Playing Every Game in the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality
PEGBRJE: ‘Planet Diver’ and ‘Central Limit Theorem’
Speed.
Planet Diver is an arcade action game created by Fabraz, an indie studio based in the United States, with collaborators from all over the globe. Here, players will take the role of a rambunctious thrill seeker that has found her next big hobby; wing suit gliding. Thing is, she is a ‘go big or go home’ kind of gal. Instead of diving through the sky to the surface, she is diving through planets to their cores.
Players will dive downwards through planets across numerous levels while trying to keep our adventurous friend alive as they fulfill the level-specific objective. This can involve reaching a certain depth (such as 3000 ft), destroy so many enemies, or ‘survive’ for as long as possible.
Thanks to gravity, there is only the need to move side to side as she plunges downwards, with each move requiring the player to input a keystroke. This gives the impression of its arcade roots, moving at a specific amount as if she is falling through columns, rather than having full degrees of movement.
The down and up buttons are not completely useless however; quite the contrary. Pressing down will allow for our diver to ‘dash’ downwards, destroying enemies while increasing her speed. Upwards has her loop up to slow down, dodging projectiles and enemies alike as she becomes invulnerable as she repositions.
The challenges are are highlighted on the left of the screen. Each challenge will have three tiers of completion and involve dialogue between our planet diver and her companion Buddy. They are not mandatory, but they do reward extra ‘Star Stuff’ upon completing them. They also unlock certain extra cosmetics if a gold rating is acquired across the entire planet. It is very similar to the star system we’ve seen in dozens of puzzle games in the bundle, and its execution works extremely well here.
‘Star Stuff’ is the currency and collectable for all things in Planet Diver. While achievable through challenges, the main way to get it is through the levels themselves. They are scattered throughout for players to collect. It doubles as both how players purchase items outside of dives, and how health bars can be replenished during the dive.
What makes them unique in the game level is that their value is not set in stone. It is alterable based on the speed that the diver is going at. The faster the player goes, the more value each Star Stuff has, giving the ultimate in risk vs reward. One can achieve a massive amount of speed to make the Star Stuff worth a ton, but run the risk of hitting walls and enemies more frequently. Keeping it slow and safe is best for the health of the diver, but won’t make that sweet cash. Plus, she would be extremely upset if the entire game was taken slow.
Thanks to each level having some slight randomization, even failing in Planet Diver feels fun because the level won’t be the same the next time you try it. Add in that there are two whole planets to ‘purchase’, scary bosses in the cores of the planets and dozens of biomes to explore and you’ve got yourself a massively expansive title to dive through.
The plot is fun, the music is fantastic (and alterable!) and the artstyle is clean as you enjoy the banter between our daredevil and her robotic companion. If you need a quick high octane thrill to pass the time, this is a perfect way to get that adrenaline going. It’s even on mobile, so you can take it on the go.
Central Limit Theorem is a survival arcade shooter created by Amicable Animal, an indie developer based out of Scotland. Players are the central entity of the entire game, rotating their turret around themselves in the hopes of shooting down every angry shape that flies their way. Unfortunately, those shapes are leaving behind a trail and making future shapes smarter because of it.
As a circle, players will have a rotating gun in the shape of a small triangle that they can rotate around their body, either clockwise or CCW. There is no mouse control, so aiming can take a little bit to get used to as enemies are flying towards the centre from different angles. In the centre is the ammo count for the gun, which refreshes over time and holds five bullets, as well as the points acquired and the time that has elapsed.
The final important bit is the black background of the circle. Every time an enemy ship hits the player’s circle, it shrinks. This is a representation of the player’s health. Once it disappears completely the game will immediately cease and the score is tallied.
What makes Central Limit Theorem interesting is the three initial enemies that attack. Pentagons arc across the screen with a yellow trail and squares leave magenta trails as they weave back and forth. Triangles are a bit more complex as while they move in a straight line, and fire little triangle bullets in the hopes of hitting the player’s gun. They also leave a cyan trail.
Now, where this gets interesting is that the three trail colours that remain also hold the shape’s AI. By crossing over the trail as another colour, they mix the two colours together and add the AI behaviour to the shape. The effects stack and cause the current shapes to become wildly unpredictable. For example, if a triangle crosses over a magenta path, it begins to weave back and forth while firing to make it even more difficult. This causes the difficulty to become ridiculous as the game goes on. It also makes the background extremely pretty.
It’s a simple idea, yet the execution makes Central Limit Theorem a blast to play. Once you’ve got a hang of the spinning gun controls, you can challenge yourself over and over, trying to get a better score while being unable to predict what exactly will happen thanks to the AI. I could definitely see the scalability of this game going even farther if desired, but for now it is a fun game. If you love colourful shooters with ever changing enemies, this is the game for you.
