Click nothing to begin. It's obvious from that very first screen of Depict1 that you can't do what you're told if you want to progress. But what or who are you disobeying, and what exactly should you be doing instead? You'll need puzzle-solving wits along with platforming fingers to complete this thought-provoking game by Miroslav Malesevic, porting the original downloadable game by Kyle Pulver to Flash.
Ordinarily, this is the part where I'd blah blah blee at you about the controls, but not this time. Just learning how to move is a puzzle in this game. The voice tells you to use the [arrow] keys, but I'll save you some time and tell you they don't do anything. What other common keyboard control scheme is used for platform gaming? Not very difficult to figure out, right? Okay, how about this helpful instruction from the voice: "Press space to Jump." From that, can you figure out what key it actually is? If so, great; if not, experimenting a little won't hurt you much, since if you die in this game, you're only ever sent back to the beginning of the current level, and levels are fairly brief.
Figuring out the controls is only the beginning of the trickery in this game, which is appropriate, since the original game was created for the "deception" themed 2010 Global Game Jam. The goals of the levels may also not be what they seem. Put on your backwards thinking cap, because more often than not, what would be a help in an ordinary platformer is a hindrance, and vice versa. However, you eventually get to levels where there's no obvious reverse of the "right" answer. What should you do if you only know what not to do? That's the key to this game.
Analysis: The smug disembodied voice with questionable or even deadly advice for the player started as a parody or subversion of game narrators and tutorials, but it's now a theme in its own right. From the meme-generating mega-hit Portal to the recent art game Loved, these "don't trust the game" games are popping up more and more.
Depict1 isn't content to copy the big boys of the genre. The endings of the game are open to interpretation, but my understanding of the ending involves a twist I haven't yet seen in such games. This isn't yet another completely predictable Portal-clone. (Although I still say that someone needs to make a game where the main character completes the experimental course with the bright and cheery help of ethical staff and receives delicious cookies and a check to pay off student loans at the end. It would mess with people's minds so much.)
The platforming is fun and sometimes challenging but rarely needs razor sharp precision or perfect timing and reflexes. Finely honed platforming instincts may actually work against you in some level until you twig on to the "dangerous = helpful, safe = deadly" level design. The one really difficult level of the original game was updated by dividing it into two levels, thus making progress lost with death quite small. The game as a whole should be within reach of most gamers. Puzzle solving in the game relies almost entirely on keen observation, both through careful reading of the text commentary by your "helpful" friend and of the game field itself.
The game's puzzling and platforming aspects are well balanced, avoiding becoming another hardcore platformer with a few puzzling aspects clumsily grafted on to attract a wider audience. Neither does the game fall into that frustrating trap where the puzzles are awesome but the developer forgot little things like "collision detection" and "controls that respond." Depict1 is among that elite group of puzzle/platform games that I would recommend to fans of one genre who are wary of the other. For people who love the hybrid, it's not to be missed.
Walkthrough Guide
(Please allow page to fully load for spoiler tags to be functional.)
Depict1 Walkthrough
General Tips:
Ignore the text at the top of the screen, or do the opposite of what it tells you.
Restart a level by pressing the space bar.
Clicking outside the game causes it to pause, click on it again to unpause and resume play.
Press P to pause, 0 to mute and unmute sound, and + and - to adjust the volume.
If you log into a Bored.com profile, you can earn in game achievements, accessed by the achievements button at the bottom of the game window.
Level Walkthroughs:
Intro/Menu:
Click on "Click nothing to begin" to start, then press x+c when told not to.
Level 1: Please Wait
Wait for the wall on the right to disappear after a second. Use WASD, not arrows, to move. Run right, and enter the beam of light.
Level 2: Reset
Wait again, until the wall disappears, then run to the right, enter the beam of light.
Level 3: Suicide
Do not use the space bar; it simply causes you to restart the level. Later on this is useful if you mess up and want to restart. Instead use J to jump. Move right, jump up the ledges and enter the beam of light.
Level 4: Caged
Jump up the stairs, run to the right, drop down and move into the beam of light.
Level 5: Trust
Touching these creatures, even jumping on them, kills you. Run right, avoid the creature by jumping over it and jump into the beam of light.
Level 5: Goals
The beam of light on screen at the start is fake, and not the end of the level. Jump left past it to continue. You need to stand on the raised pillar just to the right of the fake light to get high enough. Continue left, jump over the two pits with creatures in them and enter the real light beam.
Level 6: Bottomless
If you drop off the bottom of a level, you reappear at the top and can loop forever. Move right into the light beam, dropping out and reappearing to get onto the platform.
Level 7: Level One
Move left and drop down to reappear on the top platform. Move right, down the stair and drop down again. Don't jump too far right, so you fall onto the top ledge. Wait for the creature to walk to the left of the gap, then drop through and move right into the light beam.
Level 8:
Ignore the time limit. It doesn't matter if you finish before or after it. Jump up using the platforms to reach the goal at the top left. Take your time and wait for the creatures to move to avoid death.
Level 9: Needs
Don't touch the gems, they kill you. Jump over them, move right to the beam of light.
Level 10: Hurdle
Move right. Jump over the creature onto the raised platform. Wait for the right creature to move away from the pillar, and then jump over it and land close to the pillar. You need to be at the peak of your jump when you are over the gem. Jump over the creature into the beam of light.
Level 11: Safety First
It doesn't matter whether or not you press the button, the spikes are harmless. Pressing it does get you an achievement however. To complete the level, run right either over the bridge or through the spikes, and into the beam of light.
Level 12: Breakthrough
The "spring" is actually a button which destroys the block below it. Jump on it, avoiding the gems, when the creature below it to the right of it. Jump off the left of the platform and you will fall in a loop. Move right (with the correct timing) to drop onto the upper ledge and run into the beam of light. Alternatively, you can jump straight to the exit, and get an achievement for it!
Level 13: Reflex
Jump on the bottom and immediately move off it. A box will fall down onto the button, and you can then use it to jump up and to the right. The next button drops 4 boxes onto the area where the creature is patrolling, killing it and allowing you to walk past to the goal. If you don't press it you can just jump over the creature to goal. Sparing the creature earns an achievement.
Level 15: Impossible
Run left, jumping over the obstacles. You will need to jump off the top of the screen and walk on top of them above the top of the screen. Jump onto the backwards L shaped ledges, then onto the high blocks which reach the top of the screen. You will be able to see the glow around your character as it expands making navigation easier. When you reach the end, drop off to the left, and then back on to the lower level. Make sure you don't jump into a gem by accident. Run right through the harmless yellow spikes to the goal.
Level 16: Antonym
Grab the boots, which are actually low jump boots. Jump on the yellow button to drop down, and jump up the stairs. The low jump boots stop you jumping too high into the gems. Go right into the goal.
Level 17: The End
Pressing esc will return you to the menu with an achievement, press continue and you will start again on this level. Instead, run right and jump at the top half of the wall. There is a secret passage which you can pass through. Run a long way right, drop down the steep "stairs". Just keep holding right; there is another secret passage at the bottom of the steep stairs which lets you through to the goal.
Level 18: Not Quite
Jump off to the right, and you will fall out the top and loop infinitely as always. Keep falling to the right and you will eventually reach a platform with the goal on it.
Using Yellow Spikes:
When you pick up harmless yellow spikes, you can throw them by pressing K. They stick into walls and you can jump on them, allowing you to climb vertical walls. You are limited by the number of spikes you have, which is the same as the spikes you see before you pick them up. You can only pick them up in blocks of two. The number you have left is not shown anywhere in the game though. You cannot throw spikes into a wall you are pressed right up against. You can embed spikes in other spikes, creating longer platforms.
Level 19: K
Move left and pick up all the yellow spikes. Go right, jump over the gems. Jump and throw a spike about halfway up the wall, then use this to jump up and over the platform and into the goal.
Level 20: Missing Piece
Grab the spikes in front of you at the start of the level. Throw one into the left wall, then one into the platform to get up and press the button. Go right and drop through the hole you created. Go all the way down, then go right and press the button. Go back to the platform level with the gems. Keep throwing spikes at the block you just created to make a bridge across the gems. Go up, drop onto the bridge and run across it. Finally jump up to the goal on the right.
Level 21: Ascend
Go right, jump up and continue right. Jump over the gems and through the wall into a secret passage. Press the switch, then go back left and grab the spikes. Back at the start, jump onto the top platform which has now appeared. Wait for the creature to move down out of the way, and then throw a spike at the left wall, about a third of the way from the top. The stand on the lower platform, wait for the creatures to move apart and leave a gap, then jump and throw a spike a little below halfway up the left wall. Finally drop down and throw a spike into the bottom of the left wall, and use all three to climb up to the goal.
Level 22: Walljump
Press the switch and drop down, getting low jump boots. Run right and press the button. Grab all the spikes on the right, and then go back to the button. A spike into the bottom of one of the walls. Then jump and throw one into the opposite wall below the peak of your jump, so you can jump up to it. Repeat until you reach the top of the shaft, then run right into the goal.
Level 23: Drop 3
Go right, and drop down to grab the low jump boots. Pressing the switch releases the three blocks above the creatures, and you can either kill all three or trap them in smaller areas making the jumping easier. You can get past without pressing it at all. In any case go left avoiding the creatures to reach the goal. You get an achievement if you do not kill the creatures. You can drop the blocks as long as they do not hit the creatures.
Level 24: Destruct
Grab the yellow spikes in front of you, and jump over the gems. Throwing spikes at the cracked blocks destroys them. Break through two walls, until you come to a seemingly normal one. This one will break as though it has cracked blocks in the same places as the previous walls. Break through to get to the goal.
Level 25: Symmetry
Go left and destroy the block. Wait until the creature is right of the next switch, and then press it. If you are halfway off the switch you won't fall through and will trap the creature on a small platform. Then wait for the second creature to be right of the hole, drop down and break the final block. This will drop you down onto the platform above. Drop down and grab the spikes. Don't press the button above the gem. The cracked wall is fake, so use spikes on it and the opposite platform to climb up and continue left. The double layered wall directly opposite the cracked wall and part of the same block can be broken by spikes. Break through, drop down and go left to the goal.
Level 26: Trades
This level is actually the mirror image of what you see. The goal and you are real and in the right places, but the platforms and blocks are flipped. The real platforms are invisible. Stand on the raised platform on the left, jump right onto a block, jump right again onto another block, jump left onto a third block, and then jump left again to the goal.
Level 27: Raids
This level is flipped, but vertically instead of horizontally. Walk left and fall out the bottom of the level. Jump and go to the right, landing high up. Jump and go right again, and run right. You will be underneath the speech bubble. Keep going right, fall down, and then walk right into the light.
Level 28: Maids
I can't work out how this level works, but I can get through it. Go left and drop through the bottom. Run right, falling a bit several times until you get stuck. Go left and fall out the screen and back up, and finally go right into the light.
Level 29: Dec--
Run right past all the eyes, and through the wall where you will drop out the level and back to the passage at the top. Drop down, and press right when you pass the top gem. You should drop onto the platform and not hit the bottom gem. Use the block to jump up and grab the spikes. Go right and use the spikes to climb up the shaft. Jump to the right, past the creature and drop onto the platform. Do the same again to land on another platform. Use the block to jump up onto the lowest stair, and throw a spike right. Stand on the block, wait for the creature to rise and then throw a spike into the wall without jumping. Then drop down and use the spikes to climb up. Press the switch, causing a chain reaction which will eventually remove the wall allowing you to pass. Drop down, go left for more spikes. Go right, and climb up another shaft to reach the goal (finally).
Level 30: --eit
This level is just hard platforming. Keep trying. Jump right onto the platform. Jump over the gem and stand before the gap. Jump between the two gems and press right once you are past them to fall onto the next platform. Jump up twice more, over gems, to get to the highest point. Jump over the three gems, between the next set and out the bottom of the level. Then press right and land on the lone block. Drop down without jumping and stand in front of the gem. Jump and hold right at the same time to make it under the gems above your head, and land on the next block above. Jump across to the next block, and jump over one last gem to the goal.
Level 31: Deception
Ending 1/2 (Trapped Forever)
Jump right, drop back into the first level and go into the light.
Ending 2/2 (Free)
Do the same, but wait instead of going into the light. Eventually it will fade and disappear. Run right into a secret passage. Run past more eyes, grab some spikes, and continue right. Throw a spike (just one!) into the yellow block. Use this to get over and continue right. If you throw it too low you won't be able to get up, so restart and try again. Jump into the weird light. A doppelganger will appear. Jump and move right, and throw a spike in mid air. Your doppelganger will not copy this, and move further left than you do right. Then move more right, and he should fall left into the central gems. Finally, run right into one final beam of light.
Achievements:
Shawshanked: Get ending 2/2 (Free).
Save Me: Spare the creature in Level 13: Reflex.
Leap of Faith: Jump straight to the exit in Level 12: Breakthrough
Truth: Press the arrows keys in Level 1: Please Wait.
4Life: Get Ending 1/2 (Trapped Forever)
Early Release: Press Esc in level 17: The End.
Bricklayer: Press the button at the start of Level 11: Safety First.
Immortal: Complete Level 3: Suicide.
Save Us: Do not kill any of the creatures in Level 23: Drop 3.
Believe Me: Jump on the creature in Level 5: Trust.
With thanks to Max for the walkthrough!
Posted by: Jay
|
November 26, 2010 4:55 PM