And we have returned! After this author experienced a little lumbar calamity, Weekend Download is back and more weekendey than ever! So, what are your plans for the weekend? A light hoverboard ride through the forest? A teensy jog through a cave? A plain and simple walk through the forest? Or, just maybe, if you're feeling wacky, all of the above?!
Factorium (Windows, 8MB, free) - This "shmup" release from Lazy Brain Games proves you don't necessarily have to overwhelm the player with things to shoot in order to provide a challenging experience. Riding on a hoverboard across the forest, your character's attacks slowly charge at the bottom of the screen. To unleash doom upon your foes, you must drag and drop commands as they become available. Each maneuver is unique and has its own special use in the game, so choose wisely, but don't dally, as you must avoid enemies at all times. Gems that fly out from defeated enemies increase your score, and you can compete for the most awesomeness on the online leaderboards after you've beaten the game. A short experience, but a unique one!
Cave of No Return (Windows, 3.2MB, free) - If Canabalt starred a young girl, took place in a cave, and were released on the original Game Boy, it would be Cave of No Return. This surprisingly beautiful game challenges you to run as far as you can while avoiding obstacles by jumping or sliding out of the way. Stay away from the cave-in and keep up your speed by tapping the [down] arrow key, and mind any gaps, stalagtites, and other obstacles you see along the way.
A Walk in the Forest (Windows, 2.2MB, free) - That's all there is to it! It's just a walk in the forest! Move around over 60 different screens, hopping on fans to get a lift and avoiding spikes along the ceiling, floor and walls. Then, keep walking through the forest, trying to find your way home! It's a very simple game that doesn't try to do anything especially game-like. It's just you, a character, and a few obstacles. No puzzles or riddles or characters to mess with. Just, you know, a calm little walk in the forest!
Note: All games have been confirmed to run under Windows 7 and are virus-free. Mac users should try Boot Camp, Parallels, or CrossOver Games to play Windows titles, Linux users can use Wine. If you know of a great game we should feature, use the Submit link above to send it in!
Well, looks like I get to be the first to say this: Welcome back!
about a walk in the forest, were you being serious, or were you saying that like cave story is just a game about caves
Hello, I tried submitting games (about hundreds of times?!) but there is no way I can tell if it's working, I posted two comments on this before but there's seems to be no reply. Is JayIsGames experiencing problems, I don't see games people have submitted except for Super Treadmill. Hello?
[It is working, I can assure you. When you click the final "Submit" button, the page will tell you "Thank you for contributing! =)". That's an indication that your game suggestion was received here at JIG headquarters. We do receive a lot of submissions and therefore we do not respond to each one individually. Nor do we feature every game submitted. We work by committee here, meaning we evaluate all games and discuss them before deciding whether to feature them. Sometimes we forget to credit those who send in suggestions for games, primarily because we were already working on a review for the game anyways. But we could do better in this department, and I promise we'll try harder. We appreciate your suggestions and we will work harder to thank you for contributing. Cheers! -Jay]
A Walk in the Forest is kind of buggy. The first time I played, the map showed the entire world but not my location. So I figured out where I was, the best way back to the house, and finished the game in a few minutes. Then I played again, and the map only showed the locations I had already explored.
If I had to guess, A Walk in the Forest was once a much larger, more ambitious game, but the developer gave up halfway through and released it as a "minimalist" game.
A good set of games.
Cave of no return is harder than Canabalt since you must remember to slide (down arrow key) to use as a boost, and the girl gradually gets closer to the falling debris. It's a good game though and the 3D pixel effects are awesome.
A Walk in the Forest is the most frustrating "calm little walk in the forest" I can imagine. Death takes you all the way to the beginning, so you can then repeat the almost linear path to the house once again from the beginning.
When I change screens, most of the time I have to lift my finger off the movement key and then press down again as my character will have stopped. This means when making a jump across two screens you will stop halfway and fall.
It really shows that the author just gave up and released it when it was incomplete, also there appears to be a problem with the minimap on the right side of the map where a wall is not displayed, so it looks like the room connects to another when it does not.
Also, finally got across the gap the character was trying to cross at the start and there are 4 screens with a few obstacles in it and I don't know why the character ever left the house in the first place.
At least the graphics are top notch.
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