Timed Climb is yet another simple idea made into a unique and challenging Flash game, this one being a solo effort by Jussi Kari of ooPixel, the same folks behind the previously reviewed Asteroid Adventure.
This arcade action game uses only a single button to play: the [space] bar on your keyboard. Press and hold the key to charge up the power bar at the bottom of the game window, and then release it just before you wish to effect a jump. The small blue bouncing ball moves along on its own until the key is released, at which time it will jump relative to the power shown.
Timing is everything in this game, as the name suggests, with one bad jump often ending it all. The thing to remember here is that the key must be released before the ball touches the ground prior to the jump you wish to make.
The presentation in this game is exceptional with the highlight being a nice vertical sliding effect that both begins and ends the game. It is a nice design choice as it complements the vertical orientation of this arcade climber.
Another nice touch is the concept of conquering platforms as the basis for its high score system. By reaching an unconquered platform, the player is given the opportunity to enter their name. Platforms are "owned" for 20 days, at which time they become unconquered for the next player to come along and claim. It's a novel approach to engaging the player with an incentive to give it just one more go.
Does the game take a long time to load or something? It just seems to get stuck after I set my name for the flags.
um.. after you jump on the platform do you absolutely have to put a flag there or is there way you can play without having to put a flag down?.. Because after I type in a name for the flag it just says loading and then it doesnt do anything after that it just stays on the loading thing
Hmm, I ran into that problem once when I played, too. If the game asks you to enter your name right off, you're not actually connected to the high score system. Try reloading the game again to see if that helps. It did for me.
My guess is it's due to some security mechanism in place to protect against hacking the high scores.
Okok, I got it. You have to go to the ooPixel site and then use their link to the game, then everything works great!
I like the game so far :)
Yeah, I don't see anyone else's flags and once I hit the first platform, it asks for a name, then never finishes loading.
Refreshed and I get the same thing.
Ooops! Sorry folks, try it now. I think it was me leaving out the "www" in the site's URL. =p
It seems that it after it loads, the game starts and I get a "Well Done!" pop up with the ability to enter my name and a submit/cancel. Submit doesn't seem to submit and cancel starts the whole process over. Using XP Pro with adobe flash player 9.
iceninexp - Just reload this page in your browser, then click the link again. It was my fault with the URL.
Fun but annoying... it's simple, but it would be nice to be able to change direction without hitting the wall.
You do eventually work out a rhythm and memorization that enables you to get just a little bit further.
Hopefully I'll claim something eventually.
WOW I am bad at this game.
That ball looks suspiciously like the normal ball in Within a Deep Forest.
Its actually pretty difficult. I keep getting up to about the 5th row and then I fall off and have to start over. But it does get boring rather quickly. So this is only one of those games you'd only bother playing during your lunch break at work.
Hello, thanks for your comments. I don't know why you have had problems with hiscores. It may be the missing www that was previously missing from Jay's URL. It shouldn't be a problem anyway. If anybody is still having this problem, please inform me (post it here, I will read it) so I can look into it.
It seems that people think ooPixel games are hard :-) Well, I guess that's better than being too easy. Or what do you think about the megaman games?
it's kinda annoying that as soon as you make one mistake, you die. I mean, let's say your jump barely misses the platform you wanted, but you land on the platform below... you still can't do anything, and you die. I think if some way to control the direction of bounce were added, it wouldn't necissarily change the difficulty of the game, but it would make it a lot less frustrating.
fortunately, i did not have any loading problems - it loaded very fast. unfortunately, I found this game to be very annoying and i quickly gave up on it. a "game" would need the element of fun, and that really didn't come across here for me. this felt more of a "challenge" and thus would require a lot of time and a little luck to get recognized.
Very nice idea with the people claiming platforms to their names. Sad that I am not very good at it. Maybe, and I know this would break the lovely flagging idea, it would be better to place platforms at somehow random positions each time you play. As it is currently always the same the best way to be successful would be using some macro program which presses key always at exact time.
wow, this game is haaaaaaard...
takes a lot of practice to get to the higher platforms
tip: you only get killed by the birds if you fall on to them, not if you jump up through them
would love to see it show your personal high score, just so you can see how bad you really are!
It would have more incentive if the platforms were numbered, so you knew how close to unclaimed platforms you were getting.
Also, 20 days is far too long, because I reckon this game will be long forgotten by then. Possibly not.
You're right!
It does look a lot like the normal ball in Within a Deep Forest!
It's even got a similar bounce!
Wow, that's an infuriating game. The 'conquering' idea is inventive, but the mechanics are too uncompromising.
Hmm,
here's what I think of it.........
very frustrating, quite boring, very hard. not my sort of game really.
This is the most addicting game I've come across at JiG. I keep getting close to the top claimed platform and the knowledge that I just might get there next time keeps me going. A much better game than most of the comments would suggest.
Oh my... I totally fail at this game. It's the first time I've played something like this.
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