Review: Stroll

Stroll

I know what you're thinking: "A Pinkie Pie Platformer? I've played hundreds of those. Give it a rest, already." Well, hold your horses, so to speak. Just recently, Silly Mare Games released Stroll, which strives for an artsy, open-world feel rather than following in the hoofsteps of the rest of the genre. Does it find a successful niche, or is it just a bunch of walking around? You know where to click.

In the first few minutes of playing the game, I was struck by two things. First off, the game sounds like something you might play to fall asleep: rather than the customary bouncy electro remixes of pony songs, you're greeted by soft hoofsteps, mellow nature sounds, and the whistling wind. Walking around is a relaxing experience. However, I was initially a little put off by suddenly being dropped into the sandbox - I'm the kind of gamer who purposefully walks through a dungeon picking out the tunnels least likely to be the correct path, so I can make sure I haven't missed anything before continuing. Massive open worlds are intimidating.

After walking along for a few minutes, I began to get bored. I'd already found one of the ponies hidden in the game world, and I wasn't sure what to do next. The scenery was quickly becoming repetitive, and I had already been confronted by a couple of dead ends. If you're a fan of rapid-fire action games, this is probably not your cup of tea. 

Lyra doesn't sleep the way one might expect her to.

Then, after scrambling my way up a mountainside and between several precarious floating platforms, I was rewarded with another hidden pony. At this point, the game's central mechanic became clear: find your way into the game's most secluded spots, and you'll be rewarded with ponies and other secrets. Now that I'd determined my challenge, I was hooked.

There are 11 ponies, and several more easter eggs, hidden around the surprisingly expansive map. Although there's nary a cutscene, the trek from Ponyville through the Everfree forest to the outskirts of Canterlot still feels like a journey. For those of you  who like more low-key adventuring, this game provides a meditative experience: I certainly didn't expect to spend as long with it as I did, although I'm not disclosing the amount of time.

Here's the bottom line: this game doesn't possess universal appeal, and some of you will quickly find you'd rather spend time on something else. However, it's unique among the fan games I've played, and I expect it to win itself many charmed fans. Final verdict: 7/10.

Magic Duel Episode Minigame Compilation Post

Sweet mother of Celestia, that was quite an episode last weekend. In just a few days, it's spawned loads of fan content - including games, of course. Astounded? Don't thank me, thank sparklepeep, FearlessPie, and SylrePony! More after the break.

Thrack-It Trixie

Working on a rock farm? Sounds like a great central mechanic for a game. Relive Trixie Lulamoon's time in poverty, and earn a million bits to purchase the alicorn amulet and defeat that no-good Twilight Sparkle. Avoid the treacherous wheels! After a few levels of frantic teleporation, this game actually gets fairly hard - prepare to spend a little more time than you expect.

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Animal Juggling

Fluttershy will mess you up if you drop her animal friends. Seriously, don't even think about it. However, this may prove difficult, as they just keep falling from the sky. Master the art of magical animal aerobatics in preparation for a high-pressure exhibition in front of several foreign diplomats! 

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Rainbow's Tail

Rainbow Dash has a serious need to collect magical floating orbs, but her balance is off. Way off. Can you master the challenges of one-button flight? This game can be frustrating on your first few tries - miss one sphere, and you're pretty much doomed - but gets much more satisfying when you finally get the knack of keeping Rainbow Dash airborne. An even harder sequel centered around the flight-challenged Scootaloo in commemoration of next week's episode would be pretty cool.

Corruption

Corruption

You guys never cease to amaze me. Complete with custom animation, creepy musical styling, and some slightly mind-bending visuals, The Oddwarg's Corruption is certainly one of the most colorful games to come out of My Little Game Jam. It's a little shorter than what I'd normally review, and borders on creepypasta, so I held off from grading it. Find the rundown after the break!

To be honest, the level styling of Corruption reminds me a lot of the Luna Games, which I'm a huge fan of. Using keyboard controls to move while controlling a magically levitated lantern with the mouse, the player attempts to guide Twilight through a shadowy underground maze. 

The unique art style and enveloping nature of the game mask the fact that there's not a lot of discernible story. There are a few clues - Discord smirks at you before the game launches, and Celestia greets you with Smarty Pants after the game's conclusion, but overall, the plot is indecipherable. 

However, I can't really fault a chaos-themed game for confusing me. I won't spoil the penultimate scene with a screenshot - rather, I'll leave you with the knowledge that I found it awesome and that it borders on creepypasta. 

Lots of insanity, and then... this. Well, that was anti-climactic - perhaps there's a secret ending?

The game might have begun to bore me had it dragged on longer - however, it was short enough that the mechanics remained fun. Aside from using your lantern to prevent Twilight from falling into numerous pits, variety was found in moving glowing balls and platforms to solve puzzles within the cave.

Overall, I think this game could go far if expanded - there's certainly a lot of unique potential here. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for creepypasta. Either way, it's quick and certainly worth playing!

Xtux's note: despite the author's claims you can run this game on Mac OS X by downloading the latest version of Java from http://java.com/en/download/mac_download.jsp and not through the Software Update utility.

My Little Game Dev Marathon Reviews: Pinkie or Not Pinkie / Primaeval Threat / The Moon

After playing several games from the recent My Little Game Dev Marathon, I realized that I couldn't review them in our standard format. For one thing, it would be unfair to hold a game created in two weeks to the standards I'd expect from a larger project. For another, it would be impossible to do them all justice!

Instead, I tackled three of my favorites at once and graded them against their peers. Find Pinkie or Not Pinkie, Primaeval Threat, and The Moon below the break!

Download Pinkie or Not Pinkie

I know I'm not the only one who wondered if Twilight accidentally left the wrong Pinkie Pie standing after the chaos of s3e03. Now, you can relive the sinking feeling that you've just blasted one of your friends into oblivion... over and over and over again.

The premise of the game is simple enough - playing as Twilight Sparkle, blast away at a horde of Pinkie Pies until there's only one left. At the end of the game, you'll be informed whether you made the right clicks along the way. Fortunately, the player has a "distraction button" to help weed out the fakes - the Pinkies who succumb to the diversion can be safely eliminated.

I ended up playing through the game several times, coming irritatingly close to victory. It may be simple, but Pinkie or Not Pinkie gets points for originality and fun.

Grade: 6/10

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Play Primaeval Threat Online

Set in a space-age version of the ponyverse, Primaeval Threat is a step up from your average choose-your-own adventure game. Techna is a World Custodian, a member of a dwindling organization tasked with protecting ponykind. As such, when a pony ventures into the prison of an ancient evil, it is Techna's duty to track her down and bring her back.

With 118 slides and multiple endings, Primaeval Threat has perhaps more content and gameplay time than any other game entered in the Marathon. The game avoids railroading smoothly - at every juncture, the player is presented with a several options based on the chosen skills of their character. 

Primaeval Threat's engaging storyline and decent replay value certainly don't hurt its appeal. Bonus points for adding to my headcanon!

Grade: 8/10

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Download The Moon

Best princess on the moon? (Almost) always a recipe for success. I'm not sure I've ever played a ponified escape the room game before, but this one was certainly a treat.

The version of The Moon submitted to the My Little Game Dev Marathon is only the first chapter of what will hopefully blossom into a much larger project. However, in its current form, the game already hints at a complex storyline, stylish character portraits, and frustrating puzzles to come. Trapped in a mysterious throne room, Princess Luna interacts with two separate, conflicting manifestations of Nightmare Moon - thus setting up a unique take on her backstory.

I'm notoriously bad at escape the room games, but I was able to solve the throne room puzzle (despite, at several points, being convinced that it was impossible.) Hopefully, we'll see more content soon in the form of a second installment!

Grade: 8/10