Flash game that works/Flash game that doesn't

A game that WORKS - SNEEZE



The premise is you have a cold, and with only one sneeze, you have to infect the people around you. These people then sneeze, hopefully infecting more people. The more people infected, the more points.

I delved straight into the game and didn't read the instructions. These are the good points about the game, from a not reading instructions point of view:

• The visual style is not the usual cutesy primary colours you might expect with a mini game. The graphics are tied in well and feed the sneeze theme.
  
• The arrow keys are an expected way to move the character, likewise, the space bar is a usual input method for action/fire.
• You can see the chain of events - when you sneeze on someone they become green. When that person sneezee, they infect with more green. This progressive nature keeps and maintains interest, visually.
  
• The progress/score bar at the top is very easy to understand, particularly with a marker showing how much you must achieve each level.
• The levels increase in difficulty, with the people being more spread out, and less densely populated. In addition, it doesn't get too difficult too quickly, which is good.
• The option to turn sound off.
• There are facts included within the game, which make for interesting reading in between levels. This restbite is quite useful, particularly if the game is at a very high difficulty.

However, there are a few downsides:

• I expected there to be more than one sneeze available. When the likes of Space Invader etc has unlimited ammo, this rule could make or break the game. Should the player have a short attention span, and lose on the first round, they will likely ditch the game due to feeling under powered. However, on the otherhand, if they accept this fundamental rule, it could encourage the user to try again and adopt intelligence by using their sneeze wisely.
• Whilst the levels do increase in difficulty, there is no time limit. I acted as if there was one, trying to sneeze in a very short time period once the game commences. This missed opportunity could make for a more intense game. However, it would rule out making more honed, strategic decisions. Some people like this aspect to a game.
• The instructions at the start are useful, yet are too much. With little whitespace, it overwhelms and could put off reading.
• You only get one chance. Get it wrong on the 7th level and you are taken right back to the start. The lack of a save facility could prove highly annoying later on in the advanced stages.
  

On a side, scoring actual points didn't seem as I played to be of a priority, although they are well described at the start of the game. Instead, I found my percentage of infection more useful, as it is this which dictates your progress through the game and indicates how successful you are being. - This variation on scoring could make for a more interesting game. For example, if you finish with 10 seconds to spare, throughout a number of levels, these extra seconds could add up and become your bonus help time on the final stage.

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A game that isn't so good is the Big Battle.

A top down shoot 'em up game.

Straight away it is easy to note downfalls to this game:

• You are launched straight into the game with no introduction or instruction. This is unexpected as most games either require you to view the instructions or at least put an option in the start menu should you wish to read them on your first play.
  
• Where user directions are provided, at the bottom of the screen, they are incredibly small and so could go unnoticed for a long time.
• As soon as you load the game, an enemy is attacking you. This isn't the best position to find yourself in when you are powerless. 
• Furthermore, the objective of the game isn't made very clear at all. A little bar appears at the start informing the creator's name, difficulty level and then below it tells you to collect crystals. In the game, a key floats around and requires killing, however what you do with this key is unclear.
• Once you manage to navigate around, the overhead camera becomes quite limiting and frustrating as it zooms in too much, making it feel highly restricted. Occasionally when you are moving across the level quickly the camera zooms out, and this larger point of view is far better.
• Several 'items' within the game world are not instantly noticeable as to whether they are bad or good. Normally flames represent bad. Here, anything could kill you or help you. It's a case of finding out by taking a risk. Likewise, something that you presume good, i.e. the crystal, isn't obtainable by simply walking up to it.
• The on screen weapons graphics are tiny and so require squinting to view. You normally find you have run out of a weapon by hitting the button numerous times and finding nothing is happening. 
• Visually, I can see where the creator was going with the colour scheme, khaki etc, yet I find it a bit murky and not very appealing to the eye. 

However, there were a few positives that can be drawn from the game. 

• There isn't background noise that plays alongside the game, instead little noises that activate when shooting bullets or hitting an object. Even these can be turned down, or completely off. 
• The animations whilst you walk are nice and fluid, along with the design of the main character. 

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Another game that DOESN'T WORK due to gameplay- Doeo

This game, although admittedly using very nice graphics, which are colourful and have character, falls down due to the gameplay being too repetitive. The premise is so simple that the instructions whiz on and off before the game starts and can be summed up in about 4 words - 'shoot the coloured squares'. Too brief an instruction perhaps could actually be described as a downfall to the game as if you aren't quick with reading, you'd miss what you were being told. 

Credit is due to the creators as they have created a bright, vibrant world for the game and have used imaginative ways to hide the doeos, behind the trunks of trees, for example, which move to reveal hidden doeos. The audio in the background again is lively, but to it's detriment and will definitely cause a lot to switch off their sound. 

Yet it is the repetitive clicking nature doesn't do this game justice. Once you've clicked ten times on the mouse in the space of three seconds, the game doesn't differ any further than that. You click, and then you click some more because you're not clicking fast enough in the first place.

Whilst whack-a-mole type gameplay is fun in the arcades, I don't feel it has translated so well to the screen. Within a few seconds your hand is tired from pressing the mouse so incessantly and it becomes off-putting. The face paced nature of the game makes for an intense and pulse-raising game, but again, it wasn't enough to make me want to continue. And  that was only on the easy setting. The difficult level I have tried and still not made it past level 1, which requires 200 points.  Insane difficulty is definitely a thing to be wary of. 

In between levels you'd at least expect a break to flex your fingers yet about two seconds is what you're given before the next hundred doeos appear and without choice.

Should this idea be taken onto the Wii and use the Wii-mote as a gun and that would be a different story (perhaps far more difficult). In fact, this game is really no different to arcade shooters which have been popular for decades.  However, here on the PC with the mouse, once you begin your clicking frenzy, it wasn't unusual for me clicking outside of the game with the browser content. Also, placement of the doeos, as they appear from one to the other meant dragging the mouse a little further than I felt happy with. If only they could change the constant clicking action of the game then this game would definitely have a lot going for it. Take away the shooting however and you wouldn't have a game at all.

Should the visuals have gone down a different direction they could have made the game more interesting with gorey blood splatters would prove comical when you shoot a doeo. I understand this would likely slow the game down by distracting the user into watching the animation and not shooting more pink squared faces.

Overall, I think this game is a great indicator that graphics, sound, timing, scoring etc are definitely contributors towards a great game. They in fact keep this game afloat. However, if the main game-play aspect isn't up to scratch, the game becomes un-fun (this principle being what Nintendo recognised as the priority for their Wii, whose success is blatantly clear.) There isn't that much sense of achievement in shooting a doeo as you are already clicking the next one, which in itself feels exactly the same as the previous fifty.

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