Preview: Kamal (Dutch Game Garden)
Created in a week by a group of students at the Dutch Game Garden GameJam, Kamal is an Ancient Egyptian platformer in which players must move both the hero and the world to progress.
Kamal can only get so far past an obstacle before he needs help. Mid-jump, it is possible to pause the action, shift the entire world slightly, then press play again, allowing him to make death-defying jumps and wall-jump crazy paths. The video starts off a bit ropey, but it's worth holding on until near the end where the real genius begins.
Kamal will be available for download 'very soon'.
Comments
Gameplay looks a bit tedious from the video. Curious to see if it plays that way.
Posted by: Anonymous | July 21, 2009 5:48 PM
The game was made from scratch in a week, so it's really short and has only the basics to support the core mechanics. For us it was more of a test to see if the concept would work.
Posted by: Eric Diepeveen | July 21, 2009 6:25 PM
Looks like it could either be really fun or really frustrating. Either way, I'll give it a try.
Posted by: Chetyre | July 21, 2009 10:32 PM
Sorry Eric, but I thought you would make something more original in a contest of "original gameplay". Wish I could have been there, I think we could have made something a lot more impressive than this. Still looks like a bit of fun though!
Posted by: Bart Jan Bultman | July 21, 2009 10:38 PM
Actually one of my abandonned projects had a somewhat similar concept. It was about a lazy hero sitting on a couch that did not want to be a hero so the player had to move the world to make him reach his goals. I guess you guys found a less ridiculous and far more interresting way to incorportate that mechanic. It looks well realized and fun, especially for a one week game.
Posted by: Kapser | July 21, 2009 11:34 PM
It´s not that it seems bad in any way. I´m just so sick of gimmicks instead of gameplay, that´s just me.
Posted by: Feg | July 22, 2009 12:14 AM
But what's the use of the copies of the maps around? I mean, it looks basically like you're shifting the guy itself, the copies of the map don't seem to have any use..? So the trick is pretty much teleporting?
Posted by: Anonymous | July 22, 2009 12:26 AM
We wanted to try this mechanic out to see what it would play like. And yes, in the end it's basically teleporting. That's why the game isn't what I hoped it would be. But that's ok. Making games and trying things out is what it's all about. Maybe next time we test something and make something awesome in the process.
Posted by: Eric Diepeveen | July 22, 2009 9:04 AM
@Kapser So it's a lemmings but with only one lemming?
When I first saw this game I thought "Okay, I get the idea, but the end result is you're basically able to pause the game and adjust your character's position at any time, within a certain radius." When I first thought about it I thought that was pretty cheep, but then when I thought again I realized, "Yeah, but how many times have I paused Mario mid jump knowing he was gonna die, and wishing I could just tweak his position a bit."
Posted by: Cymon | July 22, 2009 1:57 PM
@Cymon "Yeah, but how many times have I paused Mario mid jump knowing he was gonna die, and wishing I could just tweak his position a bit."
This is basicly what the FLUDD is for in Mario Sunshine
Posted by: esquar | July 24, 2009 10:11 AM