Sometimes creating something simplistic is the perfect thing to do.
I strongly believe that’s exactly what Ian MacLarty’s done with JUMPGRID. It’s simplistic, but complicated. Confused? Let me try harder.
JUMPGRID is an arcade dodge-em-up where you control an object floating in an ever-moving obstacle course. You must teleport around the course collecting nodes while dodging the obstacles. Collect them all and you move onto the next course. You aren’t given any time to take in the level before you’re forced to try and avoid the moving shapes, so you have to be quick and have quite dexterous fingers.
This game is all about memorisation, if you can think that fast. Once you figure out the best path to take to avoid everything, your fingers will have fully taken on super-human speed and, before you know it, you’ll have beat the level and moved on to the next, completely forgetting what you’d learned from the last level.
Each level is completely different from the next and, although you may find yourself endlessly full of rage, I guarantee you won’t be able to stop. There’s something incredibly mesmerising about the whole thing. In fact, I’m not quite sure that the game wasn’t hypnotising me the entire time. Next time I hear the game’s music, perhaps I’ll suddenly think I’m a chicken. Who knows?
JUMPGRID features 100 levels, an awesome electronica soundtrack, leaderboards and the ability to change the speed of the game as well adjusting the flashing lights for those that may be sensitive. It’s a great addition to any gamer’s library, and I highly recommend giving it a shot.
