DecipherOne has 13 chronicles

1. Independent Games Review 002
   

   Player Chronicle -- Posted on Feb 15 2008

   Independent Games Review 002, February 15, 2008
   
   By Will Canada (Aka DecipherOne)
   
   For this weeks review we are looking at a Game by a development team called Secret Exit. They happen to be one of the finalist for the IGF for 2008 in the category of Excellence in Audio for a game called Cinnamon Beats, more info on that game here: http://secretexit.com/games/cinnamonbeats , but the game we are looking at today is a game called Pogo Sticker : http://secretexit.com/games/pogosticker.
   
   -OverView-
   Pogo Sticker is a unique concept in that it is a game that relies purely on physics to move a character through the game world. The challenge? the movement itself. You use the mouse to signify the direction of the movement and click a mouse button to increase the amount of force that propels the character in the direction which they are to be moving. The character is made up of spheres that act as anchors, adding an additional challenge as you fight to balance the character, preventing it from falling over, as you move. You must also avoid damage by not hitting your head as you progress through the game, and also not lose complete momentum. The game consists of 12 levels that vary in degrees of challenge and depending upon how quickly you can figure out the game mechanics the play time could last as little as 10 minutes to anywhere to a few hours. This game was released in 2005 and has had a few minor updates.
   
   -First Impressions-
   
   My first impressions of the game was more that of intrigue then anything. I'm a fan of experimental game-play and this definitely fits into that spectrum. The art style for the game is simple yet stylish and the music and audio add a fun atmosphere to the game as well. As I began to play it was pretty simple to figure out the controls and seemed like a fun experimental game.
   
   - The Fallout -
   
   As I continued to play it became abundantly clear that this game can be frustrating as hell! This isn't a fault of the design, but more a result of the physics systems that the game uses. The character will sometimes loose momentum hugging the edges of obstacles when it looks as if the character is going to make it, and if your character stops, you have to start the level over again. This can get annoying and trying at times and made me want to stop playing as early as level six. The character will also react in strange ways sometimes due to the spheres in the body being aligned a certain way. This can continue to add to the frustration of navigating the levels. One thing that I found that was really annoying was the addition of telling you that "You have to keep moving" ,every time you lost momentum, being displayed to you on the screen. I think the player would know that after the first time they were told they had to keep their momentum up, they would get it.
   
   Another issue that seems to be an obvious design decision, but I think was possibly the wrong one, is not allowing the player to decrease the amount of momentum the character has. Instead the character continues to hold the same amount of momentum until it is discharged over time, perhaps this was considered an added challenge, but it seemed to add more frustration to an already frustrating game.
   
   (Edited : Turns out it was a hardware issue.)
   
   - The Recovery -
   
   Interestingly enough, the frustration that I experienced with this game not only made me want to quit playing, it made me want to continue playing more! I found myself getting pissed off, but couldn't help continuing to press on. Making it to the end of the levels themselves wasn't very rewarding in and of itself although the additional goal of each level is a time rewards system, where finishing the levels within a certain time frame gets you a loli-pop to commemorate your accomplishment. I was just more interested in completing the levels for the sake of completing them. The designer made a good decision in keeping the levels short, but as you progress through the game the levels get harder.
   
   - Possible Suggestions -
   
   I think the concept behind this game is a good one. I would have liked to have seen the player have intermediate rewards for the characters, possibly temporary adjustments to the physics for certain accomplishments like making it to a seq way position within a certain amount of time. Something that added a little bit more balancing of the challenge and the reward system. I could see a lot of people getting pissed off at this game and quiting really early on as I myself was tempted to do. Such a system could also allow for longer levels and add to the replay value.
   
   - In Closing -
   
   Pogo Sticker is an interesting concept, but falls a little short on the execution of the concept by failing to make the game rewarding to the players. If you are interested in seeing a game that has really cool physics though I recommend this game. Also you can't beat that the game is free and it can be an interesting distraction. So, if you're looking for a little bit of time to kill and you like experimental games go a head and check it out.
   
   
   http://secretexit.com/games/pogosticker

   
   

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DecipherOne has 1 comment on this chronicle.

1. BEN
   Posted On Feb 15 2008

   Hey man, great chapter and we'll look forward to the next one! The screenshot interests me and when I get a chance, I'll check it out. It doesn't hurt that it's free! These independent game reviews are so cool, because alot of people might only hear about the ones that mainstream media want you to hear about. If your Chronicles aren't getting enough exposure, feel free to Digg/ Facebook them, or post something about them in the forum, to push more readers your way
   
   We'll miss you tomorrow as well