Netbookist: Netbook Games, Tweaks, Challenges » bored

FREE: Mari0 – Mario with a Portal Gun

Corporal — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:01:39 +0000

Every now and then, indie game makers bring something new to us gamers sick and tired of the commercial industry’s logic of safety. Everything seems to be become a first-person shooter – even classics like Syndicate, Fallout and Jagged Alliance have gone that way, despite their successes as isometric games. This time, stick it to StabYourself to come out with a game that is a mish-mash between Portal and Mario. This platformer is a unique game, and by default, it comes with both Super Mario Bros levels as well as Portal levels, so you can play a Mario-with-a-Portal-gun game or Portal-with-Mario. There’s also the ability to create your own levels if you’re willing, and despite the really retro interface, this game does have the means to connect to a server where you can find all the DLCs, as well as connect to other players so you can play Portal with others.

Now, a 2D version of Portal isn’t a new thing. A while ago, I reviewed a Flash version of Portal, which is basically similar to this, except it was higher res and less cute. This, however, is a lower-res, cute-to-the-max, 8-bit screecher that is meant to tingle your senses with nostalgia, and the platformer does have some dynamism – as mentioned, you can play this as a full-blown Mario game who has a portal gun, or you can play it in a more serious Portal-only fashion.

Beginners beware: the lack of a save game function will force you to see this at the most unfortunate of times!

The game does have a few issues. Chief of which is aiming your Portal. The biggest issue lies in the fact that this game is windowed, so if you accidentally over-scroll, you will find yourself clicking on the desktop, which minimizes the game and makes you search for it. This is especially common when you’re trying to shoot portals. The programmers would do well making a scroll-limit, so you can actually shoot your portals without accidentally clicking outside of the game.

For a game that is less than 10mb, Mari0 has much to offer. It is absolutely compatible with Windows 7 and XP, and doesn’t require much of your computer for it to run smoothly. It’s a great time-waster, and you’ll thoroughly enjoy the time you spent on this game. Of course, a pet peeve would be having to restart the game all over again just because you lost your last life. That is truly ouch. I wasn’t too good with Mario, and didn’t know that turtle shells are skeeting battering rams – that took a few lives from me. Also,

Portal-with-Mario, instead of vice versa. A second mode of play.

I didn’t know that red lasers meant death and that blue lasers functioned the same way as platforms. Sounds absolutely noobed out, but that can happen Which leads me to highlight the next issue: the fact that you have only three lives to work with, which can make things tough on beginners who aren’t familiar with Portal or Mario. You’ll find that without a save game function, you’ll be losing lives really quickly as you find out how to tackle monsters/lasers/traps.

You can download the latest version here, for Linux, OSX and Windows.

Bored? The Last Stand will waste 15-minutes of your time

Corporal — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 22:38:42 +0000

Left For Dead-style zombie killing. Perfect time waster

What better way to waste time then to play The Last Stand, a game with one of the most enduring concepts out there that ensures you be entertained for at least 15-minutes – zombie killing. In this 2D cartoon style zombie killing game, you play the protagonist whose job is to go out in the day to hunt for weapons or survivors to join your crew, and at night, you will be on your fortified backyard battlefield trying to fend them all off with various weapons such as a Uzi, hunting rifle and chainsaw, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.

The game’s simple concept ensures that you can jump straight in without thinking. It’s literally point-and-shoot. Point your cursor over an enemy and press your left mouse button and they will get shot. The challenge is trying to keep as many of them off the fence as they will slowly ebb your defensive barrier away. You can make such a task easier by budgeting more time towards searching for weapons or survivors in the day, both of which will help you in the night when you need to stop the flow of zombies.

Obviously, this game is not a game that lasts long-term, because of its repetitiveness after a few nights of fighting. Difficulty does ramp up as the days go by, but you’ll probably get bored before it becomes challenging.

Play the game here.

Bored? Reddit Fun Oil is extremely addictive

Corporal — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:29:54 +0000

Mundane? Don't be so sure until you tried it...

One of the most addictive online games out there has to be the ones on Reddit. And then there’s Reddit, which is another story altogether on how it ruined my life and ruined my sleep. Nonetheless, if you’re bored and need something to get through the day, consider going to play the Reddit Fun Oil.

The game can last you an hour or so, depending on how persevering you are. It involves you drawing lines so that you can lead black balls of oil to the Reddit Alien. Alongside this, are the trolls which are dispensed from the same place where the balls come from, and it is in your interest to lead them away from the Reddit Alien, as once he reaches the Alien, you’ll lose all your previously accumulated points and the Alien will not accept oil balls temporarily.

Here’s a tip for all you people who don’t know what time the narwhal bacons:

Draw a V-shaped lines that will lead the oil balls to the Alien. This way, you will avoid having the moving platforms kick the oil balls elsewhere.
Trolls are exceptionally bouncy, one little platform will make them bounce away. I generally always look out for the trolls, and when they appear, I would quickly draw a line so that they bounce off.
Green X-shaped moving platforms are dangerous as they can kick the oil balls out of the confines of your V-shape lines. To counteract this, draw extra, wider V-shapes outside the main V that lead to your alien too.

Play it here!

Bored again? Entertain yourself with Line Rider 2.0

Corporal — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 17:19:44 +0000

Oh my! So many more options than before!

If you liked the previous iteration, Line Rider Beta, there’s a new version of this ‘toy’ by the same person, on his own website. Unlike the previous version, this version is highly updated, and you won’t need to depend on gravity to give you all your locomotive force. You can exploit tracks that accelerate and decelerate, or disappear to alter your track.

Still trying to loop my hoop... not bad, actually.

In fact, more and more it seems like the perfect tool for people looking to make a rollercoaster. And in this version, you get to use two characters instead of one, both with pixelised faces that add to the… humour.

If you have not read the article on the Beta version, here’s the lowdown – this game is a sandbox game where you draw a track and you will be presented with a character who takes his sled down your track.

It’s up to you whether you want to test the limits of physics – like I did, or if you want to build a rollercoaster, etc. Your imagination can be made real with a few lines drawn on the trackpad.

The game is extremely addictive, and there’s no rhyme or reason why. All I can say is that you have to try it for yourself.

Check it out!

Bored? Here’s Line Rider for you

Corporal — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:58:07 +0000

How fun can a game about drawing lines be? Incredibly fun.

This is awesome!

best flash game ever!!!!

i totally flipped out when i saw this. i have been looking for this game for 3 YEARS!

Above are some quotes from people who stumbled upon this page, probably thinking, how fun can a game about drawing lines be? Well, just as they stumbled upon one of the most terrific web-based ‘toys’, I have too, and I’m here to share about it to you.

Many a times the web has a lot of things that are great time killers. I remembered back in the early 00′s, Newgrounds was the hottest place to be when you’re bored. And then there was also Neopets, Runescape… the lot.

Today, I’ve stumbled upon another great boredom killer – a game called Line Rider. It’s a game where you are supposed to… er… well, it’s a sandbox game with no aim. As the developer puts it, “Its not a game, its a toy.”

You are supposed to draw lines and see how far you can take your Rider, or how high your Rider can jump. There isn’t specific goals, but probably some implicit ones – like can you loop the Rider… or how many jumps can your Rider do before he loses his sled?

Still sounds daft? Try it for yourself and you’ll see the light.