Quick video game review: "Those Games"
Sep. 26th, 2023 12:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Full title: Yeah! You Want "Those Games", Right? So Here You Go! Now, Let's See You Clear Them!
If you've played mobile games at all, you're probably familiar with bait-and-switch game ads: The ad will show you a quick "demo" of the game they're supposedly trying to get you to play, but when you download it, either the demo is not an accurate representation of the gameplay at all, or it's only a tiny side game, set between what's usually stages of a Match Three of some variety. On top of that, the fake game in the ad is being played infuriatingly badly, making viewers want to install the game just so they can finally have the satisfaction of seeing it done right.
Well, "Those Games" actually has those games from the ads! One where you empty a parking lot of cars, one where you pull pins (basically, open doors) in a certain order to get treasure, one where you do some basic arithmetic to scale some towers by defeating any enemy with a lower number than you, one where you walk in a straight line to earn money and spend it to avoid obstacles, and one where you reorganize the colorful liquid contents of various vials of stacking liquids. (The last of these is the only one I'm aware of with an actual game outside of "Those Games" itself.)
Overall, a decent way to spend some time; pin pulling, number tower, and tube sorting are my preferred games, because the money walk stresses me out too much, and I have difficulty with the controls of the parking lot one. The parking lot one in particular I think suffered the most in adaptation from touch screen to button pushing or mouse clicking; the ads make the imaginary game seem like you maneuver the cars by sliding them across the screen, and that swiping action isn't as easily replicated on the Switch or computer.
That said, the game designers definitely suffer from what I am very diplomatically going to refer to as "subconscious gender bias". The main character you play is Stickman, a generic stick figure. In the color sorting game and the money walk, you play to earn the approval of female stickmen, their gender designated by their hot pink coloration and skirts (as well as, in some cases, a pretty bow on their heads). In color sorting, Stickwoman(?) is a scientist(?) who apparently cannot figure out how to sort the colored liquids herself; in the money walk, Stickman is trying to collect enough money to eventually get a house, where he will hopefully live with at least one Stickwoman companion, who will also swoon over him if he gets a suitable amount of cash.
In the "action" games, number tower and pin pulling, you play as Stickman. In Number Tower, Stickman gets to fight his way through the towers; in Pin Pull, you get to open doors in a specific order to keep Stickman safe until all the obstacles are removed (and possibly he can collect treasure). The parking lot game has no one in particular visible until a pedestrian becomes an obstacle.
There are two quick tweaks that I think would make this game much more playable. First, either drop the character gendering entirely, or allow players to pick from at least three gender options. Second, make the timer that runs in every game except Cash Run optional. It stresses me the hell out, but I'm sure there are a bunch of people who like it, or who might like it when going back for another run at the games, to try and beat previous records and stuff. As for me, I just wanna get through the (usually relatively simple) logic and math puzzles on my own time, without worrying about getting a less than perfect score because I'm taking slightly longer than the game developers think is optimal.
Anyway, decent game with some flaws, and not as many levels for the games as players might like, but all of those could probably be fixed with some relatively minor patches. I would probably advise against paying full price for it ($10 USD), and suggest looking up old flash game archives instead.
If you've played mobile games at all, you're probably familiar with bait-and-switch game ads: The ad will show you a quick "demo" of the game they're supposedly trying to get you to play, but when you download it, either the demo is not an accurate representation of the gameplay at all, or it's only a tiny side game, set between what's usually stages of a Match Three of some variety. On top of that, the fake game in the ad is being played infuriatingly badly, making viewers want to install the game just so they can finally have the satisfaction of seeing it done right.
Well, "Those Games" actually has those games from the ads! One where you empty a parking lot of cars, one where you pull pins (basically, open doors) in a certain order to get treasure, one where you do some basic arithmetic to scale some towers by defeating any enemy with a lower number than you, one where you walk in a straight line to earn money and spend it to avoid obstacles, and one where you reorganize the colorful liquid contents of various vials of stacking liquids. (The last of these is the only one I'm aware of with an actual game outside of "Those Games" itself.)
Overall, a decent way to spend some time; pin pulling, number tower, and tube sorting are my preferred games, because the money walk stresses me out too much, and I have difficulty with the controls of the parking lot one. The parking lot one in particular I think suffered the most in adaptation from touch screen to button pushing or mouse clicking; the ads make the imaginary game seem like you maneuver the cars by sliding them across the screen, and that swiping action isn't as easily replicated on the Switch or computer.
That said, the game designers definitely suffer from what I am very diplomatically going to refer to as "subconscious gender bias". The main character you play is Stickman, a generic stick figure. In the color sorting game and the money walk, you play to earn the approval of female stickmen, their gender designated by their hot pink coloration and skirts (as well as, in some cases, a pretty bow on their heads). In color sorting, Stickwoman(?) is a scientist(?) who apparently cannot figure out how to sort the colored liquids herself; in the money walk, Stickman is trying to collect enough money to eventually get a house, where he will hopefully live with at least one Stickwoman companion, who will also swoon over him if he gets a suitable amount of cash.
In the "action" games, number tower and pin pulling, you play as Stickman. In Number Tower, Stickman gets to fight his way through the towers; in Pin Pull, you get to open doors in a specific order to keep Stickman safe until all the obstacles are removed (and possibly he can collect treasure). The parking lot game has no one in particular visible until a pedestrian becomes an obstacle.
There are two quick tweaks that I think would make this game much more playable. First, either drop the character gendering entirely, or allow players to pick from at least three gender options. Second, make the timer that runs in every game except Cash Run optional. It stresses me the hell out, but I'm sure there are a bunch of people who like it, or who might like it when going back for another run at the games, to try and beat previous records and stuff. As for me, I just wanna get through the (usually relatively simple) logic and math puzzles on my own time, without worrying about getting a less than perfect score because I'm taking slightly longer than the game developers think is optimal.
Anyway, decent game with some flaws, and not as many levels for the games as players might like, but all of those could probably be fixed with some relatively minor patches. I would probably advise against paying full price for it ($10 USD), and suggest looking up old flash game archives instead.