The Particle of Infinite Free Will

The Particle of Infinite Free Will

Puzzle/Action for Sphere

Man, I am TRIPPIN

Amount Played:
I completed the game.
Gameplay to Story Ratio:
There is no story to be had - just an intro with a sole character.
Legality:
Fully. All of Beaker's resources are original or open-license.

Description:
You are trippin' balls. Rob flying particles of their free will to escape your comatose state!



Gameplay


Learning Curve: 8/10
The first level of the game serves as a brief, but thorough tutorial through all of the game's mechanics that you need to know. The levels steadily increase in particle population, speed, and complexity as you are taught by the stage backgrounds themselves how to zoom, time travel, and perform other particle-hunting functions. The final level is a dramatic ramp upwards in terms of difficulty; however, as no new mechanics are introduced there, it feels more like a culmination of everything you've been taught rather than an unfair hike in difficulty - ergo, it's exactly what a game's final challenge should feel like.

Puzzle Mechanics: 8/10
The mechanics of this game are solid enough - you navigate various x- and y-wrapping fields, robbing other particles of their free will until you eventually have enough sheer mental force to burst to the next layer of your coma, and eventually burst out of it completely. You mouse over other particles to sap them, the more will you sap from them, the less erratically they move, until they eventually die and move in a constant direction at a fixed, slow speed. The more free will you collect, the slower the other particles move, meaning you have to start with the slowest particles in order to bring the fastest ones to a speed you can handle.

You can't see the entire field at once - instead, you have to make use of a mini-map to seek out slow-moving prey. Eventually you'll clear the field of all the available particles - this doesn't mean that you're necessarily done. You'll be required to zoom in and out, travel through time, or exert gravitational force to pull hidden particles out of their save havens and into your tyrannical, will-sucking grasp.

Puzzle Balance: 10/10
The levels themselves are all engaging, each one teaches you a new technique and forces you to apply it, along with previous techniques, in order to proceed. The final stage, as I've aid before, acts as a culmination - no new powers or techniques are taught, but instead you're forced to apply everything you've learned in tandem in order to complete the game. This game, I felt, had an excellent grasp of balancing earlier stages with later ones, and I felt the progression was pretty much flawless.



Narrative


Story: Irrelevant
You're really, really high. That is the plot.

Setting: 10/10
The entire game is set within the inside of a druggie's mind during a severe trip. Not that this affects the overall score much, but damn.

Characters: Irrelevant
There is only once character that we actually see - the druggie in the intro and ending that experiences the game as a drug trip. I suppose there is an implied character in the "man" that the druggie refers to in "man, I am TRIPPIN'," but isn't that a bit over-analytical?



Aesthetics


Graphics 10/10
This game is the most psychedelic game on RMN, I'm certain. The gently scintillating colors and interesting (oh god understatement) patterns will enhance the experience without hurting your eyes or giving any seizures. At least, my eyes didn't hurt and I experienced no seizure-like symptoms; then again, I have predator vision, so take that as you will!

Audio: 8/10
One jazzy techno beat plays throughout all the levels but the last, and it's long enough so that it doesn't overstay its welcome. On the last level, the background music becomes much more frantic and tense, which managed to catch me off guard. The change in color scheme helped set it up as being climactic, and to have a peak point in a puzzle game that is quite refreshing!

Interface: 6/10
The controls are fluid and well-explained, and tricks like zooming and time-traveling are easy to perform at a touch. Being able to mouse over other particles instead of having to click them was a neat touch, and a welcome one at that. The only complaint I had - which is a small one given the length of the game - is that your cursor is confined within the window for the duration of the game, even if you alt+tab to another application.



Overall Score