Pacmaniac: Forget-Me-Not
Sometimes it’s hard to write about a game because of its complexity, or because I admire so much about a project but know that I’m probably one of the few people in the world who will really love it. Other times I've spilled coffee all over my keyboard. And then there are times like this. The only reason it’s hard to write about Forget-Me-Not is because it means I have to stop playing it. And I want just one more go.
The first time I died, on a pathetically early level, a phrase began bouncing around inside my brain: “Realtime roguelike-like, not Spelunky but procedural-Pacman with a gun and, hello, there's Jeff Minter influencing things over in the corner." There was a pause and then some previously dormant mob of synapses raised an eyebrow: "Destructible mazes?” Normally, when phrases eventually fall out of my brain I spruce them up a bit but I’m leaving those raw.
Originally an iOS game, Forget-Me-Not can now be yours, free of charge, on both Windows and OSX. This version is harder. faster and more balanced, apparently. So even if you've finger-jabbed it before, it should be worth having another go.
I want to go into detail about the time I realised I was shooting myself in the backside, the first time a wall blew out or the horrific yet amusing moment when two caterpillar creatures filled almost the entire maze. But the best thing to do is to stop reading my witterings and go download it. OSX version here.
It won’t take long to work out if it’s for you. If it is, you’ll quickly realise that it never ends. It gets harder and harder, more and more chaotic, and then you die, start again, and it’s different, then it gets harder and harder until you die again. Then you have to stop and tell other people about it and maybe even do some actual work. But then you go back in because it feels like the sort of game where if you just keep playing, you’ll see even more crazy stuff. It never stops giving.
Now, stop reading. You're not even supposed to have carried on for this long. Off with you.