You do not have to create vast cinematic experiences or realistic game environments to enjoy a game. In this review, I check out a game created during a game jam: Enter Stop, a fun puzzle escape room. I decided to play through all the levels and see what this game had to offer.
Daichifob is developing Stop, and you can check it out here on itch.io. Stop is a simple game that takes the idea of freezing time to jump on moving objects—using blocks and bullets to make it across to other levels. Preventing laser beams and spikes of death, you make your way across to be transformed to the next level through the orange circle of teleportation. The controls are pretty straightforward and will have you zipping through the levels and trying to solve each level, giving a lot of inspiration from the Portal games where you use the environment around you to find a way to get across to proceed to the next level. The game is a little buggy, but it is excellent in the mechanics. The only issue I have had to deal with is the buttons sometimes do not register that you are on them when you come back from a time stop. And a double jump with using the “W” key and “Space.” Otherwise, I was able to get through all the levels without running into any game-breaking bugs.
What inspires me with this game is Daichifob’s goal is to improve his skills as a game developer. He started making games this year (2020) and is showing his progress on itch.io for everyone to see. The best message that comes from this is anyone can become a game developer and make fun games regardless of your skill level. Practice and perseverance help you hit the finish line and get where you want.
Solid Mechanics
The mechanics for Stop are straightforward, and that is what makes it great. It does not try to be more than it is. You can move around with the WASD keys, freeze time with “K,” and if you have the bullet ability, you can fire a bullet with “J.” The placement of the controls seems to work alright, although I hit J and K in the wrong situation. But overall, it is excellent.
The freeze mechanic allows things that get affected by gravity or momentum to freeze in place—allowing you to shoot missiles freeze time and hop on the bullet and ride it across the level. Or freeze a box that will enable you to reach that ledge that was not accessible with the jump height that the W key gives you.
It Is Fun
An essential element to remember when making any game is to playtest it—making sure that it still holds that primary game mechanic that keeps players engaged and having fun. Stop does this by having the player feel clever by solving each puzzle. It is only a couple of mechanics, which is nice. If you are an indie developer, the best guidance I can give is to find what makes the game fun and engaging and then build around that.
Not all games require a fun element. As weird as that sounds, there is sometimes a goal to convey a meaning, a message, or overall feeling. You can create scary games, or sad games and make the player feel just as engaged. In the end, it is about finding what the center mechanic or message you want to give and building around that is. It still has to hook the player just like a good book or movie.
It Is Okay To Fail
The best thing any developer can do is fail. As crazy as that sounds, failure is a fantastic teaching tool. Most successful games and businesses, in general, are created after many attempts that failed. You have to take that failure and have it motivate you to better the next time. Thinking about it in another way, how often do you succeed at something and decide to keep trying, again and again, to perfect what you were working on, I would imagine not often.
In Stop, this failure mechanism is how you can quickly restart when you mess up or when you die, and you are immediately brought back to just try again. No redundant, you have been killed screens; instead, it encourages you to do better, which is a perfect message to give anyone trying to beat your game and general advice.
Nice Things To Have
This game is super fun, and I know the developer is rapidly creating projects to improve his skills. This one is an excellent example of a great concept that can turn into a complete game. So if this game gets more updates or someone wants to take this concept further, these are a few nice to have that would be a sweet topper to this game.
- Co-Op Support – Create a way to have two block characters that have to work together to succeed.
- Flip It – Flip the level upside down in order to get out of the level.
- Change the Character – If there was a mechanic to change to different shapes and you have to match those shapes to get to the next level.
- More levels!
Seriously though, this game is impressive and fun, and before I knew it, I ran out of levels to play. This game is worth checking out and enjoying.
Thank You
Let’s continue to support indie developers new and old trying to make a difference and show the world their creativity. Let Daichifob know that he is doing a great job and continue his passion by shouting out to him on Twitter @Daichifob and check out his game Stop on Itch.io
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