plates (up, down, left or right). Because you can't rotate the slices, you need to ensure the correct "slot" in the plate is empty, or you lose a life. There's a time limit for each slice, so you need to choose quickly. Sometimes it's very easy, other times I could feel the wires in my head struggling to find the best empty slot.
In addition to the basic game mechanic players get extra points for completing a plate with matching food for a sheep. Sometimes a sheep is replaced by a pig. Pigs prefer "a mix of everything", so a matching plate would result in a low score.
In sum: 4 plates in 4 directions, 4 different pies with 4 slices each, and 2 types of animals. I think this game is not only addictive, but also very educational.
You can play the game online at shaunthesheep.com.
Give Up, Robot (Matt Makes Games)
Give Up, Robot is a puzzle platformer where you control a one-wheeled little in a disco world. The robot can walk, jump and use a grapple that becomes a key feature in this easy to learn, hard to master game.
The introductory levels teach you how to play step by step, and that's enough to get you hooked-up when the more difficult levels arrive.
The game has 61 levels, and -so far- I've reached level 33.