Revenge of the Dog
This is the first game I played. I really enjoyed it. It had simple controls, movement was limited to your cursor, the space bar, and the down key. The art of this game really grabbed me from the beginning. It seems like it may be stop motion but with some animations layered on top. The basic mechanic used in this game seems to be that one task triggers the next. This was actually the thing I struggled with the most in the game, there seems to be very rigid guidelines to trigger those necessary events. Game-play is extremely quick, 15-20 minutes but there are 7 alternate endings. On replay, I actually couldn't figure out any of the other endings!
Accelo Alone
This second game I really enjoyed and really struggled to decide between this one and the ultimate one I decided to focus my Playtesting on. This game, like Revenge of the Dog, is very aesthetically pleasing. Where it stands out from the rest of these games is in its simplicity. It has a very minimalist design, really only has two-three colors entirely and uses simple shapes across the layout. This is a puzzle game where you play as a box and time your movements to get past rotating / swinging / swelling shapes. Each time you run into any of those objects, your "death" count goes up and you are thrown back into that same level. This made me obsessively want to keep playing to beat the level, and then do the same on the next level, and the next! I played this one for over an hour until I forced myself to stop on level 18, after multiple deaths!
Dandy Cave Explorer
Another great, addicting find on the Construct Showcase! This is another one I've spent more than an hour playing, mostly for frustrational reasons. The unique thing about this game is the player doesn't stop moving and the only control in the game is the space bar (for jumping). This game is similar to the dinosaur game on Google when there is no internet but where it's more interesting is the level / room layout and the challenges presented! Each time I make a stupid mistake and end up dying, I tell myself "just one more attempt" 10 attempts later, it's the same thing! This picture below is the level I'm currently stuck on and I have literally lost count on the number of attempts. The platforms that are not as solid start to deteriorate as you are on them, and you have to bounce against the wall to turn yourself around. I keep getting down to that lowest platform and timing the jumping wrong, so I end up hitting the side of the next platform and falling to my death on the spikes below.
Davey Bones: Spooky Jaunt
Davey Bones' Spooky Jaunt is a very impressive game that is currently available in the Construct Game Showcase. With a very fitting title referencing Halloween and Davey Jones, the game is largely one in which you play as this ghost, which I would assume is Davey Bones, and attempt to safely navigate the digital terrain, avoiding any obstacles in your path, such as zombies, bats, and spikes.
It's got creepy but energetic music and the aesthetic of the game (despite being solely orange and black) is really inviting! The game is difficult but frustrating enough that it keeps you saying "just one more attempt" after dying and re-spawning within the latest fail-state.
One thing I really appreciate in the game is that players get to choose from three different controls within the game! I personally don't think I have ever seen more than just one console and one keyboard control option. It is a little strange that the specific controls chosen for some of those options are keys that aren't as commonly used within gaming (I would prefer "jump" to be "SPACE bar" or something since I personally struggle with hand-eye coordination , but you get more comfortable with it as you continue to play.
Davey Bones has some unique game mechanics that I haven't seen in many games, which made the replay-ability and the game "flow" all the more enticing for me. The one of the most interest to me is the "Dash" ability, you really have to perfect your jump and dash combination, especially when you add in that a lot of the blocks you "dash" into will disintegrate temporarily! Another thing I really like is that you receive a grade at the end of each level. It really makes you want to immediately replay the level to do better.
Play Matrix
On the Play Matrix, I would graph Davey Bones' fully in the Skill Category.I don't think the game relies on much chance at all. There may be a little but it definitely depends more on the player's combined skills of mental calculation and physical dexterity. Between those two skills, I believe the game falls slightly more into the physical dexterity spectrum because it requires a lot of hand-eye coordination to successfully complete each level. The game also requires a lot of mental calculation in timing your movement and strategizing various methods to complete a difficult obstacle.
If I were to modify mechanics of the game to move it into a different quadrant, I think I would increase the mental calculation while decreasing the physical dexterity. I understand that is part of the appeal of the game and in all honesty I am content with that but I did feel, at times, a little frustrated that simple mistakes I made, not being 100% familiar with the particular controls, would cause me to die and have to start the level entirely. It's a fine line though because changing something that major could easily lose the attention of the audience. Personally, I know this particular difficulty to be a frequent one of mine and know that these types of games help me to improve upon it.
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