BlogMunch

Flash game of the week - Flow

Flow is a game where you guide your aquatic organism (I call it, worm) into the depth of its “primeval soup” trying to find food while surviving other great worms. To me it is a surreal game, where you really feel you are living the life of this worm creature throughout its life cycle. The best part for me is the sound effects and apocalyptic background music. All of it combine will gives you a truly unique experience. Based on a researcher (Jenova Chen’s) thesis, it allows players with different skill levels intuitively customizing their experiences and enjoy the game at their own pace.

Here are some screenshots I have taken for a recent game I have played.

As you can see the background gets darker and darker as you go deeper. The third picture is my worm versus the last “boss’. Cool, isn’t it.

The gameplay is simple. You guide your worm using the mouse left click. To go deeper, consume the red critter. To go back to a shallower level, consume the blue critter. There are attacking critter on each deeper level, so anytime you are not ready, just go back to the previous level.

Recently, Flow is being port to the PS3 platform with added creatures with different abilities. The key is it is played with the motion sensor of the PS3 controller. You will control the movement by just tilting the controller in the direction you want the worm to go.

Try it, I think you will like it. There is even an offline version that you can download. Treat it like the pre-cursor to Will Wright’s new game Spore.

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Free game of the week - Tower of Goo

Today’s game is not a flash game that you can play online (though it did look like a flash game). Tower of Goo is a freeware game that you download to your computer and play. No installation required.

Tower of Goo is a another type of gravity game where you build up your tower as high as you can. There seems to be no limit to how high you can build. The gameplay consist of little creepy goo balls massing at the tip of your tower, trying to get higher than the others. Here you come as a god, choosing one goo ball with your left mouse button, pull up to form a triangular frame. (see below pictures)

That’s basically it. You pull and pull until you go the highest you can go. The difficulty comes when you don’t build a wide enough base, which will cause your top to sway and finally topple. You can have unlimited topples without ending the game. The frames that topple will form a wider frame for your next ascent. The only goal you can aim for will be your personal best height.

This game is great for a minute or two short game to relax yourself between tasks. Just don’t let your boss see you.

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