Free and Worth Every Penny – Issue 33

Replace ‘buttons’ with rude nomenclature and ‘make a game’ with ‘change a light bulb’ and you’ve got yourself an unfunny joke. If you leave bad jokes out of it all together, you’ve got yourself the theme for this week’s issue of Free and Worth Every Penny:

How many buttons does it take to make a game?

I don’t mean make it make it, of course. The people who made these games used a hell of a lot more than one button for that. I’m asking how many buttons we need. How much do we, as players, have to do to have fun?

According to the short list of games below, all we need to do is press a button.

One Button Bob

One Button Bob, as the name might imply, is a one button game like the rest in the roundup; this one a translation of the platformer. You take on the role of an 8 bit adventurer in search of treasure in a moody castle that looks more like a cave once inside. The usual obstacles block your path: pits, dissolving platforms, marauding bats, etc. The trick is, all the platforming is handled by single clicks of the left mouse button. The game is broken up into a series of rooms, each with its own pitfalls and control convention. In some rooms Bob walks across a screen full of oncoming baddies; clicking the mouse throws a boomerang to dispatch them. Some rooms present Bob with platforms that need to be hopped across; holding down the mouse button charges up a jump. Try not to overshoot. There’s even a giant rolling stone, requisite for all good adventures, that is escaped by madly clicking as fast as possible. Considering the control limitations, the range of platforming actions reproduced are impressive. Most interestingly, the games scores you not by how many lives you lose or points you gain, but by how many times you click the mouse button. The fewer the better.

Play it here:
http://armorgames.com/play/5286/one-button-bob

War and Peace: The One-Button Civilization

War and Peace: The One-Button Civilization is a strange bird. I’m not sure whether to call it a game or not, but I try to stay as far away from that argument as possible. I did play it, and I did draw enjoyment from it, so for all intents and purposes, game it is. I mention this because as much as it is game, it is also simulation. You’re presented with a low rez plot of land–woods, plains, mountains and all–and, just like in Civilization, it is your task to either conquer that land or to leave it all together for greener, more Alpha Centuari-y pastures. Except all this is boiled down to one button. You lead your civilization through the alternation of an analog philosophy, either war or peace. When you select war, you research war tech; peace, growth and culture. Your citizens act in kind. Their autonomous actions correspond to your dictum. War, they take opposing cities. Peace, they build their own. Within two minutes the ‘game’ is over. It’s fun to watch a little history unfold before your eyes.

Download it here:
http://www.stephanebura.com/warandpeace/WarPeace.exe

Canabalt

No discussion of one button games would be complete without the mention of Canabalt, the super slick black and white apocalyptic parkour game. Here the player is thrown into the shoes of a fleet footed dude, once again drawn in that classy bit style, who looks to me like a tiny Michael Jackson—I think it’s the white shoes. This character runs automatically and the player’s only input is when to jump. Timing is key. The wide pits, scattered office furniture and debris falling along the rooftops are nothing if not unforgiving. Run and jump as far as you can and share your high score. Plus, doves.

Play it here:
http://www.adamatomic.com/canabalt/

Robot Unicorn Attack

Some would call Canabalt the king of the one button game, and I suppose it is. But a new challenger appears, and the only reason I hesitate to crown it champion is because it is not, technically, a one button game. You see, Robot Unicorn Attack adds a whole new dimension to one button gaming—a second button OH MAN! Basically it’s Canabalt, but with robot unicorns, robot dolphins, fairies, rainbows and the best soundtrack ever. Your unicorn runs, you decide when to jump. The second button activates a dash move that destroys deadly stars strategically placed to screw you up, and can also save you in a pinch if your double jump wasn’t quite enough. Play this game. Be merry.

Play it here:
http://games.adultswim.com/robot-uni…line-game.html

Originally posted on Immortal Machines.

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~ by bandango on February 15, 2010.