Playing Every Game in the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality
PEGBRJE: ‘Bewildebots’ and ‘Over Run’
Oh shoot, we done the page
Bewildebots is a cosmic puzzle game created by Jadeus Games, an indie developer based out of the United States. Players will help a group of robots find their way back to teleporters so they can continue their mission by navigating strange mazes surrounded by electrical fencing.
The catch is that the robots are not as autonomous as they should be, for they are all controlled at the same time by the player. This means that every action taken is taken by all of them, regardless of their orientation. The robots can be rotated 90 degrees, and the ‘Up’ command will have them move in their oriented direction even if it means death by electrocution or collision with another robot. The puzzle comes from watching every robot closely to see where their orientation is and navigating the maze so that none of them collide with any other and return to their teleporter.
The key, however, is that not every robot needs to enter a teleporter at the same time. Occupied teleporters can also act as barriers for robots; running in to them does nothing, and allows for the player to alter the orientation and relationship between robots.
As the player progresses, new puzzle elements are added to complicate the process and mix up how the player views the map. Examples include barriers that can block the robots without injuring them, sliders to forcibly move robots, and much more. Later levels can increase the number of robots to upwards of 10.
What sets up Bewildebots as such a good puzzle experience is how smoothly the difficulty curve feels. There are many levels in each chapter, and by the time a chapter is completed the mechanics are almost second nature. Each mission does not have a set ‘solution’ per say — I swear many of my solutions were not intended — but this allows for the exploration of the mechanics rather than struggling to find a singular solution. When a new mechanic is added it is just as an old mechanic became a bit boring, spicing up the gameplay immediately. And this doesn’t even bring up the expansive nature of the different sizes of maps.
Bewildebots crafts each level so that you can find some enjoyment wherever you go — thanks, mobile compatibility. If you love spatial puzzles, this might be a good title to look in to.
Over Run is a top-down twin-stick shooter created by Blazing Sword Entertainment, an indie developer based out of the United States. Players will select one of four characters to save the world from a zombie apocalypse, and hopefully keep a few people alive to populate the earth when finished.
Each of the four characters control and move in the same way, and it is only their gun that is different. The gangster’s Mac10 shoots fast but has a horribly inaccurate spread pattern, the waitress’s sniper rife can pierce enemies but has a low fire rate, etc. Finding out which weapon is most effective is crucial, because the zombies don’t discriminate against those that know what they are doing and those that don’t.
Speaking of which, the zombies will split their attention between the player and the civilians depending on which they find ‘easier’. The civilians can be turned with just a touch, so many zombies will head towards them if they are closer to bolster their numbers. Each zombie killed by the player helps to thin them out, giving points and ensuring that more civilians can survive, but this must go on for quite some time. These zombies have spawn points, making this a game of outlasting rather than speed. If successful, any survivors will give bonus points for the round.
There are five different levels to try out, but Over Run is best enjoyed when you just want to let loose and shoot zombies for a bit. Strategy is hard to really pin down when spawns and behaviours can feel erratic. Many times the best option is to just hold down mouse 1 and go to town.
If you want this style of gameplay, then this might be a good one to try out. There’s a sequel in the works as well according to the dev’s youtube, so look forward to even more zombie carnage.
