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Insidia


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Rating: 4.6/5 (330 votes)
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TrickyInsidiaInsidia, the new Metroidvania-styled platform game from Woblyware, revels in its simplicity, not only concerning its graphics, but also is its plot and gameplay. In fact, I think that I can give you the gist in fifteen words: Crashed Spaceship. Alien World. Explore Caverns. Find Repair Kits. Collect Upgrades. Avoid Baddies. Quite Fun.

Using the [WASD] or [arrow] keys to move and jump, guide your little orange traveler around the desolate alien world looking for the ten kits you need to repair your ship. In addition to the repair kits, there are a few upgrades to be found (double-jumps, wall clinging and the like) that will help you explore new areas. You can keep track of where you've been with the map screen brought up with the [M] key, and can instantly teleport back to your ship with the [T] key. Be on the look out for red dots in the wall: these signify a secret passage, usually leading to one of ten switches. Activate all of them and you'll get a less depressing alternate ending. The information signs scattered around give additional information (along with one that gives the sponsor plug. Having to use the mouse to close it in what was previously a solely keyboard game is jarring.) Save points are available throughout, and should you take a flying leap into a saw blade or end up chomped upon by a baddie, you'll instantly revive at the last one. Expect to have to be revived quite a bit.

Insidia has a very cool visual style: simple, but not-quite pixellated, and very evocative in its snowy darkness. That, along with the similar thatched overlay, reminded me of the winter level of Small Worlds: a place where something terrible happened sometime in the recent past and that you are driven to leave as quick as possible. The fact that Isidia adds a touch of the eldritch to its technological creepiness makes it all the better: the enemies are few, but well seriously eerie.

If Insidia suffers by anything, it's comparison: with K.O.L.M., endeavor, and the Robot Wants series leading the way, there's been kind of a glut of these sort of casual exploration-fests as of late, and the planet of Insidia may seem lacking when compared to its denser cousins. However, taken on its own merits, fans of the genre should find Insidia a more than satisfactory way to spend twenty minutes.

Play Insidia!

Walkthrough Guide


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Insidia Map

Map

32 Comments

Can I say: "meh"?

As this game is now, it looks like the real core of the action is looking for switches (secondary goal) instead of repair parts (primary goal).

And metroidvaning away without the exhilaration of powering up one's weapons doesn't really feel proper...

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I'm loving the metroidvania-onslaught, even if that means some unjust comparison.

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I quite liked it. Just an easy little morsel of metroidvania. Would have given it five, erm, mushrooms, but I took one away for using Curlz inappropriately.

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great time waster :)

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Don't press all the switches:

You activate the missile defense system thus giving you a bad ending wasting all your extra effort

Game could with some improvements. 3 mushes.

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Very simple. Not so much COOL places and creative design :-(

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PlasmaSheep December 27, 2010 11:21 AM

Clever - "insidia" means "ambush" or "trap" in Latin.

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I liked this one a lot.

The graphics were really cool although I wish the character matched the feel of the level a bit more.

It was fairly easy to get through even with the switches. Could have used a few more skill areas as most screens patience was your best weapon.

No unnecessary backtracking in this one, which is my pet peeve with most mvs. Teleport to ship helped with that.

Overall this is one of the better games of this style I have played in awhile, I'll second the four mushrooms rating.

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I just started playing this... this is basically Nifflas's Knytt with the graphics from his Knytt Stories. If you like this, go play those. Windows or Mac/Linux with Wine.

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Cale Gibbard December 27, 2010 1:48 PM

I, for one, welcome our Knytt/Meat Boy/Metroidvania overlords.

Could do without the grammar mistakes, and the use of that Curlz typeface is a bit odd, but otherwise a solid little game.

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PlasmaSheep December 27, 2010 2:43 PM

Played it through. I thought it used far too many different fonts - curlz mt, visitor, and some sans serif. I would just pick visitor and stick with it.

Overall, I liked it - generally simple and enjoyable.

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I kind-of liked it... the athstetics were good, but the polish on the platforming could be better. There was a bit of that "Now I KNEW that I pressed jump that time!", but it wasn't too bad.

The

hanging angel near the top of the level freaked me out thou... I though that activating all the switches would free him and he would kick the monster's ass!

but I guess not.

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Michelle S. December 27, 2010 5:10 PM

Hey, anyone have the full map for this? I thought I'd explored every inch of this place (twice), but I seem to be missing a repair kit and I'm wondering if it's because I missed a hidden area, or I somehow just forgot to collect one.

9/10, so close. >.<

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BuenoCabra December 27, 2010 6:34 PM

Decent little platformer. Nothing revolutionary, but fun enough to hold my attention through the end.

But what's wrong, Comic Sans wasn't available? :P

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Any one know what happens in both endings? I only got the

missile defense

end. Also, I have noted that, albeit appropriately, the background music syncs up nicely to Nine Inch Nails' "The Hand That Feeds".

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Insidia Map

Map

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the first powerup doesn't seem to work.

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The two endings:

If you get all ten secret switches (good ending), it activates a missile defense system that protects you from being destroyed by an evil claw thing as you make your escape. If you don't activate all switches (bad ending), the evil claw thing destroys you and your ship when you try to escape.

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Carny Asada December 27, 2010 9:18 PM

If you don't trip the hidden switches:

After your ship blasts off, the planet disintegrates and a dragon-like beast eats you. So, basically, it's lose-lose.

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Did I get a different ending from everyone else? I got one where

the missile defense destroyed the monster, allowing the spaceship to escape. Not sure how I triggered it though.

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I thought it was a great little game, just hard enough to be challenging, but not bad enough to make me have to buy a replacement keyboard because I set mine on fire out of frustration. Not sure why people are complaining it's similar to Knytt either, they are similar, but if you like Knytt... Harumph.

The only thing I think that could have made it better would have been animation at the end instead of a slideshow, but I'm talking about final buffing here. Nice job!

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I have to admit, the background elements of this game were just plain creepy.

A world littered with people...or people-ish things...scattered around in half-buried cages, angels chained to the ceilings, and creatures that would give Lovecraft nightmares running rampant after apparently conquering the local population and thwarting their defenses...brr.

It all does a fantastic job of inspiring you to get the everloving heckoff that rock, though.

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Just saying,

Pressing all the switches doesn't give you the "bad" ending. At all. Whoever posted that hadn't played through all the way... It keeps you from dying in the end...

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Simple and easy game.

But rather relaxing rather than getting bored. I enjoyed it.

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A nice, relaxing, little game. I approve. :)

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gentle and nice.

Happy new year
x

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Huzzah! I got both endings.
Did the worm things in that tunnel scare anyone else? because I just thought it was a random tunnel so I ran for it and then 3 sudden giant worms and I was like ARGHH.
I liked the angel in chains though.. that was creepy.
I enjoyed this game, as it is fun and one of the few games I have completed. I like how the little guy doesn't have any arms, too.

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I really liked the game, I thought normal ending was kind of lame so I had to find the last hidden switch( thanks for the map). The creators could have thought of something a little more original than missiles, I mean like they totally didn't fit in with the rest of the game.

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Anonymous January 17, 2011 7:57 PM

actually you need to get all repair kits then activate missile defence (switches) then repair ship so when monster thing goes to eat you the missiles will kill it instead of you

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The background-background music (the little sounds behind the tune) reminded me VERY strongly of League of Evil, another Woblyware game that I HIGHLY recommend.

I tripped all the switches. Might replay it to get the "normal" ending.

I had hoped the angel thing would be freed. Was rather disappointed when it didn't.

The one segment of tunnel with the 3 worm things freaked me out. I thought I'd timed it right but my guy got chomped from below. I jumped.

Did anyone else notice the background lighting got darker as you went down? Added to the whole "creepy..." factor. Brrr.

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Once i finished pieces
"the one with ship collecting stuff"
i swore to myself i would never complete another collecting game but this made an exception :3

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An averagely fun game. The atmosphere is nice, apart from when you need to use the mouse to close the big obtrusive sponsor banner. A few of the rooms were nicely creepy. It feels rather Metroidvania-by-numbers, though. How many crashed spaceships have we seen? There are a rather small amount of powerups compared to what you might hope. I really don't like it when switch-screen games provide a map but then have some spaces on that map not used. It makes me feel like I've missed a secret door somewhere, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case here.

For those wanting to see both endings without playing through twice, I recommend doing this: get 10/10 repair kits, get 9/10 switches, repair the ship. After the ending, back at the title screen, hit "Continue", go get the last switch, repair the ship.

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