So you say to yourself, "Self," you say, "I don't think I've accomplished enough this week. Really earned my weekend, you know? Maybe if I were to rescue some royalty inside some sort of arbitrary time limit, feed hordes of starving sheep, rescue someone's girlfriend while risking bodily injury... and then told everyone how awesome Jay is Games is... and bought all of its writers decorative muffin baskets... maybe then I can have the weekend of rest I so richly deserve."
We can help you with the first bit of that. (PS; I like carrot spice or lemon poppyseed muffins!)
60s to Save the Queen - There's actually a lot to like about this appealingly retro little platformer with its frenetic midi-style soundtrack. Race to the top of your crumbling castle to save your queen during an invasion, all within sixty seconds. The simplistic design is quite nice, and it can be easy to get distracted by things going on in the background when you should just keep moving. Unfortunately, once you're done, you're done; there's no real reason to replay another sixty second session of the same thing unless you want to try to beat your own highscore. Me? I came to terms with my mediocrity long ago.
8x8 Adventure - This sorta-roguelike is very teeny-tiny. Like, really. Click on the screen to get started, and use the [arrow] keys to navigate your way through a world filled with... something. The problem is that it's hard to figure out what's going on, and currently the whole thing is more of an experiment than a complete game. It's a concept with promise, however, and if the developer follows through with the "To-Do" list at the bottom of the screen, it could really evolve into something special, and I'll be first in line to play it. Well, probably not first. I really am exceptionally lazy.
The Spline - In this dreamy little physics puzzle, the goal is to push and pull the glowing points along the line into position so that when you click the start arrow, the large golden orb rolls along the path and collects all the stars on screen. The whole this has a very soothing presentation, with soft visuals and a relaxing (though vaguely sinister sounding) soundtrack. The problem is that it's a little slow, and a bit of a one-trick pony, too. Hardcore "phuzzle phans" will probably chomp this one down in no time, but people just looking to dip their toes in the genre's pool will find it a simple, soothing experience.
Shaun's Big Lunch - Everyone loves Shaun, and if you don't, then you're no friend of mine. Aardman generally brings us very clever and likable advergames from the Wallace and Gromit realm, but this fast-paced time-management/matchup puzzle is the first one that actually feels like "just" an advergame. Use the [arrow] keys to put food on everyone's plate, earning bonus points for making a complete plate with matching pieces. It's cute, but it's also very simple, and you'll probably get bored long before you lose. It's not baaaaaaaaaaaad, however, and if you just want to see Shaun's adorable sheepy mug again, you'll probably enjoy it while it lasts.
The Harry Stick Journey - [Parental Warning: Contains blood and violence.] So Harry finds himself dropped into a strange world when local ne'er-do-well Punky takes a shine to his girlfriend, and it's up to you to pick the right objects in the right places to help Harry find his way home. It's a weird a enjoyable little adventure, but enjoyment is hampered somewhat by the fact that there's only ever really one right solution (success or violent death) and also because the timer can't be stopped... even when you open the options menu. It's also mildly disconcerting since "Punky" was my nickname all through school. Weeeeeeeeeeird.
Well, for 60s to Save the Queen, you could try to get the sorta-hidden crown in every level after you beat the game.
Came to *terms. :)
Buttons - yeah, you could do that. If you hate yourself. :p
Buttons - Oh! Crowns! I thought they were babies?
Can you get the one on scene 11? I'm just not quite fast enough.
Power of posting - I got it on 11.
... and of course they're crows. You're not wearing a baby on your head after all. ;^)
After more than 60 seconds of trying to save the queen, I'm out of patience trying to deal with the crummy controls. She can save her own self.
(and those pixellated graphics? Yeah, it's funny to see them again, but playing 8-bit platformers is a little like digging an outhouse in the backyard because it'd be fun to do it the old way. Technology is a beautiful thing...give me a Unity game any day of the week.)
How do I get 60s to save the Queen to start? I am at what I assume is a title page and I have tried everything.
Just so people know: you may need to disable any ad-blocking you have to play The Spline. It wouldn't load for me until after I disabled the Chrome extension AdThwart.
(And yes, Jay, I know that these sites and games are advertiser-supported. I have AdThwart permanently disabled for JayIsGames.com!)
[Thank you, everyone here at JIG appreciates that. If we are to continue to provide free content to everyone, we absolutely need to rely on revenue from advertising. Ad blockers affect our ability to provide quality, free content. -Jay]
Is it just me, or is 8x8 Adventure horribly broken? I had to refresh four times just to get a map I could get to a dungeon on, and then in the dungeon I quickly hit a black and white impenetrable wall. The monsters(?) didn't seem to do me any damage, and I didn't see any other "items" in the rooms, so is it really just wandering around until you're low on health, then going to a temple dot, endlessly?
@ JIGuest, i disagree with the 8-bit/outhouse analogy, but regarding the controls, you're dead right. the jumping is all wrong--you have to hold the jump key for maximum height, but this makes you jump again as soon as you land. Also there are a few places where the playing space isn't "bounded", and you can just sort of disappear off the side of the screen and die. Give me a wall of spikes at least, so i know what i'm dealing with.
Agreed that 60s save the queen is ruined by the awful controls.
60s to save the queen always has the same height jump, regardless of how long (or hard) you push the button. Still hate the controls. Not my cup of tea.
But it IS better than 8x8 rogue... I see it's a work in progress, but I'd rather play Nibbles.
Oy with all the 60s To Save the Queen haters! At least one dissenter here. I had a good time. I enjoyed the game quite a lot, actually. Thanks to the developer. No complaints from me on the controls-- it's not like they're sticky or inconsistent or anything.
The crown on scene 9 was a bit on the difficult side-- I finally got it, but it took some brute repetition beyond the point of enjoyment. Other than that, though, this was quite a tasty little snack of a game for me. Really hit the spot.
I liked Spline. I only had trouble with level 14 and had to find a clue on another site. My attempted solution for 14 had been correct in general, but it required pretty much exact placement of the buttons to succeed. On a couple of other levels I think I just happened to be lucky. To make this game better, maybe the stars could have longer points to make them less sensitive, and then the puzzles would be plain fun to solve instead of sometimes annoying.
I hated Shaun's Big Lunch. I was hoping for something charming like Shaun the Sheep that required thinking and planning, but Big Lunch just requires fast reflexes. It's irrelevant that it's Shaun and sheep, since there's no time to admire the sheep and pigs and their lunches.
Loved the Queen, although it was all I could do to complete the levels at all, so I didn't even try for any crowns.
Hated 8x8. In general, I don't like games where the main feature of the game is that most of the playing area is hidden.
Reticulating Splines
Still Reticulating Splines
Reticulating More Splines
Re-Re-Re-Re-Re-Reticulating Splines
Reticulating Splines One Last Time
Hee, sorry, I couldn't resist!
Actually, the Spline is probably the best of the games available in this link dump. 8X8 locked up on me, but I'm beginning to think that maybe the problem lies in my browser - typically my computer locks up on games that are okay for everyone else.
As for 60s, I get more control with the Space bar as the jump button instead of the up arrow, but that makes the game harder to play because intuitively, I want to use the up arrow to jump. I'm glad I'm not the only one having issues with the jump. Never the less, on the second try I got her in 55 seconds! Go me!
I'm with JIGuest -- I'll go back and improve my time when they go back and improve the controls. Fixed jump height is OK, but the game seems very bad at detecting jumps at the edge of a platform, which is particularly unfortunate because it's entirely about jumping off the edge of platforms. And I really don't need an admonishment with my game over.
OK, I lied -- I did go back to improve my score. The feature where you can replay a scene and keep your best time from that scene, rather than do one 60s run, was remarkably humane. And thanks Tabs for the space bar tip.
Still, the jump detection at the edge of the platform needs work; scene 16 was a big offender there.
I'm with Pyano....I don't know how to get it to start. Just looks like a title screen with no where to click but the names of the people who worked on it.
To pyano and TheMusicGirl: underneath the shield in the lower right corner is a Loading text which turns into a PLAY button. Upon clicking this button, you will see the Armor Games animation, followed by the real title page with a menu on the bottom and another Play button in the lower left corner.
Huh.
Well, for those who didn't hate 60s to Save the Queen, my best time is 43, with level times 2,3,3,3,3,4,2,3,2,3,3,2,2,2,1,3,2. I don't think any of those can be improved, but I may be wrong.
I wish there was some kind of extra special ending if you have all the crowns....
How do you get the crown on level 3 of 60s to Save the Queen?
Also, does anything happen when you get all of them?
@Bryce...thanks! I figured out why I couldn't see it, it's because if I just click on the link, it's cut off at the bottom because I had the screen on 95%. (I'm getting used to this computer and sometimes if I touch the touchpad in the wrong way, it changes the zoom. I still don't know how I do this.) All I did was change the screen to 100 percent, and it's fine. You could also try right click-see all, pyano.
I got all the crowns in 60s (FINALLY, #12). Nothing happened. Nothing at all.
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