Jumper Jape

This is a game in the "hardcore platformer" tradition, which here (and typically) means a run-and-jump game with short but hard levels with infinite lives. Why play these games? Because you get to: -immerse yourself in running and jumping, the most humanly-intuitive mechanics of any game -plot out and slowly learn to execute action sequences to get yourself through a challenging environment -experience radical improvement and overcome challenge through skill and practice alone This game delivers the above pleasures, and features -Visual clarity: always a plus in skill-based games. Admittedly this comes from simplistic graphics, but I actually prefer this to some platformers, like Rayman or Donkey Kong games, whose slick graphics can get in the way. -A simple but well-chosen set of mechanics: double-jumps, extra-jumps, gravity-reversers, and lasers with toggle switches. Double-jump in particular is a fantastic tool to enrich platformers, and is still under-used. Jumps are height-adjustable and require a skilled touch, but there is no left/right momentum as you'd find in many Mario games. The core mechanics and level-design ideas show a strong influence from Jumper by Matt Thorson, one of the best freeware platformers (which however is a Windows-only amateur GameMaker game, and can run slow or fail to run on today's PCs). Frankly, this is a plus. Too many indie games try to distinguish themselves with a brilliant new mechanic. Screw those guys---I like running and jumping! -Some modest amount of puzzle-solving, but with a focus on skilled execution -A level editor -A plot which is silly, vague, and impressionistic, yet surprisingly evocative at points, with elements of Hotline Miami-esque psychological horror coming to the fore in a very well-planned scene that I won't spoil. -Short length and moderate difficulty (for the genre), which could be a plus or minus. For me right now, as a busy professional who also compulsively buys and completes hardcore platformers, it's a plus :) A minus is that a couple (but just a couple) of the levels emphasize nit-picky stuff, like aligning the character juuust right for falling thru narrow apertures. Precision is an important part of the genre, but in that particular situation it's just not fun. If I were to tweak the game to my taste, I would make length and difficulty both a bit higher (or add a harder second campaign); make the overall plot more coherent; and make the protagonist a bit more pleasant to look at. (He's a square-shaped, unsightly drunkard with an orange nose. Note, I am not complaining that he's a square, that's a good shape for this type of game!) But you know, I paid two bucks for the game, and I'm quite satisfied. Might even go and design some levels. Overall this is a nice contribution to the hardcore-platformer genre. Thanks guys!