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Armadillo Run |
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Developer: Peter Stock Publisher: Peter Stock Genre: Simulation > General Released: Apr 21, 2006 Players: 1 |
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Armadillo Run is an interesting game to review, and not only because it adds yet another wacky video game animal to my ever-growing zoo collection. It is also an interesting title to review because I'd almost hesitate to call it a game. Almost.
Armadillo Run plays very much like a tech demo in realistic structure physics (well, only as realistic as physics in a vacuum can be). The concept is simple. There's this armadillo, see. And he needs to get home, because he's lost in another dimension. Yeah. So, what you do is build funky little structures to roll your armadillo homey into an interdimensional portal. I swear to you this is the "plot" of the game. It's pretty clear, though, that the story is just there so that this can be called a game. The armadillo could easily just be a yellow ball and that'd be that.
I keep referring to this game as being something other than a game, but that's not fair. It is a game, but the feel is there that it didn't start that way. But that's a good thing. The foundations for Armadillo Run feel very technically grounded. The game is built to allow for realistic structural physics. You can't just build a bridge of metal panels to get your armadillo from point A to point B. It needs to be supported properly. If not supported well, the strain on your supports will be too much and the structure will snap into pieces. Too much slack in your support ropes, the bridge will sag and bounce about, affecting your 'dillo's journey.
The structural components are pretty limited, but there are nearly endless ways to construct them. Since the main environment for the game is nothing but a blank white canvas, the levels are quite literally an artist's playground. Levels can be anything, and can take any shape or scope. The basic tools to use to construct your armadillo's escape are: rope, cloth, metal sheets, metal bars, elastic, rubber and rockets. That's it. Sounds pretty easy, right? Wrong. Armadillo Run is wickedly challenging for two main reasons.
One: You have a budget. Each bit of material costs you some precious cash and you don't have very much. Each level has a specific value budgeted, the more money you save, in essence, the higher your score. All items were not created equal, and neither are they priced that way. All the primo stuff (elastic, rockets, rubber) is very expensive and totally out of the question for use in early levels. And the cheap stuff is cheap for a reason, it's not terribly forgiving. Precision and creativity are key in Armadillo Run and a few of the downloadable level solutions I've seen are really inspired pieces of problem solving from gamers clearly wiser than myself.
Two. Tensions and timers. Any connector in the game (ropes and elastics) can have its tension adjusted, which will drastically alter the behavior of your structure for better or worse. As if just trying to find a cheap, simple structure to build wasn't hard enough, now you have a whole different field of variables to consider. Timers allow the gamer to break certain structural elements after a set period of time, allowing them to trigger events in a Rube-Goldberg inspired fashion. This means even more trickiness to consider. Oh, and did I mention adding timers and adjusting tension costs money the same as using materials? It does. Enjoy.
Armadillo Run is very well put together, but is destined to be a niche title. The game's focus on fairly realistic and therefore fairly rigid physics and complex level solutions may leave many gamers feeling like they're staring at a science project more than a game. However, the more determined and experienced puzzle gamer should be in heaven. The game looks crisp and is deliciously tricky. A relatively small number of included levels is totally balanced by an already strong user-submitted map collection (100+ as of this writing), which are all well-organized and easily installed from the Armadillo Run site. Level solutions can be downloaded here in addition to level hints, which was a key inclusion. No hints would have been a bitter blow to the game, leaving solving at an all or nothing impasse that, for someone like me, would have meant downloading and simply looking at someone else's solution for many levels.
Graphics:
The graphics in Armadillo Run are nothing to write home about. There's nothing spectacular that occurs onscreen. However, what is there is crisp and clean. The game benefits from its simplicity because nothing is obstructed on screen and there are not complicated backgrounds to distract. It also runs very smoothly, even in a window with other apps in the background.
Sound:
This is not a game about sound. There IS sound, and it's not bad by a long shot, but it's clearly not part of the team's focus. There's no music, and no sound while constructing levels, only the clanking and colliding noises of your contraptions once you're attempting to run the armadillo through them.
Gameplay:
The interface is very simple, but what comes out of it can be very complex. There are no timers or flashy bells and whistles to dilute what is just straight and pure puzzling bliss. Buttons to change modes from structure, to tension, to timer ensure that you won't be accidentally adding effects to your structure that you didn't intend. The play is as clean as the look.
Concept:
There's not tons to the concept of the game. The game follows the same basic conceit as titles like Lemmings or the recent Eets. Guide creature from Point A to Point B by altering the environment in which it travels. Armadillo Run does not expand on this idea in the least, but it does execute it with precision.
Value:
$20 might seem steep for some for a game that seems so lacking in features. However, Armadillo Run is a well constructed title and it blissfully includes the option to create and download user-created maps. What this means for any title with an active community is nearly endless gameplay possibilities. And the map download system is haphazard. It's well structured on the website with level types (some are meant to be watched, not played), ratings, screenshots and even level sets are included on the site.
Fun:
For many, Armadillo Run will be too hard to be fun. There's no whimsy in the title, so any fun must be derived from the sheer pleasure of solving problems. For anyone who loves that, this is like mana from the Gods. For anyone who likes their puzzles dressed up a bit, the title will feel very dry.
Overall:
This is a try with intent to buy. The game is a very solid puzzle title, with great physics and clean play. The on-line community is clearly already in full swing and there are tons of ways to solve each and every level in the game. This is a puzzler's playground.
Armadillo Run plays very much like a tech demo in realistic structure physics (well, only as realistic as physics in a vacuum can be). The concept is simple. There's this armadillo, see. And he needs to get home, because he's lost in another dimension. Yeah. So, what you do is build funky little structures to roll your armadillo homey into an interdimensional portal. I swear to you this is the "plot" of the game. It's pretty clear, though, that the story is just there so that this can be called a game. The armadillo could easily just be a yellow ball and that'd be that.
I keep referring to this game as being something other than a game, but that's not fair. It is a game, but the feel is there that it didn't start that way. But that's a good thing. The foundations for Armadillo Run feel very technically grounded. The game is built to allow for realistic structural physics. You can't just build a bridge of metal panels to get your armadillo from point A to point B. It needs to be supported properly. If not supported well, the strain on your supports will be too much and the structure will snap into pieces. Too much slack in your support ropes, the bridge will sag and bounce about, affecting your 'dillo's journey.
The structural components are pretty limited, but there are nearly endless ways to construct them. Since the main environment for the game is nothing but a blank white canvas, the levels are quite literally an artist's playground. Levels can be anything, and can take any shape or scope. The basic tools to use to construct your armadillo's escape are: rope, cloth, metal sheets, metal bars, elastic, rubber and rockets. That's it. Sounds pretty easy, right? Wrong. Armadillo Run is wickedly challenging for two main reasons.
One: You have a budget. Each bit of material costs you some precious cash and you don't have very much. Each level has a specific value budgeted, the more money you save, in essence, the higher your score. All items were not created equal, and neither are they priced that way. All the primo stuff (elastic, rockets, rubber) is very expensive and totally out of the question for use in early levels. And the cheap stuff is cheap for a reason, it's not terribly forgiving. Precision and creativity are key in Armadillo Run and a few of the downloadable level solutions I've seen are really inspired pieces of problem solving from gamers clearly wiser than myself.
Two. Tensions and timers. Any connector in the game (ropes and elastics) can have its tension adjusted, which will drastically alter the behavior of your structure for better or worse. As if just trying to find a cheap, simple structure to build wasn't hard enough, now you have a whole different field of variables to consider. Timers allow the gamer to break certain structural elements after a set period of time, allowing them to trigger events in a Rube-Goldberg inspired fashion. This means even more trickiness to consider. Oh, and did I mention adding timers and adjusting tension costs money the same as using materials? It does. Enjoy.
Armadillo Run is very well put together, but is destined to be a niche title. The game's focus on fairly realistic and therefore fairly rigid physics and complex level solutions may leave many gamers feeling like they're staring at a science project more than a game. However, the more determined and experienced puzzle gamer should be in heaven. The game looks crisp and is deliciously tricky. A relatively small number of included levels is totally balanced by an already strong user-submitted map collection (100+ as of this writing), which are all well-organized and easily installed from the Armadillo Run site. Level solutions can be downloaded here in addition to level hints, which was a key inclusion. No hints would have been a bitter blow to the game, leaving solving at an all or nothing impasse that, for someone like me, would have meant downloading and simply looking at someone else's solution for many levels.
Graphics:
The graphics in Armadillo Run are nothing to write home about. There's nothing spectacular that occurs onscreen. However, what is there is crisp and clean. The game benefits from its simplicity because nothing is obstructed on screen and there are not complicated backgrounds to distract. It also runs very smoothly, even in a window with other apps in the background.
Sound:
This is not a game about sound. There IS sound, and it's not bad by a long shot, but it's clearly not part of the team's focus. There's no music, and no sound while constructing levels, only the clanking and colliding noises of your contraptions once you're attempting to run the armadillo through them.
Gameplay:
The interface is very simple, but what comes out of it can be very complex. There are no timers or flashy bells and whistles to dilute what is just straight and pure puzzling bliss. Buttons to change modes from structure, to tension, to timer ensure that you won't be accidentally adding effects to your structure that you didn't intend. The play is as clean as the look.
Concept:
There's not tons to the concept of the game. The game follows the same basic conceit as titles like Lemmings or the recent Eets. Guide creature from Point A to Point B by altering the environment in which it travels. Armadillo Run does not expand on this idea in the least, but it does execute it with precision.
Value:
$20 might seem steep for some for a game that seems so lacking in features. However, Armadillo Run is a well constructed title and it blissfully includes the option to create and download user-created maps. What this means for any title with an active community is nearly endless gameplay possibilities. And the map download system is haphazard. It's well structured on the website with level types (some are meant to be watched, not played), ratings, screenshots and even level sets are included on the site.
Fun:
For many, Armadillo Run will be too hard to be fun. There's no whimsy in the title, so any fun must be derived from the sheer pleasure of solving problems. For anyone who loves that, this is like mana from the Gods. For anyone who likes their puzzles dressed up a bit, the title will feel very dry.
Overall:
This is a try with intent to buy. The game is a very solid puzzle title, with great physics and clean play. The on-line community is clearly already in full swing and there are tons of ways to solve each and every level in the game. This is a puzzler's playground.
By: Michael Scarpelli
Posted: Thursday August 03, 2006
Posted: Thursday August 03, 2006
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