Game Flow: Slimey, Jump!

Inspired by last week’s post, I decided I would take a look at some more flash games for this week. In particular, we will be reviewing a short, simple game by Carlos Pedroso called Slimey, Jump!, which is available on a number of sites. Software limitations present some restrictions, but as we’ve seen, even incredibly simple games like Tetris can meet the conditions of flow.

Challenge and Skill. Slimey, Jump! has only one action the player can take, which is to jump. This jump can be performed on the ground, off of a wall, or once after having already jumped. The challenge and corresponding skill, then, is timing these jumps correctly to navigate the game’s levels. The levels generally become progressively more difficult, with tighter jumps and narrower timings. However, there are some levels in the latter half of the game that felt very easy compared to the levels before and after them. By that point, enough skill had been developed such that those levels did not pose enough of a challenge to be engaging. But other than that, the game does allow for good practice and skill development. Levels can be retried very quickly, and past levels can be accessed at any time. Finally, there are optional collectibles throughout some of the levels to add an extra degree of challenge for players who want it. They make completing those levels more difficult for those who need it, but allow other players to continue with the normal difficulty if the game is challenging enough for them as is. While only a minor change in difficulty, this does provide varying degrees of challenge, increasing the likelihood of matching player skill.

Goals. This game has understandably simple goals. The first is to reach the end of the level. For each level, the entire thing is on screen from the start, so the end is always in sight. There are no invisible walls or secret passages to the end, so the path is always very clear. The only exception to this is the boss fights, which are mostly all beaten by surviving until the end. One boss fight requires the player to reach several points in the level to defeat the boss, which is not made clear to the player. Other than that fight, goals in Slimey, Jump! are very clear and very proximal, meaning the player will always know what they should be doing. The collectible coins are also clearly presented if the player chooses to pursue them.

Feedback. There are a number of important pieces of feedback for a player to receive in a platformer like Slimey, Jump!, most of which involve where the player is and what they’re doing. Since the entire level is visible at once upon entering it, the player can always clearly see where they are and where everything else is. Some levels do start with the player very close to something they need to jump over, so the first attempt or two may result in the player having no time to react. The game also does not make it clear exactly what all of the objects and surfaces do, at least not at first glance. There are a couple of surfaces that, upon interacting with them, the player quickly can deduce their function, but the game does not make this information known without this trial and error. This is only a problem the first time or two that the player interacts with them, and the feedback those surfaces provide is enough for the player to know what is going on. Not only those additional surfaces, but everything in Slimey, Jump! provides feedback quickly. Dying is quick and obvious, and an accompanying sound effect joins death as well as most other occurrences in the game. Animations are subtle due to the simplistic style of the game, but they are noticeable enough for the player to know whether they are clinging to a wall, whether they are moving left or right, and whether they have already used their double-jump. The animation is even slightly different as the player is going up from a jump versus coming down from one, to let the player know roughly when they have reached the zenith. Overall, Slimey, Jump! offers good, quick feedback on nearly everything the player needs.

Conclusion. Slimey, Jump! meets the conditions of flow fairly well. With some changes to level pacing, the game will have a nice progression of challenge as the player’s skill develops with each level. Goals are already very well presented, with the player always knowing what they should be doing. The only exception is boss fights, which could use some indication of what the player should do. Feedback is also mostly good. One change that would make things smoother on many levels would be requiring the player to press a button to start the level, rather than having them just start moving automatically. Some levels start the player on a sticky surface, but many begin immediately and can leave little time to react. Otherwise, the game does a good job of promoting flow.