The Scoop: Mighty Jill Off’s creator describes the game as (her words, not mine) “maybe the definitive chubby little dyke gimp platformer.” So, I mean… that should probably be all you need to know.

Gamers play as Jill Off – a naming connotation not lost on me, for the record – who is a submissive trying to earn the right to lick the queen’s boots. To do so, she has to climb a very (very) tall, spider/spike/fire filled tower. Other websites writing about the title have had a nice wank discussing (at length) how this is a metaphor for gamers and game creators; about how we only climb difficult, spike-filled towers for the challenge. How we’re all submissives and masochists like Jill, in that sense. And while I’ll admit that the premise amuses me, I’m less concerned with that, and more concerned with the fact that the game is actually pretty fun, once you dig into it.

The game itself initially comes off as clunky and needlessly difficult because of how the jumping mechanic functions. We’re used to being able to control our jump height – a light tap = a small jump, whereas holding the button results in a large leap. But in MJO, every jump is the same – very very tall, and floaty. There’s a method to that madness that becomes clear as the tower progresses, however. You can press the jump button again in mid-air to cut it off, and repeatedly tapping the jump button in mid-air causes Jill to hover, at which point she can be controlled to the left or the right.

This leads to scenarios where you’ll need to jump, and then right at Jill’s apex, begin mashing the jump button again to hover across the screen, over a bed of spikes. Or a situation where you’ll need to cut your jump short to avoid spikes that hover above you. Every new use of your jumping skills is introduced gradually. You might first be required to hover-jump with no obstacles, then with stationary dangers, and finally with mobile ones.

Mighty Jill Off wouldn’t have gotten the attention it got without its “non-traditional” backdrop. But the gameplay is still a fun retro throwback worth experiencing.
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Links:
Eegra Review
Play This Thing! Review
Rock, Paper, Shotgun Write-Up

The Scoop: Karoshi: Suicide Salaryman is the first Flash version of indie developer Jesse Venbrux’s morbidly amusing puzzle series. Gamers play as as a nameless, generic office worker, and the goal of each stage is to find a way to kill yourself.

The game gets a lot of attention for it’s suicide-centric premise, but that premise is really just an excuse to create puzzles that aren’t really that different than those found in most platform puzzlers. The only difference is instead of opening a route to the exit, you’re opening a route to a pit of spikes to throw yourself in. Fun! This means you’ll be pushing and pulling blocks to activate switches, making sure you’re in the right position when activating a switch, figuring out how to reach specific levers, etc.

Across the game’s 49 stages you’ll ultimately end up killing your salaryman protagonist only a handful of ways – touch an electrified block, run into a spike wall or spike pit, get splattered by a falling safe, or get hit with a flying bullet. This simplicity works in the game’s favor. When you start a new level, how you need to kill yourself is usually immediately apparent. If you see spikes but no other dangers, that’s your answer. The trick is then working through the puzzles to get your salaryman over to them. There are a few tricky exceptions later in the game that require outside-the-box thinking, but for most stages, a little logic is all you’ll need.

The kill-yourself theme leads to some amusing moments for longtime gamers, as videogame conventions are flipped on their head. During the game’s final bossfight, hearts are thrown at the player. When collecting one, the player actually gains a life, meaning they now have to be hit by the boss one more time in order to “win.”
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Links:
Newgrounds Mirror
Kongregate Mirror
JayIsGames Review
Guide/Walkthrough
The Escapist Write-Up

The Scoop: Don’t by fooled by Buggle Stars’ cutesy graphics and sound effects. The game is pure, retro-inspired platforming – through and through. Move left, move right, and jump. That’s all you get. Pretty amazing that in this day and age so much gameplay can still be squeezed out of such a simple moveset, isn’t it?

In each level your goal is simply to collect a sequence of stars. After a star is collected, the next materializes, and you have a few seconds to jaunt across the board and collect it. It starts off simple, but by about level 5, one missed jump means you won’t have enough time to collect the star, and you’ll have to try again. The game quickly becomes a platform gauntlet, as you haul from one star to next.

The visual and audio design takes the edge off of failure. In most web games if I missed the same jump twice in a row I would likely be through, but Buggle Stars remains nice and relaxing. When you miss, the level just loads again, and you have another shot at it.

The game never really “evolves” per se – it’s just you, your jumping skills, and stars to collect. But platforming staples like moving platforms, spike pits, and trampolines are added to the mix to keep things fresh.
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Links:
Company Blog
JayIsGames Review
Kongregate Version
Joystiq Write-Up