The Scoop: Frontier is a non-traditional RPG made by the almost-always-awesome jmtb02. The heart of the game is it’s trading system. Prices for goods fluctuate in realtime across the game world’s cities, and it’s the players’ goal to load up their cart with cheap goods from one city, and turn a profit on those goods elsewhere in the world.

When in transit, players will have the opportunity to engage in combat & other scenarios, including looting goods, helping strangers, and stopping (or getting ripped off by) thieves.

The “main quest” comes in both good & evil flavors, and consists of the fairly standard quests. Fetch this, go fight this guy, etc. Combat itself is a little on the shallow side. You take turns whacking your opponent, and based on the damage dealt & received in round 1 you’ll know who the victor will be.

What the game lacks in combat or scenario depth it makes up for with its excellent economic-based foundation. Starting from nothing and growing your operation to ultimately buy and sell huge numbers of diamonds is fun, plain and simple. Frontier also has some of my favorite music I’ve ever heard in a flash game, which certainly helps.
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Links:
Dev Blog
Kongregate Mirror

Genre: Repetitive (in a good way) Platformer
Platform: Browser (Flash)
Developed by: JMTB02
Play Now!

The Scoop: This is the Only Level from jmtb02 bears more than a passing resemblance to his 2008 hit Achievement Unlocked. Elephants, polka music, spiky deaths, cute & clever puzzles… it’s all here! I still like AU a little more overall I think, but there’s no denying that TitTO has more meat on its bones.

The goal of the game’s single stage is to make it from the entrance to the exit. True to the game’s word, there is only one level. Spikes, platforms… no elements are ever moved. The catch is that every time you exit, you’re sent back to the beginning, with new twists designed to keep gamers guessing & on their toes.

In one stage the controls have been reversed. In another the camera is super-zoomed in. In another, you’re only allowed to jump one single time. You get the idea.

It’s a great little title that doesn’t overstay its welcome. The 7-10 minute runtime is perfect – I conquered all the stages just about when I felt like the experience might be getting a little on the long side.
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Links:
Developer’s Blog
JayIsGames Review
indiegames.com Write-Up

The Scoop: TBA is a nice and simple timing-based action title from the (almost) always golden jmtb02. For the curious, the game’s title doesn’t actually stand for anything.

The premise is simple – when your ball rests in a catcher, press the space bar to launch it. This will send it hurtling across the stage. Hopefully into another catcher. Get the ball into the goal, and you win. Catchers some in several varieties. Some are stationary, so all you can really do is mash the space bar to see where they’ll send you. Others oscillate left to right or top to bottom, so you’ll need to launch your ball at the proper moment. Later stages introduce other variations, such as catchers that rotate 360 degrees.

The game reminds me of Sonic the Hedgehog in spirit. Although it’s possible to be played methodically, the real point (reinforced by the frenetic graphics and music) is to zip the ball around the stage as fast as possible. Most stages can be completed in around 10 seconds if done flawlessly, in fact. Sometimes you’ll have no control over your ball – you’ll just fly from one pre-set catcher to the next. But like Sonic, it gives a nice sensation of speed, and it’s never more than a few seconds before you’re back in the driver’s seat.
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Links:
Kongregate Mirror
Newgrounds Mirror
JayIsGames Write-Up

The Scoop: “Don’t worry, meta-gaming is all that matters.”

Achievement Unlocked’s slogan pretty much says it all. I think all gamers can admit to doing something in a game they wouldn’t normally have done, all for the satisfaction of earning another achievement/trophy/medal/pat on the back. It’s human nature. And it’s especially GAMER nature. We like seeing lists of things checked off. We like seeing “100%” next to our save files. And that’s what this game is all about.

AU itself is very, very simple. And brilliant. You control an elephant, in a single room. Within this single room, there are one hundred achievements to earn. The achievements are the game. You’ll earn one for jumping, one for dying, one for standing still. You’ll have earned several by the time you actually begin playing the game (for preloading the Flash file, for viewing the Armor Games logo, and for viewing the menu).

Not all the achievements are that obvious, though. After I got past the initial humor and absurdity (I earned literally about 40 achievements in 15 seconds just by jumping around the stage), I got down to business. And it’s amazing how much developer jmtb02 managed to squeeze out of this one room. You’ll earn an achievement for killing your elephant super quickly. Another for touching all the walls. Etc.

I don’t wanna oversell this one… AU isn’t going to win any GotY awards. But I did enjoy it quite a bit. Enough to get all 100 achievements. I admit I had to cheat to get the last couple… but it’s ok… there’s an achievement for cheating, too :)
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Links:
JayIsGames Write-Up
The Escapist Write-Up

The Scoop: Hedgehog Launch is a charming little flash game from Armor Games’ John Cooney. Gamers are tasked with launching a hedgehog (strapped to a rocket) from a slingshot, with the ultimate goal being… space flight. (What else?)

Gamers won’t be able to accomplish this in one launch, however. While airborne, you must guide your hedgehog (via aforementioned rocket pack) to collect coins randomly strewn about the sky, and try to land on floating trampolines to extend your flight time (and your bankroll). This money is then multiplied by your highest elevation earned and your total flight time to arrive at your total earned for the day.

This money is then spent on various hedgehog upgrades, including a more powerful rubberband launcher, additional rocket fuel, etc.

What I like about Hedgehog Launch is that there’s no lose state. Skilled and/or lucky gamers will be able to achieve orbit in just a few launches, but everyone will get there eventually. You’ll earn money, allowing you to upgrade your hedgehog, which allows you to earn *more* money they next time around, etc. It’s a great feedback loop. The cute graphics and oddly-appropriate guitar-riff soundtrack don’t hurt, either.

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Links
Hedgehog Launch at Kongregate
Developer Homepage
JayIsGames Review