Tobe's Vertical Adventure (PC) (2011)

20120311:
I decided to play for a couple of minutes, but I didn't enjoy it much, mainly because I disliked how the controls weren't as fluid as Super Meat Boy. Super Meat Boy also lets you replay levels on a stage to stage basis. In contrast, Tobe's Vertical Adventure keeps its level select in its main menu and is currently locked.

Wall slide

I wish the rope release and balloon actions had their own dedicated buttons. I find myself trying to release the rope or accidentally using the balloon at the wrong times. And since they use up inventory, it's quite a waste.

Game Time: 0.4 hrs

[20141225 Edit]

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20120713:
My friend Josh and I played the co-op adventure. We thought it was strange why the keyboard has to be use to navigate certain parts of the menu. In any case, we were able to switch from the keyboard to our gamepads. Unfortunately, the colors for the buttons on the gamepad don't match up with the default button assignment.

Getting used to the controls were hard at first, but I felt like they were a little more natural than when we first started the game. For me, it was more natural than when I first played the game. However, that some of the controls are still a bit clunky and the level seems to have glitches here and there. Maybe this is solely a two-player issue.

Tips:
: Nana doesn't get height after she wall jumps, but she can use her double jump. To climb the wall, quickly repeat the action.
: Using the hand grab in co-op mode is quite useful, but most tasks, if not all, can be completed without it.

More Tips:
: Collecting treasure and fowl helps obtain upgrades.
: Levels come in multiple acts, and can be selected from the main menu after all acts in that level have been completed.
: For the big treasure chest, the cursor will speed up after one of the two players hits the down button.
: If both characters die, the duo will start back at the last lantern flicked on (checkpoint locations).

Tobe needs to use the balloons on this one.

And One More Tip:
: When one character dies, pressing a button will spawn the dead character at the position of the living character. If this is in the air, the character will begin free falling. If there is a vine or chain to climb, the player that just spawned needs to press up to grab the vine, or else continue falling.

Overall, while today's experience was better than my first encounter with the game, I still like Super Meat Boy much better.

Game Time: 1.3 hrs

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20120726:
Today, in order to take screenshots, I revisit the single-player campaign. I find myself making more use of the balloons and chains with just Tobe. Note that you can also play single-player with just Nana.

Tips:
: Try to collect as much treasure and fowl as you can before opening the big chest. This will mean less time spent on the ascent and hence a higher time bonus.
: Related to the previous tip. I thought the time bonus from the big chest was only useful for finishing in time. However, you will also improve your time bonus.

+15 seconds!

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Tobe's Vertical Adventure (PC) (2011)

Relevant Links:
Tobe's Vertical Adventure Webpage
Tobe's Vertical Adventure (Steam Store Page)
Tobe's Vertical Adventure (PC) (MetaCritic.com)

Puzzle Agent (PC) (2010)

Overview: Agent Nelson Tethers (FBI) is an expert on puzzles and this adventure is his first field assignment. Things are going to get weird in Scoggins, Minnesota.

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20120310:
I knew I would like this game, because it's game description reminded me of Professor Layton and the Curious Village (NDS) (2007). Unfortunately, I haven't played anything on my Nintendo DS in a while (at most 3 times in the past 3 years), and so I haven't gotten around to playing any other games in the Professor Layton series.

For some puzzles, half the battle was figuring out what the puzzle was asking. Otherwise, I got through most puzzles as quickly as I did with the average puzzle in Professor Layton or Toki Tori (PC) (2010).

Note 1: Apparently hint gum respawns randomly. This, however, was unimportant to me because I didn't ever use one.
Note 2: Some puzzles can be done with little thought by simply getting the pieces to click into place.

Having created this post at 5:52PM ET and finished the game at 10:18PM ET, I estimate having completed the game in 4.5 hours. Using previous knowledge of the puzzles and skipping all the story, one could potentially finish the game in less than half an hour.

Gameplay Notes (spoiler alert):
. Arm Wrestling Redux: the wrestling puzzle was a little tough until I figured that it was an elimination match: A vs. B, C vs. D and winners from the first two rounds play against each other.
. Wrangling Watchmen: Bernie didn't work last, but he worked 8 hours. Neither did Iggy, and he started at 6. Then Bernie must have worked after Iggy. Pop couldn't have worked before Iggy either. Thus Al worked for the first six hours before Iggy. Iggy worked for 24-(6+8+3)=7 hours. So from 6AM to 1PM. Then Bernie from 1PM to 9PM. So it was at 8PM.
. Menacing Map: The rules failed to clearly define a valid path. Eventually I assumed it meant that no possible path would lead to a gnome. This ended up being the puzzle's intent.

. Lol, that moment during the furnace puzzle was alarming.
. A Quorum of Crows:
A B C D E; BA-2, DA-1, EA-1, BC-2, CB-1, DB-2, BD-1, EB-1, CD-1, DC-1, EC-1, ED-1; DBA, DBC; EDBA, CDBA, EDBC; ECDBA -1 -1 -2 -2; Total of 5.
. Locksmithing Learner: Lol, reassembling the pieces.
. Frantic Fish: oops, I got this puzzle wrong. Despite knowing the correct fish, I accidentally thought I just had to pick the right line.
. Hydraulic Headache: it wasn't clear if the lifts would only lock if they were in 1, 2, 3 or not. Apparently they don't have to be and will lock into place once reaching a target.

Steam Game Time: 4.6 hours

[20120310 Assumed Post Date][20151126 Edit]

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20151127:
Today I replayed Puzzle Agent and I felt like I was more impressed with the game than before. I was, however, quite surprised by the ending.

Gameplay Notes (spoiler alert):
. Wrangling Watchmen: Iggy must have worked at 6AM, because if he worked at 6PM and was relieved, there'd be no one to replace him (his shift has to be at least four hours long, leaving at most a two-hour shift). Then neither Bernie nor Pop can work before Iggy, so Al takes the first shift. (During my previous play I concluded "Bernie didn't work last." Perhaps that's because he refers to the "last shift.")
. Frantic Fish: #3 of Frantic Fish is crucial. Each fish only can have the next in the chain in its stomach.

Steam Game Time: 3.5 hours (8.1 hours total)

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Thoughts:
Pros:
+ All the dialogue comes with voice-over
+ Great theme

Neutral:
~ Relatively linear gameplay (the game makes it clear where you're supposed to go)

Con:
- Lacks the ability to take notes.

[20120310 Assumed]

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Comparison:
One benefit to Professor Layton and the Curious Village was the ability to take notes directly in the game with the stylus. I would recommend keeping a pen and paper handy, or some other place to keep notes (like a blog).

Further comparing the two, I found that Puzzle Agent initially didn't have the same mysterious atmosphere that Professor Layton had. This did, however, begin to change as the story progressed (I first noted this change with the Lodge + Sheriff).

Finally, Puzzle Agent seemed to repeat various puzzle ideas compared to Professor Layton. While this was welcomed when the puzzles became harder, it was bland when the puzzles were just as simple as the first time I encountered them.

[20120310 Assumed][20190511 Edit]

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Puzzle Agent (PC) (2010)

Relevant Links:
Puzzle Agent (Steam Store Page)
Puzzle Agent (Telltale Games Website)
Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent (Wikipedia.org)
Puzzle Agent (PC) (MetaCritic.com)

Realm of the Mad God (PC) (2011)

20120306:
This game is currently free to play on Steam. You can also play here: http://www.realmofthemadgod.com/. You can also register your Steam account as a web account to play on the website or use your web account in Steam. When you load the game in Steam, just hit the "account" button and choose which option you want.

I'm the blue wizard and to my right is Josh's grave.
At the bottom right, he tells me via Steam chat, "that was hectic."

The art is like old-school graphics. Very simple, but aesthetically pleasing. Or I suppose it's more nostalgic. In any case, you play a character class and move around attacking mobs on a gigantic world map. As you fight, you gain items and experience. Unfortunately, if you die, it's over, so it's important not to overextend. The game boasts being able to support a bunch of players in the same world at the same time. This certainly holds true in the lobby, and with the simplicity of the graphics, I don't see why not.

At one point, another player and I traveled the map together to fight baddies. But we overextended and he/she died. I don't remember if that was the first game I started or the second game. I didn't lose the second game yet. I suppose to play it safe, you can level up with the easier mobs before exploring more of the map. Some enemies can really deal damage. So maybe traveling in groups wouldn't be a bad idea, but you should probably get a good diversity. I only know about the wizard class, but as I tried to gather equipment, I noticed other standard classes such as necromancer, priest, ranger, and warrior (or maybe knight).

I believe classes need to be unlocked as you level a different class. I don't know the specifics. I didn't play too much. Though I definitely played enough to say the game has some addictive qualities. Also, not all is loss if you die. I believe you still gain experience for the class. And like I said, you at least unlock other classes. I'm not sure what else.

Killing a snake. Mobs are also shooting at me from off the screen.

My Current Progress:
So I when I died as a level 12 Wizard, I had earned 39 Fame. My current Wizard is level 11 and has 10 Fame. I have no idea about the purpose of Fame, but you get it by accomplishing class quests. I also at some point unlocked the Priest class.

Character Classes:
Rogue Archer Wizard Priest Warrior
Knight Paladin Assassin Necromancer Huntress
Mystic Trickster Sorcerer

Notes:
I believe the rate of attack for holding down the mouse button is faster or just as fast as rapidly clicking down the mouse.
Kiting seems like a safe strategy. Picking off the enemies that venture out towards you. However, this might be inefficient compared to the spawn rate unless you either have all day to spend or travel in a group.
Also, I don't know if there are restrictions on going back to the Nexus (the lobby), but that seems like good alternative to dying. You lose any uncovered map, but no big deal.

[20120312]

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20130124 Comment:
Steam has me logged for a total of 11 hours and that I last played on 20120625.

I tried to kill this guy, but couldn't and had to teleport away.

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20130124:
I played some more today, but mainly just to get some screenshots. This game is free-to-play, but the fun doesn't last if you don't put money into it. And the amount of money that you would have to put into it to make it fun isn't worth it. For example, you are given, free of charge, one chest with 8 slots to stash equipment. That equipment stays in the chest even when you die and start a new character. Teasingly, the vault is full of many chests, but they need to be unlocked. For every chest you want to unlock, you need to pay between 3 and 5 dollars (depending on which real money for in-game gold package you purchase). That's ridiculous. There's plenty of games out there that are hours of fun for the fraction of the price. For example, I bought four copies of Terraria (PC) (2011) for $7.49 and I've logged 130.9 hours on it! I have given out two of the copies, one friend has logged 5.2 hours and another has logged 191.0 hours!

Steam Game Time: 1.0 hrs last two weeks / 12.0 hrs on record

Just one free chest!?!

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Realm of the Mad God (PC) (2011)

Relevant Links:
Realm of the Mad God
Realm of the Mad God (Steam Website)
Realm of the Mad God (IGN.com)
Realm of the Mad God (Wikipedia.org)

Mightier (PC) (2009)

20120302:
Wonderful free game! The best part about it is the customization of the characters and objects. First thing you get to customize is your character. He can be just a ball if you want. Then the jet pack. Then a flower. Then a helper unit. Then a tree. That's where I am so far. I got to the level where the passcode is ARENA. But you wouldn't want to skip ahead, because each level adds more elements to the game. In any case, you don't have to remember the passcode for the last level you did. When you choose continue, that passcode is automatically there.

The surface gets cut to exactly as you planned it.

An interesting technology, which I wouldn't use due to usage of ink and paper, is the ability to print out the maps and draw the solutions there. Then using a scanner or webcam to scan your hand-drawn solutions back into the game. I think you can also do this for characters and the other objects that can be customized. At the moment, it's also extra work for solutions which are too easily worked out. The mouse isn't terrible at drawing either. And there definitely wouldn't be a problem if you had a tablet.

Then you take your actionaut, set out on the newly cut surface, and try to collect all the data. If at first you don't succeed, try and try again.

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20130123 Comment:
Steam has me logged a total of 70 minutes.

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20130123:
So I went back and finished the game. There's about 15 levels and the story culminates with a file you should print out and cut up, because trying to solve it virtually is a pain in the butt. In my completed solution, four edge pieces were missing. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not. Regardless, the pieces given were enough to read off the code and obtain the final part of the story. The ending, if you can even call it that, isn't anything special.

Steam Game Time: 1.4 hrs last two weeks / 2.5 hrs on record

As you can see, each customization comes from a drawing. You make the drawing and the game automatically brings it to life.

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Mightier (PC) (2009)

You create the level sets.

Relevant Links:
Mightier (Steam Store Page)
Mightier (PC) (MetaCritic.com)