Coil

Coil is a game that was part of The Basement Collection, but I don't know if calling it a "game" is the right word for it.

I find this game extremely hard to write about because the whole thing is so abstract.  Basically, it is a puzzle game where you must follow the growth of this weird alien creature.  Each tasks you with moving a thing or collecting pellets or something, but never actually tells you what it is exactly you have to do or how to control it.  This may seem like awful design, but it's all really simple stuff that you can figure out in about 30 seconds if you have a working brain.

Between each level you get a little text screen that tells some kind of story that may or may not be related to what is happening on screen depending on how you read into it.  Coil is an "art" game through and through, something that you could sit around and discuss the meaning of if you were wearing a striped turtle neck and a beret.

As a game, it's not all that fun.  It's short and you don't actually DO all that much, but if you're into artsy games then you'll get a kick out of it.  Me on the other hand, I prefer my artsy games to have some actual substance to them.

Meat Boy

So recently I've been having a bit of a toot on The Basement Collection, a game I picked up off Steam for something like £1

Before I talk about Meat Boy, The Basement Collection is basically a load of flash games made by the guys who brought us Super Meat Boy and The Binding of Isaac.  Before anyone screams foul that they are all old flash games done before they became a thing, this collection is stupid cheap and the games I've played in it so far are all pretty solid.

Anyway, the game I beat today was Meat Boy.  No, not Super Meat Boy, but Meat Boy.  Meat Boy was the original flash version of the game that they then refined and improved to create Super Meat Boy. 

The game is basically exactly the same as Super Meat Boy but it doesn't look as good and the levels aren't QUITE as fun to play, but overall it's still a solid game.  I won't bother going into detail about what Super Meat Boy is that, because if you've not at least played that by now then just close this blog and go buy it on Steam, you have no excuse.

However this version does feel A LOT harder than Super Meat Boy, not by level design but by the fact that you cant use a controller with The Basement Collection.  Playing Meat Boy and trying to make precise jumps is really goddamn difficult.  But even with the keyboard handicap this time round, the challenge still feels fair and rewarding.

On top of that you get some extra levels that you can only play as part of The Basement Collection once you beat the game, so if you played the flash version already, you have an excuse to go do it again.

Watch this space for coverage on the rest of the stuff in this collection.