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A level-based auto-runner starring Sonic and friends. Tap to jump, double-jump, and triple-jump/fly/forward-smash depending who you’re playing as. Collect rings, defeat enemies, and avoid obstacles while your character races forward to the end of the level. To pass the level, you must complete at least one of its three goals, which are generally about collecting a certain number of rings or defeating a certain number of enemies, sometimes as a specific character. Some levels loop a few times and some loop infinitely until you achieve a goal; otherwise you either pass or fail when you reach the end. On top of this are some Dr. Eggman boss fights and bonus stages where you can rack up tons of rings.
Nintendo’s first mobile app, Miitomo is more social toy than game. It has a few modes - customizing your Mii, providing answers to various open-ended questions (ranging from “What are you doing this weekend?” to “What’s something you’ve lost that you’ve never been able to find?” and everything beyond and in between) which your friends can view and comment on, creating “Miifotos” by posing Miis, speech balloons, and other items against whatever background image you like, and getting new clothing and accessories for your Mii either via in-app currency or the Pachinko-like “Miitomo Drop” minigame.
A first-person puzzle game in which you manipulate designated cubes in the environment to create platforms, barriers, springboards, and more in order to solve a series of puzzle rooms in a stark, sterile, and modular-looking environment. More mechanics are introduced over time and the puzzles become more complex and allow for new applications.
A sequel to Balloon Fight that takes the “Balloon Trip” concept and expands it into a full platformer. Play as Alice, a girl who can fly just like a Balloon Fighter with her two balloons. Taking damage will pop first one balloon, leaving you with less lift, and then the second, leaving you unable to fly - but you can still run and jump and if you land on solid ground you can inflate new balloons. You can even manually let go of your balloons at any time, which is sometimes useful to take alternate paths. Navigate eight autoscrolling levels collecting balloons for points, avoiding hazards, and defeating enemies (including boss fights at the end of even-numbered levels) to save your little brother. There is also a two-player mode in which you compete to collect balloons, and Balloon Fight’s Balloon Trip mode is also copied over essentially unaltered.
An action game similar enough to Joust that today it would be called a clone, though there are some changes to the formula and everything is wrapped in a more kid-friendly and arguably more-readable aesthetic. Gameplay still consists of flying fighters in a single-screen arena who battle by bumping into each other with the higher-altitude combatant being the victor, but this time instead of bird-mounted knights the characters are humans held aloft by balloons. Combat doesn’t directly kill the enemy, but pops their balloon. Enemies have only one balloon while player characters have two, which grants players an additional hit point as only one balloon is popped at a time.
The Beginner’s Guide is a short (ninety minutes or so) narrative game by The Stanley Parable creator Davey Wreden. I like it a lot and recommend it to folks interested in how we create and talk about games. If you’re intrigued by the game but haven’t played it yet, you might want to do so before reading further. The game has generated a lot of analysis and discussion - my personal favorite being Ian Danskin’s video essay The Artist is Absent: Davey Wreden and The Beginner’s Guide - but there’s a trend among some critics that I find troubling and want to dig into.
Charlie Cade takes a look at how Naughty Dog’s approach to linearity has changed over the years, examining the tradeoffs made in each of its major franchises. To me, the most interesting point is that nonlinearity enables riskier design, as a frustrating moment is much more likely to cost you a player if the player can’t try doing something else for a while.
An action game in which bird-mounted knights fly around and battle in a single-screen arena. Controls are simple - the only buttons are left, right, and flap - though the physics take some getting used to. Fighting is accomplished just by colliding with another knight, with the victor being the one who’s higher up. Enemy knights drop eggs when defeated which must be collected quickly or they will hatch into new knights. Defeat waves of knights while avoiding the few stage hazards (mostly the lava at the bottom) to rack up points.
Two short (about 20 minutes each) goofy FMV choose-your-own-adventure games where you must help Awkward Steve navigate mildly-difficult social situations.
In the first game, A STRANGER COMES CALLING, the doorbell rings while Steve isn’t expecting any visitors. Your goal is to reduce Steve’s anxiety to the point where he is willing to answer the door. You can choose between a variety of activities, some of which will help Steve relax and some of which will backfire and make him more anxious. Most of the appeal comes from just how silly or surreal Steve’s antics are as he navigates awkward versions of everyday tasks. You can unfortunately reach dead-ends that essentially force you to restart, but you can double-click to skip scenes you’ve already seen and quickly get back to new choices. It’s short enough that the novelty doesn’t outstay its welcome and the ending does not disappoint.
