By John Walker on October 25th, 2007 at 11:45 pm.
I’ve yet to rattle on about my love for Samorost and Samorost 2. Flash games I loved so much I bought the CD soundtrack. (If you’ve never played them, go do so right now.)
I’m sure there’s a genre title for the sort of game, where you have a background on which obvious items can be clicked, triggering animated events. It’s minimal interaction, maximum art. Done badly, it’s the worst sort of pixel-hunt. But done well, it can be really very beautiful.
The Visitor can’t exactly be described as “very beautiful”, but it is done well. An alien creature grub crashes to earth on a meteor, and in a very short game, you help him make his grisly way through a nearby homestead. It’s so refreshingly gruesome, reversing your instincts and having you aid the revolting alien creature to achieve his goals. There are quite a few awkward moments where the next click doesn’t feel natural, but it’s generally possible to muddle past them, and no great chore to click about until you find the right order. And while there’s only one true puzzle, it’s a fun one. Go play.
It’s the work of one Zeebarf, and is his first project of this type. So off to a flying start. Apparently there’s talk of a sequel, and a longer project he’s already working on. Big thanks to reader Will for the tip-off.
And now I’m listening to the Samorost 2 soundtrack again.
25/10/2007 at 23:57 drunkymonkey says:
At first I thought that this was just a very violent version of Worms.
I’ll give this a go tomorrow.
26/10/2007 at 02:19 Schmidt says:
Gruesome!
26/10/2007 at 02:42 Chis says:
The Album was far superior to The Visitor anyway. And not just because of Eagle.
Oh right, sorry, this is RPS. :P Samorost is more than a little Python-esque in looks. Thumbs up for that.
26/10/2007 at 11:51 simonkaye says:
Quite enjoyed this. Amusingly gross. And I enjoyed messing with the guy at the end. It isn’t quite on a par with weirdly-logical Samorost, though. It sort of cheated a couple of times.
26/10/2007 at 14:41 jimmy says:
I must be stupid, I can’t catch the fish in the beginning.
27/10/2007 at 00:49 Mr Marsh says:
I watched a few kids, at one of the primary schools I work in, play through this. Kept them, and me, entertained. I should have mentioned Samorost to them.
27/10/2007 at 01:15 drunkymonkey says:
Hey, I got round to playing this tonight. It’s fun. The styling was lovely, and it was nice to see a combination of clicks providing the winning results.
I’mma going to try out the Samorosts tomorrow.
27/10/2007 at 17:43 Bunny says:
I’m having the same problem, Jimmy. The rock and the fishing rod are the only things I can click, but regardless of the order or timing I use the same thing just happens over and over…
27/10/2007 at 17:45 Seniath says:
Bunny: You can click on yourself too, from time to time.
28/10/2007 at 16:41 Caiman says:
Ok, I have no idea what to do in the kitchen scene. I can start the blender with the orange, open the lid and distract the woman, then open the drawer and flick the knife into it, but then she cleans it all up and I’m back where I started.
28/10/2007 at 16:44 drunkymonkey says:
Caiman, I think you have to use the knife just as she’s coming back. Then she trips up and skewers her own head on the knife. Silly her.
28/10/2007 at 16:56 Seniath says:
Caiman: Make sure you do something to make her trip up on her way back to the drawer.
28/10/2007 at 17:01 drunkymonkey says:
Oh right, I missed that he hadn’t done that one vital thing.
Perhaps this is good enough of a hint: Water way to go.
29/10/2007 at 00:30 FaceOmeter says:
MAKE HER SLIP ON THE WATER
29/10/2007 at 08:58 Caiman says:
It’s easy once you know how. That must be the sole “puzzle” that John was talking about. Well, it was fun while it lasted. I’ll go check out Samarost 2.
11/11/2007 at 19:11 SpielerDrei says:
Well, you can actually kill the alien in the final scene, I thought he meant that one. Or maybe the pipes?