http://www.swfcabin.com/open/1305112887

I looked at the software to record a video, but it looks like it needs to be installed, and didn’t work for me, so I don’t happen to have a video version.

Hints Screen up, medium maze is done except for a few glitches. For next week I’ll be adding the large maze, but there will only be one level in it.

Is the level selection screen easy enough to find, or should I add some kind of hint, and if so, what kind?

I’ve added the menus, and they work, although there’s no content in the hints and selection page right now. Also there’s another level, although one of the buttons refuses to work.

For some reason the swf is appearing tiny on the cite. I’ll try to upload it again tomorrow. Everything works if you can make it out though.

Update:

Better file:  http://www.swfcabin.com/open/1303342290

I’ve also fixed a few problems I’ve found, added the selection screen (although some of the levels aren’t done yet), got the button on the fifth level working, and added level six.

Right now all the buttons on the selection screen are visible, but that will be changed later, and only the levels that have been unlocked will be available.

Also about the last file, I just noticed there’s a fullscreen option, so I guess it could have worked fine after all.

I’ve added a placeholder starting screen. Because it has to come first, it would shift all my levels over by one frame, for which I’d have to rename all the target frames, so it’s best to do while there are still a few of them.

There is now a place for items. I’m thinking of having something that extends the timer, something that makes the character move faster, and maybe a few others, but that’ll depend on my experiments with the code.

The new levels are starting to be placed, though without code at the moment, so there really isn’t that much to see right now. Next week I’ll probably have two more sets done, unless I get stuck with the coding.

Directions:

The diamond thing is the character, move it with the arrow keys

Red rectangles are doors, open with green squares

Cyan rectangles are blocks, some of which can be made go-through with blue squares

Yellow squares are target points

Red squares make something negative happen

On the right is the timer. It says ‘You Lose’ when it reaches the bottom, but it doesn’t actually alter the game at all

Once you get through level 4, the game loops back to level 1

Link (click on the game window first, or the arrow keys will scroll the screen instead of moving the character):
http://megaswf.com/serve/1046891

I’ve decided to go with Tom’s suggestion and simplify it to one character, rather than the original two, and to starting with real basic mazes before getting to more complex ones. So right now the first one is just running to a button to open the door, then going through that to an exit. following that I’ll add another button, and after that make one of the buttons do something that would hinder the player instead.

Dwarf complete: the fun here, just like with supaplex, is the variety of puzzles and challenges. Often the situation looks hopeless, but thinking outside the box will give you a solution.

Yume Nikki: What I like about this game is the exploration. The maps are really big, and quite repetitive, but there is enough variety that looking through them to find new areas is fun. There is a little bit of plot as well. The game seems like it was designed on a solid plot, then pieced together so that hints of it are visible, and point in a single direction, but there isn’t enough to make anything conclusive, giving the player the ability to insert their own ideas of what’s going on.

Eversion: eversion is another game that’s fun for its plot, and originality. There are plenty of games that start out happy and get darker as they go on, but eversion is the only one I know that does it literally. Most people probably find the gameplay fun, but it’s a little too difficult for me to get all the gems, so I prefer to watch this game rather than play it.

Iji: This game is definitely the most plot driven of these five, and it’s also another one that I prefer to watch. When playing it, though, I like to explore the area, and see what’s hidden where.

In summary, I suppose what I like most about these games is the variety of what can be done, and exploring to find the objects part of that variety.

The number for this post is 81

I think that this is because there’s no way to actually lose this. despite being less tedious than the previous game, you just still play it and keep playing it until you beat it. The problem with this, though is that there are games like Dwarf Complete that can’t be failed but are still interesting.

Another problem is whenever I try to think of a way to make it more challenging I always end up thinking of things that would be determined by luck rather than skill, which actually adds tedium rather than difficulty. For example leaving two squares for where an object could be instead of one, which just makes the player guess at finding it.

and closed (showing the actual menu):

Clicking on the background that can be seen through the gap removes the menu again, and the little tab on the bottom is for hints.