Previews// Reporting from Rezzed: Impressions from the Floor

The reason why Mario games are so popular is because they do not suffer from this. Nintendo understands the need for tight and precise controls that do not use the 'leap of faith' mechanism. They also don't place a delay in the controls and have every surface seemingly modelled as if they are covered in grease. When you fail in a Mario game you know it was your fault as the controls are too tightly wound and designed to be blamed for your failure. This is not the case with Ethan: Meteor Hunter, as I found myself failing over and over again to the point where I couldn't be bothered to finish the tutorial thanks to everything being covered in a thin layer of grease.

Rymdkapsel

Every now and again I come across a game that has me mesmerised to the point where I don't even acknowledge the world around me. Rymdkapsel, developed by Grapefrukt Games, did this to me at Rezzed as I found myself drawn into it within seconds, only looking up again after 30 minutes had passed. At that point I guiltily handed the PS Vita to someone who was patiently waiting to be absorbed by the game too...

So what is Rymdkapsel? As much as I am loathe to compare games to others as I feel it undermines the creative endeavour of the game, I feel it's OK with Rymdkapsel. It clearly is a mash-up of a bunch of video games that I have encountered over the past 30+ years of playing them and it does much to explain it, and also why it's so absorbing. Rymdkapsel mixes Tetris, Tower Defence and Populus and brings them all together into a beautifully designed game that is as compelling as it is brutal in its difficulty.

The game presents the player with a floating platform that has 3 rooms and a corridor linking them all. Also there are two little white rectangles and these are the people who will help you complete the objective of the game. Said purpose being to discover the purpose of monoliths that are scattered around the rooms described above. Presented in a simple isometric view, rooms are constructed by the little white rectangles as ordered by the player. They are placed using the same rules of Tetris and the next shape of room is presented before it is installed into the growing base.

There are other rooms that are created that have various functions. The vast majority are used to harvest resources such as energy and food while others create more little people to do your bidding and others still are there purely to act as a means of defence. Yes I did say 'defence' as the little base you begin to build can and does come under attack on a regular basis. There is a timer for each wave of attack and the player has to work within that limit to build their base and then usher all of their little white rectangle people into the weapons area to fight off the monsters.

Rymdkapsel is built around the spinning-plate mechanism of micro-management that is prevalent in tower defence games. They require the player to think very carefully about the choices they make while they are not being attacked in order to ensure they survive and grow. Stagnation in any tower defence game is a fast route to failure and Rymdkapsel is no different in this regard.

The player is rewarded for progress as they expand their bases into the monoliths that are placed around their base. As they charge their oblong minions to unlock the secrets of the monoliths they are given bonuses such as delaying the next attack wave or granting longer ranges to weapons.

Rymdkapsel is a wonderfully realised game that I cannot recommend enough. Its main drawback is that it is currently on a format hardly anyone owns, namely PS Mobile. Thankfully this has been opened up to the PS Vita so people can play it using that console, and at £4 you'd be a fool not to! The game is also heading to Android and iOS devices.

Keep an eye on SPOnG for more from Chris at Rezzed soon!