It's been a little quiet around here these last few days, so I thought I'd share a few of my personal favorites from the last three packs that haven't been talked about too much...
- Where's That Darn... (Tungsten #6): This level is yet another example of the power of simplicity. A couple of days ago, I heard a rather interesting definition of the word from Apple during their unveiling of iOS 7: "bringing order to complexity." I think the same principle applies to Chip's Challenge, a game that carries with it much more complexity for beginners than we as expert players or veteran designers sometimes care to admit. This level, however, accomplishes that goal beautifully. The toggle door double-maze concept has been done many times, but this iteration of it is fun and engaging, with a toggle button visible at the start that ends up not being the end goal in a surprise twist that is thankfully not cruel at all. The maze itself doesn't feel like it goes on forever and overextends its welcome. In fact, the second maze, where all the chips can be collected, gives the player a somewhat greater sense of freedom after feeling confined to the narrow hallways of the first. Great stuff.
- (Ir)reversible (Tungsten #15): I feel like any CCLP voting process naturally tends to favor "high concept" levels such as these because they feel fresh to us as veterans. This particular level, however, plays around with a concept expertly without resorting to meaningless trickery: basically, you must decide which of the two options in front of you isn't a one-way path so you can collect the chip there and return to take the one-way path. If this sounds like 50/50 guesswork, then no worries - each of the options presents with it a way to see which option is the “correct” one. The end result is fun and captivating.
- Elevators (Tungsten #16): Sometimes I wonder if we as a community have gotten to the point where we fail on a level through no fault of our own and immediately shove it aside, saying, “That’s guesswork!” without really seeing what the level is all about. I hope that won’t be the case with this level - because although it does feature a bit of trial and error, the primary gameplay mechanic is so simple and easy to understand that finding the solution isn’t really all that much of a chore. In fact, there’s a logical consistency to the path that must be taken that’s pretty neat to discover. The short length and the force floor slides outside the playable area that define the directions in which the balls are cloning are also a wonderful touch.
- Jeepers Creepers (Tungsten #20): I’m afraid this level will get overlooked purely on the basis that it looks just like Spooks...except with blue walls instead of dirt. The truth is, this level actually plays much differently since there are real blue walls with which to contend. And although they may not be quite as many in number as one might see in a typical ChipMine-esque level, they work so seamlessly with the fake wall “boundaries” adjacent to the areas in which the teeth reside to create a level that’s much more rigid than meets the eye. The ultimate challenge here is to avoid the natural inclination that accompanies a normal blue wall maze - to “try everything,” as one LPer put it. While this is necessary to find one’s way around, it ultimately leads to one’s demise if attempted near a teeth monster. Knowing when to push and when not to is paramount here, and maintaining that sense of alertness to make it out alive is a difficult yet reasonable challenge, one that distinguishes this level from its CC1 counterpart.
- Frozen Pipelines (Eggplant #32): Ice mazes have kind of fallen into the same category as blue wall mazes to many players: they represent the tedium of testing everything before the level can be completed. What elevated the ice mazes of CC1 above the norm was that they actually carried a lot of artistic merit. The designs of I Slide and Ice Cube are absolutely gorgeous. This level has its own unique design style that puts it above its ice maze peers, with criss-crossing paths meant to represent pipes and various 3x3 “stations” where you can choose from different paths. What makes this network of paths so neat to navigate is that each of the branches from the 3x3 stations is non-complicated and simple to follow; some of the paths lead to entirely different stations, and enough of these exist to make going back to where you started much less frustrating than it could have been. It’s also refreshing to see an ice maze that has an exterior area that’s not icy at all. All in all, a wonderful level.
- Meteor Shower (Vermillion #12): CC1’s dodging challenges weren’t anything terribly lofty, and that was probably for the better. Levels like Underground were so simple but carried with them a strategic element that was often hidden to beginners and yet was still reasonable because the environment was so open - a stark contrast to the claustrophobic confines that tend to define dodging and puzzle levels in this day and age. In the world of precision dodging, a level like this is a godsend. It's beautiful, it's fun, and there's lots of room to actually run around and dodge. Definitely a winner.
- The Pace Quickens (Vermillion #28): Ever wonder what would happen if each of the little rooms in Oorto Geld toggled at a different speed and had a different number of monsters inside? This level pretty much answers that by forcing the player to run through clone buttons that clone blocks affecting the speed at which a fireball toggles the walls. Each room successively gets "faster," with more toggling and more monsters to consider. The end result is a classic example that is fun and simple while knowing just how far to go without being annoying.
- Spumoni (Vermillion #41): This level has been one of my favorites in the voting pool since I first played it; it's very tricky, but not overly so. It's hard to describe its basic premise in so many words, but what it essentially boils down to is traversing a square of fire, water, and force floors with different combinations of boots. The challenge is knowing what order in which to approach each set of boots while considering where one can go with, say, only flippers and fire boots and that chips protected by combinations of force floors and the elements are awaiting at the bottom. While it may involve a little bit of trial and error, it's not terribly mean at all, and more than one solution actually exists. On top of that, the aesthetics of this level are just beautiful. Definitely a top candidate for CCLP1 and a great alternative to the typical Steam-like maze.
- Where's That Darn... (Tungsten #6): This level is yet another example of the power of simplicity. A couple of days ago, I heard a rather interesting definition of the word from Apple during their unveiling of iOS 7: "bringing order to complexity." I think the same principle applies to Chip's Challenge, a game that carries with it much more complexity for beginners than we as expert players or veteran designers sometimes care to admit. This level, however, accomplishes that goal beautifully. The toggle door double-maze concept has been done many times, but this iteration of it is fun and engaging, with a toggle button visible at the start that ends up not being the end goal in a surprise twist that is thankfully not cruel at all. The maze itself doesn't feel like it goes on forever and overextends its welcome. In fact, the second maze, where all the chips can be collected, gives the player a somewhat greater sense of freedom after feeling confined to the narrow hallways of the first. Great stuff.
- (Ir)reversible (Tungsten #15): I feel like any CCLP voting process naturally tends to favor "high concept" levels such as these because they feel fresh to us as veterans. This particular level, however, plays around with a concept expertly without resorting to meaningless trickery: basically, you must decide which of the two options in front of you isn't a one-way path so you can collect the chip there and return to take the one-way path. If this sounds like 50/50 guesswork, then no worries - each of the options presents with it a way to see which option is the “correct” one. The end result is fun and captivating.
- Elevators (Tungsten #16): Sometimes I wonder if we as a community have gotten to the point where we fail on a level through no fault of our own and immediately shove it aside, saying, “That’s guesswork!” without really seeing what the level is all about. I hope that won’t be the case with this level - because although it does feature a bit of trial and error, the primary gameplay mechanic is so simple and easy to understand that finding the solution isn’t really all that much of a chore. In fact, there’s a logical consistency to the path that must be taken that’s pretty neat to discover. The short length and the force floor slides outside the playable area that define the directions in which the balls are cloning are also a wonderful touch.
- Jeepers Creepers (Tungsten #20): I’m afraid this level will get overlooked purely on the basis that it looks just like Spooks...except with blue walls instead of dirt. The truth is, this level actually plays much differently since there are real blue walls with which to contend. And although they may not be quite as many in number as one might see in a typical ChipMine-esque level, they work so seamlessly with the fake wall “boundaries” adjacent to the areas in which the teeth reside to create a level that’s much more rigid than meets the eye. The ultimate challenge here is to avoid the natural inclination that accompanies a normal blue wall maze - to “try everything,” as one LPer put it. While this is necessary to find one’s way around, it ultimately leads to one’s demise if attempted near a teeth monster. Knowing when to push and when not to is paramount here, and maintaining that sense of alertness to make it out alive is a difficult yet reasonable challenge, one that distinguishes this level from its CC1 counterpart.
- Frozen Pipelines (Eggplant #32): Ice mazes have kind of fallen into the same category as blue wall mazes to many players: they represent the tedium of testing everything before the level can be completed. What elevated the ice mazes of CC1 above the norm was that they actually carried a lot of artistic merit. The designs of I Slide and Ice Cube are absolutely gorgeous. This level has its own unique design style that puts it above its ice maze peers, with criss-crossing paths meant to represent pipes and various 3x3 “stations” where you can choose from different paths. What makes this network of paths so neat to navigate is that each of the branches from the 3x3 stations is non-complicated and simple to follow; some of the paths lead to entirely different stations, and enough of these exist to make going back to where you started much less frustrating than it could have been. It’s also refreshing to see an ice maze that has an exterior area that’s not icy at all. All in all, a wonderful level.
- Meteor Shower (Vermillion #12): CC1’s dodging challenges weren’t anything terribly lofty, and that was probably for the better. Levels like Underground were so simple but carried with them a strategic element that was often hidden to beginners and yet was still reasonable because the environment was so open - a stark contrast to the claustrophobic confines that tend to define dodging and puzzle levels in this day and age. In the world of precision dodging, a level like this is a godsend. It's beautiful, it's fun, and there's lots of room to actually run around and dodge. Definitely a winner.
- The Pace Quickens (Vermillion #28): Ever wonder what would happen if each of the little rooms in Oorto Geld toggled at a different speed and had a different number of monsters inside? This level pretty much answers that by forcing the player to run through clone buttons that clone blocks affecting the speed at which a fireball toggles the walls. Each room successively gets "faster," with more toggling and more monsters to consider. The end result is a classic example that is fun and simple while knowing just how far to go without being annoying.
- Spumoni (Vermillion #41): This level has been one of my favorites in the voting pool since I first played it; it's very tricky, but not overly so. It's hard to describe its basic premise in so many words, but what it essentially boils down to is traversing a square of fire, water, and force floors with different combinations of boots. The challenge is knowing what order in which to approach each set of boots while considering where one can go with, say, only flippers and fire boots and that chips protected by combinations of force floors and the elements are awaiting at the bottom. While it may involve a little bit of trial and error, it's not terribly mean at all, and more than one solution actually exists. On top of that, the aesthetics of this level are just beautiful. Definitely a top candidate for CCLP1 and a great alternative to the typical Steam-like maze.