Let me read you a story. It's about a world filled with pop-up people who live in pop-up houses next to pop-up castles and pop-up trees. This is no ordinary fairy tale, though. This is Headspin Storybook, from State of Play Games, which offers a unique spin (literally!) on the spot-the-difference genre.
Click on "play" and the picture book opens, revealing a two-page layout. Your goal is to make the right side of the picture into a mirror image of the left side. You do this by clicking the previously mentioned pop-ups on the right side, making them flip around to mirror the left.
Find and fix all of the differences under the time limit, and you're rewarded with a rainbow or a star shower, depending on whether it's day or night in the little storybook world. Oh, and you get points. The faster you finish, the more points you get. Over 20 levels of gameplay, the images become more intricate, your time limit gets lower and there are more discrepancies to find.
Analysis: Much like Puzzle Defence, Headspin Storybook's graphics are simply adorable. The colors are perfect, the little pop-up people are precious, and the timer and points display fits seamlessly into the overall layout. The solid graphics made me want to dive into this little world, until I started playing the game and realized that my visual awareness skills? Not so hot.
It may seem simple to just find the object that doesn't match its opposite and click on it, but these little pop-ups are tiny and the differences between them grow more subtle with each level. When you hit Level 10 or so and you're faced with a page filled with nearly identical flags, you may resort to clicking around like a maniac. Don't despair, however, since there's no Game Over. If time runs out, you simply lose 1000 points and restart the level with a different layout altogether.
The Renaissance Faire-esque soundtrack fits the mood perfectly, but becomes repetitive over time. Add that to the jarring chorus of "Booo" you get if you fail a level and you may want to turn off the volume on this one, especially if you fail more than once or twice in a row.
Headspin Storybook combines fabulous graphics with a creative twist on a worn-out genre, providing a 20-30 minute diversion that you'll want to keep playing until the story ends.
Thanks for the suggestion, Luke, Denver, and Addison!
It's kind of easy actually, you just need to spot the similarities instead of differences, since you want to look for the ones that are in the same orientation instead of being mirrored.
In between projects and thought I would try this. At -6000 points, I'm not doing so well.
2nd level there are (I think) 5 items. I made sure that it wasn't mirrored but it wasn't right.
Plus the fact that while the graphics are really beautiful, the movement is real jerky. Maybe to many people playing? I don't know.
I am not rating this game since I really didn't get to finish it. Maybe come back later.
Did anyone play this in EI 7 or 8?
I am using FF 3.0.9
I like everything except: The timer is so short that I couldn't enjoy the graphics much, and the automatic random layout generated at least one where a swapped item was almost completely obscured by a different one (and the milling peasants).
I enjoyed playing it through though.
(Also, I seriously can't believe it's possible to get 60K points on this game playing it normally. I got 30K, and only had 3 or 4 levels where I had trouble. Stupid high-score boards! ;-)
@4red3s
Before each level it tells you how many items. The second level only has like 2 or 3 items. If you saw 5, you were probably flipping some back an forth ;-)
I found that each level has at least one "really hard to see" item. For example:
There are these little light green trees where the only obvious difference between left and right is a white nub on the trunk.
Or the haystacks, although those are a little easier.
I think you are right OverZealous! :)
I need to go home and give my eye balls a good scrubbing and then try again.
I think the concept is adorable plus the fact that it is a book - really makes me smile.
I really like this game. I love the art style. It's just way too easy to cheat:
Keep your eye on the number of differences left on the hand corner, and just click a book element. If the number goes up, you were wrong. If it goes down, you corrected a difference. Repeat until the counter reaches zero. You don't have to look at the other side of the book at all.
I don't know if there's a way to fix that, but there really should be.
Yeah, this isn't spot the difference, it's spot the same. But that is a unique twist on the genre.
Relaxing and cute.
Oh this is just sooo charming
beautiful and just nice..gives your brain a workout too
Perfect for sipping a brew along to
Gets one of those really massive hot sweet mugs of tea from me
Just a thought about the cheating thing ....yeah you could but its the game equivalent of an honesty box by a roadside fruit stall...you just cant .....well you can but why would you?
Beat it in one go with about 40k
Very nice art style. I always enjoy a game that has some unique style like this.
The best tip I have is
look for one thing on each flippable thing that isn't symmetric on the individual flippable thing. Like the big trees have a white slot on one side of their leaves. For buildings you should generally look at the windows. If there's a window right in the middle of a building, try looking at something else asymmetric on that building in relation to the middle window.
its not unique, mad world used the same mirror image thing, and as far better imho
There is more than one definition for unique baalazmon. The quality of being unique is not all or nothing, it can also mean remarkable and this game is remarkable. I get annoyed when people make that mistake.
My one complaint is that trying to beat the timer really doesn't allow you to appreciate the artwork. I'm so busy comparing each item in the short time alloted, I don't have time to enjoy the storybook picture as a whole.
Cute and fun. I managed to get through all levels (with a score that was about 1/10 of the leaderboard scores) and am happy. I like it better than most find-the-difference games because it is clearly defined what pieces should be flipped. Thank you for the game.
@semanticnazi
"There is more than one definition for unique baalazmon. The quality of being unique is not all or nothing, it can also mean remarkable and this game is remarkable. I get annoyed when people make that mistake."
Not really. The word "unique" really is an absolute, as long as we're being semantically pedantic.
In informal usage such as advertising, or a casual game review, it's okay to use "unique" to mean "special"... but in general, that's considered an improper usage. So, you can get annoyed... but it's not quite the mistake you think. :)
Developer comment
First of all, thanks Kate for such a great review. We're chuffed the game has been satisfying in the ways we intended. Although you're right, the chorus of 'Boo' is a bit of a cruel slap round the face, and a bit of an oversight to be honest! We meant to replace it before launch but it got forgotten about. I think I might go back and sort that out with a sound which is more sympathetic, to the game and to the player.
Out of interest, would anyone be interested in a sequel? We're thinking of 'Headspin: Spacerace' - like an old 1950s comic book about daring space exploration, though we have other ideas too. More levels maybe? Any suggestions welcome, and might just get made!
Luke
Luke Whittaker
@State of Play
Hi Luke!
Thanks for stopping by! Yes, the "Boo" sound is a bit jarring, but otherwise it's a lovely game. I think a 1950s or 60s style space book would be fantastic - I can just imagine the graphics!
This was an enjoyable game until the timer got a bit to mean, I do quite like the pop-up graphics :)
Oh and the boos make me sad ;_;
does anyone know who the soundtrack is by?
Hi Navie,
The music was composed by me. Hope that means you like it, and not that it hurts your ears.
Luke
Luke Whittaker
@StateOfPlay
Link broke
[Link fixed! :) -Jay]
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