From Manuel Fallman, the wizard that brought us the excellent but not quite recent Bubbles, comes a wild platformer that's going to turn your world upside-down.
In Mindscape, you start off being greeted by a giant pink bunny that welcomes you to the "Candy Meadows", further explaining that you are in fact in a delusional state of mind (full of candies no less), and must get out before you're stuck there. That's straightforward enough (I guess?) so you're dropped into the first level and off you go.
It's mostly a typical 'jump and run' platformer with an important twist: gravity changes. A little bit at first, especially on the first level, but by level three you're walking around free-floating boxes and trying to keep your orientation as the screen flips and rotates to keep your head always pointed "up". There are occasional signs to give you a tiny clue as to what general direction you should be headed. You can collect items for points throughout the level (sometimes it's candy, sometimes pills; it changes with each level), and there are numerous trophies hidden throughout the game as well.
There have been platform games that have used a world-turning, stomach-churning mechanic before, the most mainstream example being Yoshi Topsy-Turvy for GBA. MindScape takes that idea and goes all crazy bananas with it, spinning the world around in different directions until you literally have no idea where you're going anymore. It's a blast.
Analysis: I wasn't too sure what to make of this game at first, because it starts off like a very typical platformer: you're running, you're jumping, you're collecting things for useless points, there's fighting monkeys, and it's all like "so what?"
Okay, fighting monkeys are never all like "so what?"
The point being that about 3/4 of the way through the first level I almost stopped playing, but there was a point when I walked up a wall, over onto the "ceiling", and then fell off the ceiling and back onto the "ground" with the screen swinging violently with each orientation change. That was when I truly understood what the game was about. The rest was pure, nauseating, disoriented fun.
This game is a brilliantly conceived and executed platformer of the highest level. It's a testament to the level design that I somehow never got lost, even though at a few points I was literally free-falling through tunnels with the screen turning and tilting at each intersection.
Don't get too close to the baddies though: they seem to cheat through a bit of generous collision detection, but they're easy enough to avoid.
Mindscape is a side-scrolling platformer with a... twist, in that the entire level rotates as you play. There are three "worlds" with four levels each, which steadily progress from the creepily joyous Candy Meadows to the joyously creepy Center of Your Mind. The graphics are perfect for this sort of game, and the creator, Manual Fallmann, has found an excellent assortment of slightly deranged music on Newgrounds' audio section. There are also some very nice little cut scenes between worlds. It looks like there's quite a bit of replay value to this game, since the title screen has a link to a "trophy room" with six different trophies, none of which I found while playing through the game. Highly recommended.
This game might give you headaches....so you might wanna give it a short rest every ten minutes ago.
You can find a lot of hidden goodies and stuff if you're not afraid to do a bit of trekking, plus you should keep an eye out for surfaces covered with what appears to be the ground, like grass. Jumping towards those (or even down what appear to be holes sometimes) might lead to treasure hoards of candy or pills. Remember kids, when you're insane, pills are your friend!....well, maybe not. But who cares, you're insane!
As for those trophies, all of them are off the beaten path, and you may find more than one in a single level. They usually occur near the exit of the level, or at the end of the fork in the road that you might not have taken, or maybe even tucked away in a hidden area off the beaten path. These small prizes are really, really shiny, and have their own names.
Also, each level has a given amount of items you can pick up, and it will tell you when you have gotten all of them.
Some levels might have more things than the level thinks it does, but that's not really that much of a big deal.
Enjoy the stay in YOUR BRAIN.
Gah! Stuck at the
chase scene
. Any suggestions?
Good lord that was a creepy game. The atmosphere, graphics, music, enemies, etc., are all perfectly designed to creep the hell out of you. Nevertheless, I managed to finish the game in the first sitting. With 4 out of the 6 trophies no less. :)
weirdguy: The problem with jumping down random holes is that sometimes they really *are* holes. :P I did that a couple times while playing, and you lose an entire life that way, not just some health. Which is a problem given that it seems you can't ever earn lives back. By the last world, I just was trying to find the door and nothing else. :)
eli. This should help you:
Just keep running after him. You have to time your jumps perfectly so that you don't get slowed down by hitting a bit of the walls. You run just a bit faster than your alter ego, so if you keep jumping well, you'll catch up eventually.
Here's what I know so far:
The first page in the trophies menu are all collectable items hidden throughout the levels. I know one is hidden in the fourth stage of the first level, it's hidden beneath the upside down platform.
The second page of trophies are collected by gathering all the candies, gears, or pills in any given level. Once you have all of them you then need to complete the level successfully.
eli:
Catch up to him! You have to anticipate jumps so as not to get slowed down by them, but when you do you end up a bit faster than he is.
What a fun game I got stuck for a bit with the black slugs but really enjoyed it. jay im going on 55 come june and your jig web page is the place I come every day to have fun. you have to have the best games to play on the net. I thank you from heart for putting such effort in jig. and I want to say that everyone that comes here makes it a place with a fantastic vibe.. my respect to one and all~*~ be safe and thanks again. amagic2u
woah.
head trip.
Reminds me of FancyPants Adventures---obviously 'cause of the gameplay, but also from the visceral sounds of impact when the villians "smack" you.
Bunnies!!!
Awesome!
Awesome game, nice music, colours, backgrounds, storyline, gameplay... its the works!
Great game. The third area (with the drugs) is especially disorienting. There was a point there when I was falling and flipping around for a good half minute before I finally managed to get to my feet.
I also enjoyed how, in the introduction, it switches between crazy music and no music as the point of view changes.
Now I have to get all the trophies and medals! (I only got one of each the first time through.)
I love how you can take this game seriously if you want to, or just play it. Like, it's your mind, is it real or are you just messing with yourself? :P
Of course you are.
I also notice that as you delve deeper into the mind, the levels become closer to the reality at the end of the game. So was it you or your twin who put you there? WhAt A tWiSt!
I've always loved Mindistortion. My only complaint here is my headache from the vertigo. O_o
How do you
get the key from the rabbit? I've gotten past it twice, but both times I came here to see if someone posted the answer, and when i got back the cutscene was playing.
Never mind. I figured it out. I thought he was hitting me with it when I got too close.
Game of the year.
PHENOMENAL art, AWESOME mechanics and controls, EXCELLENT atmosphere, and just enough of a plot to make me curious for the end.
And to top it off, the difficulty level, for me at least, was JUST right. Enough that I ran out of lives and had to continue, but not so hard that I had to re-experience his beautiful levels again and again. For me, that really preserved the WHOA factor of walking down a tunnel and suddenly being somewhere COMPLETELY different. (floating color cubes, anyone?)
I had spent a couple hours browsing his site this weekend, but didn't play THIS game because the description led me to confuse it with the recently reviewed Game game game. (Which I didn't really want to play again.)
Definitely the front-runner in my mind for best of 2007! (But it's early yet.)
This has gained my seal of approval. (believe me, thats hard to get) I agree that it reminds you of Fancy Pants, very nice game play. But, i don't think they've got the twirling and flipping in Fancy Pants. This game is very addictive, i was playing it for my whole second peroid in school! But, I beat it first try. Highly recommended!
I loved this game!
I thought it was a great length. Long enough I didn't feel cheated, but short enough I could finish it in one sitting. Which, I was compelled to do just so I could see what the next world would be. I agree with Jamus that the level of difficulty was right on. By the last scene I was on my last life with some health gone.
Speaking of the last scene, I thought the ending was perfect for such a strange and exciting game. It makes me wonder what will happen to the guy next. (Which is not common for a quick flash game.)
All in all a wonderful game. Thanks for the review. And thanks for this site.
Awesome! The entire game is beautiful, strange, and just the right difficulty. The only thing I wouls add is some gravity shifts and less presicion jumps during the chase scene, which I cannot get past at all.
Is there a trophy for getting every single candy/gear/whatever?
This was AMAZING! Thanks Jay!! Seriously, the way this made you come to realizations, like the drug trip scene, when after you had "taken" (collected) so many pills, and all of a sudden, you're in this crazy colorful trippy world. This was just incredible. Any other games like this should be posted to the point of spam....seriously....amazing....
Hey, I didn't say to jump down random holes. I'll say right now that if you see any holes that look DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT from other holes, like grass leading down them, or that they appear to lead inside somewhere instead of sending you to your doom, there's a good chance that they have something for you in there.
Speaking of falling to your doom, you may want to be careful during the metal levels, as sometimes gravity won't catch you if you stray too far from the "floor" parts. If there's nothing to land on, you shouldn't make that jump.
Awesome. I love how it lets you get a bit Matrixy with your movements (this is especially worth trying on the Robots levels).
I'd love to see a fighting game based on this gameplay.
Only one thing I can say: WeIrD
aww...it is very sad...
Actually, after the candy meadows, his mental condition was worsen. That's why all the Monkeys turn into evil robots and the background is grey. Then at the third level, all the monkeys turn into black slugs. Then all the drugs and pills were medicine for his mental condition. That's why there was this part were the background suddenly changed into colourful circles and squares...i finally figured it out!
ohoho..what a game!
Wow. That was... odd. Really, really odd. Fun, but odd. (Note to self: Stop saying "Odd".)
AARRGG...I keep going round in circles!!
Great game...really different! WARNING do not play when suffering from a hangover, this game is likely to make you chuck!
I had SO much fun playing this game.
I liked how as you progressed, the levels began to make more sense, and how his evilness was all...evill.
I hated the bunnies.MAYBE THATS WHAT CAUSED HIM TO GO INTO MENTAL PROBLEMS!YESSS!
Wow! What fun ^.^ The levels that actually look like the
asylum
kinda bother me... For instance: The creepy music, and everything looks so the same ... eep.
When I finally met up with the other, like, evil, part of him, I freaked. Seriously. I sat there looking at the screen, and felt a desire to run xDD Then I finally realized, despite the shivers up my spine, this was a game.... Oh shuddup. I can hear you laughing.
Heyyy.. I lose at this whole trophy thing... On the first part of the creepy part, you know, the asylum-ish part that begins with the couch and the light, can anyone give me clues to where the trophy is? I'm lost Dx
This was just awesome. I'm bookmarking it so I can show it to people.
I didn't find any of the trophies, though. Whoops.
(I especially like how forgiving it is when you die. Heh.)
FYI:
The game file appears to be gone from the site... which itself seems a bit... blank.
Bummer.
where do you find secrets 5 and 6
The game is gone, the website is rated "red" by Site Advisor, I recommend you remove the links.
[Edit: Manuel's MINDdistortion website will be back, he is just experiencing some issues with the domain since the original owner recently passed away. The site will return soon, and I'll update the entry here when it does. -Jay]
man, that was awesome.
but the end was really creepy!
i really liked the effects with the gravity, although i was kind nauseous by the end
=]
The link appears to be broken... *cries* I WANNA PLAY IT!
[Edit: I just checked and all links appear to be functioning properly. -Jay]
Oh. Well then my computer must not be working right... how tragic.
I need help with the secret items from the insanity level. Scary couches and scary doors. *Shudders*
Now I just need the other one.
I found the meaning of life now.
So now what?
TWO Words:
THAT
WAS
WOOL (Wierd and cOOL)
uh (counts on fingers) 1...2....3 ....
thats 3 words, me.(hmmm...technically 6?)
(well someone had to say it);)
Wow.
That game was suprisingly good.
I had to try to beat it two times.Didn't time the jumps well. Actually...
I didn't time them at all. :(
Does anybody know, where to get the music from?
Wow...I've never been scared while playing a game before...but this one had me tingling all over in the final level and every time the level changed slightly in looks, or an enemy appeared it made me feel on edge and jumpy...
It really does suck you in...quite an experience :3
vegangoth- go to Newgrounds and type in MindScape, on that page it'll show a list of the songs and their websites...
Secerts I've got: The Meaning of Life, the Bunny Mask, the See/Hear/Speak No Evil Monkeys, Ol Game Console, and the Clock Work Orange... Wheres the last one (I figure it on the third level)?
I am mildly paranoid and I just have to say THAT GAME SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME. especially the ending. AND I DIDNT EVEN HAVE THE MUSIC ON.
On a different note, does anyone know where trophy #5 is? The scroll-looking-like one?
omygod! monkeys and crash test dumys and blobs will steal your soul!!!!!!(lol)
My thoughts on the ending:
"I should have stayed in Candy Mountain..."
...Why? You're cured!
I didn't actually get the plot of this game until I played it all the way through.
At the chase scene at the end of the game;
If your alter ego finishes first, you go crazy.
Catch him, you're still crazy but not as crazy, waking up with what seems like amnesia.
The final level was intriguing.
Again, completing the game makes you realise why the last level was in a creepy dungeon full of doors and pills, (and the occasional comfy chair in what seems like a normal room, but still creepy) and the whole thing was a dream. Though we already knew that, but didn't know where!
All turns out he's a drug addict in a loony-asylum fighting subconsciously for his sanity.
Yeah I pay too much attention to detail.
I don't know if this is the same case as eli's up there... but...
When I get to the chase scene I can't move. The dark version-guy doesn't move either. I can run in place, but the character himself doesn't travel any distance. I wait about a minute and the scene where the evil guy wins the race plays, and I lose a life. Is this a flash problem or is that what's supposed to happen?
I was having soo much trouble with the chase scene. On my most recent try, I loaded the 3rd level, made it to the chase scene. Lost, again. The thing started me about three paces behind my shadow, and with no countdown! So, before the first jump even came(the jumps were my issue), I had caught him & received a very unsettling ending...Nice game anyway, but they should probably fix the glitch. Unfortunately I don't know how it's activated. OK I need to stop rambling now.
My thoughts about the game:
First you arrive in the Candy Meadows, where there is a hyper bunny saying that you are in a delusional state of mind, and you are trying to collect candy, almost like an obsession...
Then the scene turns gray, the monkeys become robots, and the candy turns into robotic parts...
Then you go into a dark room full of rows and rows of doors, almost like an asylum... Now there are black slugs roaming the corridors, and you are taking pills, for a disease... which explains the area with the bright squares and the background that changes color... And in this area the trophy you collect is a strait jacket...
Finally, you catch up with the dark side of yourself. As you chase him, and eventually overcome him, you finally wake up into reality, Locked up and trapped inside an asylum...
I think I'm gonna heave...
This game is hosted right here on JIG for people who can't find it.
https://jayisgames.com/games/mindscape/
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