A Trashy Love Story
Fish and chips. Mashed potatoes and gravy. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. What do they all have in common? Aside from being better when served with a small amount of hot sauce, all of these things are pairs that are great together. VillaVanilla brings us another kuh-lassic example of things that go well together in the clever action game A Trashy Love Story, in which a garbage bag longs to be reunited with its garbage can lover. You know, that old story.
Much like a real plastic bag on a windy day, the garbage bag in our fairy tale can float around each level by using the [left] and [right] arrow keys, get a little lift by pressing either key repeatedly, or fly upwards by tapping both keys alternately. Each level is a maze of earth and pipes that can be safely touched, but keep an eye out for wicked waterfalls, burning wires, and penetrating spikes that can puncture a bag's dreams. If you can reunite the bag with the bin, you'll secure the win, but grabbing the music note hidden in each level can help you unlock some extra-tricky bonus levels.
Sure, it's an odd gimmick to have such an odd pairing of characters looking for love, but somehow, the mechanic of tapping the arrow keys to get the bag airborne feels right, as though you're fanning the bag yourself (perhaps with an old pizza box). The difficulty picks up at a very comfortable rate throughout the game, and you can always skip ahead to another level when you get stuck. The timing mechanism in this game isn't exactly logical, especially after the checkpoint dandelions come into play (deaths before dandelions reset the timer, but deaths after hitting a dandelion start you off with an increasing penalty each time you die), but the times only serve as a personal achievement, so they can be safely ignored. Sometimes love means doing whatever it takes for whomever you love, sometimes it means extra hot sauce. If you're ready for a charming love story between companions you've always ignored, give this game a shot. Then, recycle it and show it to a friend.
Anyone have any idea how to get the musical note on the 3rd stage?
@Ruesiken: It has something to do with the non-lethal spike and the odd block it's on, but that's as far as I've gotten.
I thought so too, but there are also blocks that are invisible at the top right hand corner of the stage... I wonder if it's related :P
otherwise all the other notes in the game are easy
A few games now have used this kind of control scheme (can't go left/right without going up, can't go up without going left/right). I've always found it unnecessarily fiddly and annoying.
It was mostly fun until I gave up from the struggle with the controls.
ARRG! Beat the whole game with all the notes except for level 3's note... I hope it's not some glitch XP... Tried using the invisible blocks, scaring away all the spiders, even the mismatched spike block but to no avail.
Yeah, probs a glitch.
yeah it is a glitch,
I looked it up on youtube and other versions worked
New version uploaded: The game was recently updated and I just uploaded the latest version that will hopefully fix the issue some of you are having with the game.
Yep, that fixed the glitch. It also significantly changed the way the controls work. Now you will continually rise if you hold down the left or right arrows. Makes it a little more difficult to do precise movements.
The control update is most unfortunate. I played through about half the game and was excited to come back and finish it but now that the controls have been changed I can't get back into the groove, it just feels all wrong... Too bad, I really liked it.
@Pseudonymp
I'd have to agree with you! I feel like I have less control now XP
I can restore the old version, but the issue you experienced before will likely resurface.
I've tried contacting the developer to see if they'd be willing to allow the player to choose the preferred control method.
Hello everyone! I'm the creator of the game.
Jay! I didn't receive the e-mail. Where did you try to contact?
There is a yet-more-updated version that I'd like to provide you with, also the option to go back to the original control scheme =).
Thanks everyone for playing it!
I went to your website and sent a message to you through Facebook. You can email me here at this website. Messages sent to Jay at either jayisgames or casualgameplay will find me.
@ oddgoo
Thanks, that would be great! The original controls felt more active and involved. There was a lot more button pressing and a lot less time spent free falling, which isn't as engaging.
Your controls were actually one of my favorite parts of the game. Sure, the theme and mood were heartwarming and funny, the level design was imaginative and interesting, but the thing that engaged me was feeling so connected to the game. I felt like I had real minute control and that the bag moved like a plastic bag, like I was guiding her along with little puffs of air and yet I still had really solid control. With the new control scheme it feels more like flying and less like a plastic bag.
Also, I'll add that in the current version, on the second level, when one is getting the musical note on the right side it's quite simple to accidentally just glitch through the wall. Give it a try and I think you'll see what I mean.
New version uploaded: I just uploaded a new version that brings back the original controls and which the author, oddgoo, says are even a little better than they were before.
What happened? I seem to be in debug mode. How do I exit this? Pls see screenshot at http://i.imgur.com/m7CQI.png. Jay, pls send me a direct email, if you don't mind, with the solution.
@Nutty
That happens if you hit the \ key. Hit it again and it will switch back.
I just heard back from the developer, and he said:
"The debugger can be disabled with the ` key."
For me, on a QWERTY keyboard, that key is top-left, just under the [esc] key, and appears along with the tilde (~).
He also may be providing us with a version that disables debug mode so players don't inadvertently trigger it while playing.
Does Level 3 work yet? And if so, how?
Level 3 note:
See that blank spot?
It is to the right and below the note, in the center of the spikes. Hard getting in easy out.
You have to go straight up. I was a little to the right when I did it. You more the keys swiftly back and forth to barely move from side to side and go up.
Update