Welcome back to another Friday here at Jay Is Games, teetering on the precipice of Mount Olympus. (We got kicked out of the volcano by some guy in a tuxedo.) How's the new decade treating you? By now we should all be flying around in perfectly temperate hover cars, or at the very least getting our shoulders massaged by wisecracking robot manservants as we peruse our gaming options. At least we can take solace in knowing that despite failing the prophecies of the Jetsons, by the standards of as recently as the 1700s, we'd all be tried as witches. Hooray! While you're waiting for that robotic pineapple pizza dispenser with me, why don't we check out this week's Link Dump Friday lineup?
Gone to the Dogs - Although it winds up feeling repetitive after a while, this racing/simulator about grooming a dog for the race track is quirky and well made enough to merit at least one playthrough. The lack of any real customization may put some players off, but those of you who have always wanted to pay a man with hair taller than you are thousands of dollars to massage your dog can finally have your dream come true. Which is perfectly natural and healthy, and I am not at all mildly perturbed by it. Really.
Wheel It - At ten levels, this puzzle game about correctly assembling a group of gears is too light to be much of a meal, but is short and sweet enough to make a light snack. With easily accessible gameplay and graphics that are golden and buttery, Wheel It is satisfying despite its simplicity and lack of any real meaty mechanics. It also has a sort of nutty aftertaste that... wait, what was I talking about? I think I might be hitting the Big Book of Food Imagery a bit too hard.
Find Tealy 2 - Full of that Finn Family Moomintroll-esque vibe I love so much, Find Tealy 2 (alternate title; Son of Tealy's Revenge) is a fun way to spend a few minutes. The original was perhaps a bit too simplistic, but the sequel adds a bit more of complexity while keeping everything kid-friendly. Of course, I don't know what a non-kid-friendly version of the Tealy games would be like. And I won't until Stephen King starts returning my phone calls.
Speed Escape - What's this? You got your Weekday Escape in my Link Dump Friday! Oh well, just go with it. Actually three escape games in one, this game has you trying to think your way out of three different rooms in a time limit. Likely too short and simple for your prodigious escapery talents (*flutters eyelashes*), it's still a clever, quick way to sharpen the old gray matter in fifteen minutes or less.
Soul Arms - Despite featuring a few too many instances of people going "..." or "?!" at each other, Soul Arms is still an ambitious little browser action/RPG that's worth a look for its odd story and scope if you're a fan of the genre. Combat is side-scroll beat-'em-up rather than turn based, but you'll still have to do your share of grinding. Which, let's be honest, you're probably familiar with if you've ever played an RPG before anyway.
played speed escape, not the hardest of puzzels...but through in the timeconstraints and its a fun little challenge. I would figure the puzzels would get harder instead of easier though. Wouldn't mind seeing some more of these with a little more challenge to 'em.
That Speed Escape has some bugs. Clicking on the wrong thing might make stuff disappear, and the messages were often out-of-sync with the environment (such as telling me I needed a handle when I already attached it).
In the last room I did everything right, but it wouldn't let me out without holding onto the empty basket, and then the basket stuck to my cursor on the ending screen. :-\
The interface was quite different for a room escape game, which made a timed game a bit more tricky - specifically holding on to an object, instead of putting it in the inventory, was a little awkward.
Not too bad otherwise.
(Oh, and the dog game confuses me. I just lost money rapidly.)
Like Speed Escape - simple but tense with the music and the time limits. Stuck in the third room. Have done everything (I think), including:
Using turkey baster to transfer gas from mower to generator, using the basket to fill the washer and empty the dryer, use the bandsaw to cut a portion of the broom handle off for the generator (which indicates that there is still a handle missing) and I have the spanner in my possession but know not what to do with it...
Any hints for the last room muchly appreciated :)
Chiktionary:
u need to use the spanner to take the wheel on the weeder thing...than attach it onto the generator
I finished the dog game, and I kind of enjoyed it once I started winning races. But after a "season" of racing, the game just ends abruptly, without even a way to review your race history or achievements. Weird.
2 Bugs!!
I escaped last room without...
the key.
After engine had pulled the chain I just clicked the door&chain a couple of times with the clothes basket. (I didn't do the washing machine/drier part for the key).
Bug 2 (room2) I got the ball out of the balloon by just clicking the ball).
Thanks Vivian :)
I must be stupid or something, because I can't get past the first room. What, if anything, is the metal point used for? I've tried it on both the lock and the empty hole in the drawer, only to get the same message as before, and no change. What do I need to use it for?
Is anyone else having trouble with mouse clicks in Soul Arms? I keep having to mash the mouse button to get through dialogue sequences. I'm using Firefox.
WL: put the metal point on the end of the broom & it will unlock the chest.
need help finding the yellow gem in the first room of speed escape.
WL- to get open the chest you have to
attach the metal point to the broom and you get a green gem
wow, thanks again for the linkdump ladies and gentlemen!
Anyone know what the
Duck code: tealyplum
in Find Tealy 2 means?
When you attach the metal point to the broom and open the chest, you get a blue gem... I'm not getting a green one anywhere?
Regy: it seems to be for future use. :)
AJ, for the yellow gem,
You need to have already unlocked the chest.
Investigate the broken lock, then see if there's anything else in the room you haven't interacted with yet.
I actually liked the place-your-own-inventory system in Speed Escape. You could immediately pick up an item and use it, rather than picking it up and then retrieving it from your inventory, saving the time and mouseclick. Plus, you could drop stuff exactly where you wanted to zip back to it, rather than have it pop into a further-mouse-movement-away box. It might have been irritating for a slower, more cerebral escape, but for a timed, easy escape, it was nice to pick-up-the-key-and-immediately-use-it rather than having to retrieve it from my inventory.
I liked Wheel It, although level 9 was odd...
There's a really easy solution:
All you have to do is move the end gear next to the start gear, ignoring the spare gear completely. There is a solution involving the spare gear, which is probably the one the author intended.
Love the site, lurk too much, and just wanted to tell Dora that I look forward to her commentary and reviews almost as much as the games.
You crack me up, girl. :-)
I love Wheel It (so far). I just wish it would let me admire my handiwork before saying "Good Work!" and on to the next level.
dog racing game was cool... but it ends way too abruptly.. you dont get to see how you did... no scores, nothing.
kinda want to play it again, but its hard to compare your scores with no information.
lthis has the basics to be a good game, just needs a bit more work...
Tealy 2 was ok, much less irritating than the first one.
But! Does Not Look Like Moomin! At All! Me Upset! Maybe I'm being weirdly patriotic, and childish, but Moomin is sad and somewhat dark and plays with shapes and Is Also Very Very Beautiful. Tealy! I ask you!
Now, Daymare Town. That's Moominesque. In it's own twisted sort of way.
I must be missing something in the dog racing game. My stat bars are almost all maxed and I still can't come in better than 4th in a medium difficulty race. It's gone from amusing, to annoying to frustrating.
-Joe
Thanks for your kind words, spookychick! It warms my fragile little heart. Lurk less, comment more! We love to hear from our community. Especially persons such as yourself who CLEARLY have exceptional taste. ;)
Sorry you felt that way, vederblich. You're entitled to feel however you want, just as I am. I always found the Moomin books to be sweet, silly, and soft. Nothing like Daymare town. Ultimately, you get what you choose to take away from books, and it sounds like we just chose to have different experiences. :)
I am, incidentally, THRILLED to hear someone else has read them. They're my childhood favourites!
JIGuest, to find the green gem:
When you take the metal point, the helmet rolls aside showing a mouse hole.
The flavor text says you should lure the mouse out
There's no cheese in the room, but maybe the mouse is thirsty?
Pick up the candle holder from the first screen, and fill it with water. Leave the water in front of the mousehole
Is it just me, or is the background music to "Wheel It" the Inspector Gadget theme?
in gone to the dogs, the highscore window never goes away! i start the game and its right there in the middle of the window! i click play, but if i dont choose a dog it goes back to the main menu! if i do pick a dog it says i scored 80,000 points!
It turns out you're not *supposed* to click the mouse to get through the dialogue in Soul Arms. Hit the space bar.
I love the Moomin books too, even though I didn't find them till I was almost an adult. Finn Family Moomintroll does seem kind of innocent and whimsical to me, but the later books like Moominland Midwinter and Moominpappa at Sea (and especially Moominvalley in November, which is simply one of the greatest books ever written) remind me more of Cave Story; they have this extraordinarily cute and endearing manner, but there's a lot of real sadness in them.
I was just about to post the same thing, Chimpz...yes it is.
Hey, I've seen this before! The place was called a person's living room instead of the Forgotten Kingdom though, people were saying "Alas!" and "Pity!" instead of "......", the white random dot was a caged bird and the funny thing swiveling and flailing mindlessly in the middle was a broom that brushed off the dirty paw-prints of my Alley Cat. But that was 1983 and this is 2010, we have runes now and I'm drinking dozens of potions, occasionally losing my sword for no reason and therefore needing to press 3, causing me to run out of something, and getting attacked by a black hole.
Soul Arms has some strong points, most prominently the pretty art, but I'm growing very weary of these so-called "role playing games" which in fact feature nothing that could be called role playing; no freedom in dialogue, no moral decision-making or any true decision-making for that matter, no way of shaping your own destiny or making your character unique.
A fantasy setting does not make a role-playing game. An inventory does not make a role-playing game. A group of people together, wielding a variety of weapons, casting spells and drinking potions does not make a role-playing game. Actually, if this were the last game ever where I have to balance poor game design by repeatedly consuming colourful flasks to fill up my "life bar", I would be very happy.
As such, Soul Arms is a simplistic side-scrolling (to a limit) beat-em-up / action game, and not a particularly good one at that. I'd love to see this level of art featured in a gameplay-wise more ambitious title.
Pity!
I can't get those last two darned Tealies!!
I'm clicking the fish on everything, and nothing's happening. The game doesn't make much sense to me anyway, what was with that thing that you give the apple to?
Lol @ my commenter name ;) Anyway, I only played GTTD (Gone To The Dogs), & only intend to play GTTD. I liked it. Except. Tiny bits of ANIMAL ABUSE :'( But, it's not real, & the whole game isn't built around it :) So, GTTD gets 4/5 shrooms. I'd like to see a dog-race game where you are NICE to it ALL THE TIME! Ooh, idea :D What if, it's like part GTTD, part Choice of the Dragon!?!? i.e. you choose how often & how much to feed it, which will make it happy, but also fatter XD? etc, etc. Now my ramble is over, JIGers. Goodbye :3
Update