RPS Advent Game-o-Calendar: December 15th
Christmas time is here by golly. Celebrating gaming makes us jolly. To ignore this would be folly. Let's open another door on our RPS-approved fairtrade advent calendar.
It's a killer monkey! A chocolate killer monkey, without the killer monkey. Thanks, Fairtrade. Om nom nom nom.
And for you?
Here's a delightful thing. I'm sat here on my weak, creaky old laptop, on my Philadelphia-based holidays, and I'm still able to spend a late evening in the company of Knytt Stories.
It is the simplest thing. Arrow keys, S to jump, and you're done. The aim? Get to the far left. The reason? To tell the story.
Except of course, there's so very much more to Knytt Stories. It's all about smart design, and an ineffable atmosphere. Following the Samus rules of platforming, your character begins with the ability to jump, then as you progress you gain more movement. First is an increase in speed, then a higher jump, and later the sheer joy of the double-jump, with other surprises to follow. Oh, that double-jump. It's such a delight to use. Obviously double-jumps are always great, but there's something special about Knytt's. Perhaps it's the puff of smoke, or the pfffft sound, but it's never not incredibly satisfying to execute. Especially as you start speeding up, letting you explore new passages with remarkable grace.
Created by Nicklas "Nifflas" Nygren, it displays the same sense of environment, cuteness without cloy, and careful simplicity as his other releases, Within A Deep Forest and the original Knytt. And you may prefer either of these, but for me, it's Knytt Stories that I love the most.
It's free for you, you lovely person, downloaded from Nifflas' site, from around about here. And you should.