Keyway
A brand new game from Tonypa, this one is a variation on Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) designed for playing with fingers, instead of legs, and using a computer keyboard for input instead of a dance pad.
Like most games from Tonypa, Keyway is very simple to play. Using symbols to represent the arrow keys and the space bar, the game displays a sequence of keys that the player must press in order, and as quickly as possible, to advance to the next level, or screen.
There are 20 screens total, and you begin with 100 seconds total with which to make it through them all. You receive an additional 10 seconds for completing each screen, and you lose 5 seconds every time you make a mistake and press the wrong key.
Scoring is relatively simple and straightforward: you receive a point for every correct key you press, 10 points for every level you complete, and bonus for the longest correct chain. Bonuses are added up at the end and tallied to reach your final score. If you finish the game you receive another 1000 bonus points.
Analysis: Like so many of Tonypa's game designs, Keyway is simple and elegant and a wonderful addition to his growing collection of casual games. Although the game features similar gameplay to the previously reviewed Beat Bubbles, he changes many of the characteristics of the game to make this one stand on its own. For example, I especially liked that each level's key sequence is randomly generated, as well as entire levels being switched around at random. This allows the game to feel fresh every time. Also, each level's key sequence is initially hidden from view, and then a smooth animation fade is used to reveal each key slowly. This actually has more than an aesthetic affect, as it forces the player to pace through each level. It also creates an additional challenge since the ability to look ahead is removed.
The only nitpick I have is that eventually the key down sound becomes a bit grating to my ears, though your experience may be different. Also, sometimes a background task causes Flash to pause for a split-second and that can cause me to retype the same key thinking that the first time didn't 'take'. This usually ends up in a mistake, which can be a little frustrating. And while this is not a flaw with the design, it is probably an indication that this type of game is not best suited for the Flash platform.
All things considered, Keyway is another fine design from Tonypa that is very enjoyable to play and one that can be picked up again and again.
OoOoh! This looks entertaining..
I'm going to go try it :)
Interesting game, quite a lot of fun.
One suggestion I have is that the trail starts to disappear at the end, to give a sense limited time. It would have to be tested to see if it was good.
Tonypa, the fonts aren't antialiased in the score reading, that might be good to fix. :)
Nice job!
Fun enough, but not a lot of replay value, I think. My main complaint is that there isn't enough of a break during play to be able to glance up to the score/countdown.
I finished the game on my second try, with just one error. (Looks like second and third place must have cleared it with no errors)
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Marc.
Yes this does feel like beat bubbles. It would be cool if it were match to beats of music. Just a suggesting, but I am always loving your games tonypa!
Never i see the sound thing on the left now :(
Interesting for the Stroop Effect aspect. You have to follow the direction of the path with your eyes, but not necessarily press the key that corresponds with that direction.
Yes, the Stroop effect! Thanks N@ for providing the link. I was trying to find the right words to describe that, but didn't know how.
I looove Tonypa games. It brightens my day almost every time when a new one is released. tonypa, if you read this, and I know you usually follow the comments on your games here at JIG, thanks for some awesome games.
I remember seeing stuff about the Stroop effect at the sciencey type museums that the teachers would take classes to back in elementary and middle school, but it was never demonstrated this well. It's a learning experience as well as a game! haha.
By the way, Jay, this is not necessarily the first internet variation of DDR. However, I like Keyway way more (plus it uses the spacebar).
I'm not sure if the scoreboard is really fair. When I ran out of time I had not made a fault yet. Then my bonusscore of the longest chain was zero, I should have made a fault on purpose in my last seconds to score much higher.
Tonypa is, as always, synonomous with quality. Just amazing.
nice idea, but it turns out to be extremely easy to do
Tonypa, you are awesome! I've been trying to learn your tile tutorial, but perhaps it's a bit advanced for me ^^
The game is great, but my only struggle is that you have to press the key inside of the char, not the one he's going to. I'm so used to pressing the one you go to that I mess up all the time :P
But hey, then it'd be to easy :P
UnknownGuy, could you explain the fonts problem again, I cant see anything wrong there :(
wouter, I thought I solved that problem, but it turns out I still missed the chain calculation in other part of game. Sorry about that, will go and fix it again.
I was a bit afraid the game might be too easy, looks like I have to add another bonus for time left once you finish whole game.
Thank you all for nice comments :)
huh? the game isn't working on my computer. no matter what key i press, it's wrong... =(
Correct Keys 181
Longest Chain 77
Finished Level Bonus 100
Score 358
yay! it seems i'm first!!
but i did make two mistakes...
I don't understand then...
Ah, maybe the game's been changed...
Anyway very nice game, as always!!
Here a screenshot from the scoreboard:
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/6812/tonyscorekg6.png
I know you from flashkit, my name is walnoot there, I think I understand what unknownguy means. You would never want a scoreboard to look like this.
Great game, Tonypa.
One way to make it harder might be to start the first few levels with all the arrows pointing in the direction that the chain is moving. This will lull your brain into associating the movement of the chain and the direction of the arrows. Then start adding spaces and mixing it up later on. This would require some fancier programming, though, I think.
how is it possible to finish all 20 levels? the next symbol doesn't appear fast enough, and i didn't make any mistakes before i ran out of time on level 16.
Nice idea for the game, but the arrows appear way too slowly, I find myself going faster than the game, and messing up.
ah, I fixed the fonts in the score screen now (forgot to embed the font obviously).
majorlee, I dont know why the game is not working for you. Did you get into game stage by clicking on the big rectangle with arrow inside it? If you can see line of arrows and squares then the keys to use should be arrow keys and space key. If none works, please let me know which version of Flash player you use and what OS and browser. Flash player 8 is required and jay reported that game does not work under Opera 9 for Mac. Sadly it looks like Opera 9 for Mac has trouble with key events, I cant do much about it.
cpinyan, nice idea :)
I honestly did not think about arrows pointing in the direction of movement, for me they were just markers of keys. I am quite surprised with comments that associate arrows straight to the movement. It just shows how people see things in different way. I dont think I will change the game now, but this is good to remember for other games.
Yay! Third place, 2511 points. Fun game.
Funny idea, well executed. I especially liked the fading in effect, which made me wanting to keep up the pace as the path unfolded. :)
It did, however, become somewhat boring after a while. No new elements where introduced, even a color or perhaps symbol change would've done, but alas. Oh well.
Okay, I've beat this game a few times now, but I can't break the 2500 point barrier. I don't make any mistakes, and I'm going as quickly as the symbols appear. How does the #1 have 4400 points? How can I increase my score?
my best is 1049
nice, quick, sneak in a few games before meetings.
:) thank you
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