Written on March 3, 2009 at 6:41 am, by James Fudge
Flashbang Studios, who you may know from its wonderful Minotaur China Shop, has released Blush, a trippy undersea game where you control a squid killing other sea creatures, collecting their leavings and earning points.
To kill creatures you simply move in a circle, whipping anything within range with your tentacles. The ensuing mess dissolves into eggs, which you pick up by swinging your sticky tentacles at. Prizes in tow, you haul them off to a glowing portal for upgrades like longer tentacles and speed before the clock ticks down to zero. It’s an interesting endeavor and it’s free to play at Blurst.com . Check out the video below:
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In Focus: Minotaur China Shop
Written on December 14, 2008 at 6:41 am, by James Fudge
Minotaur China Shop, an excellent new game from Flashbang Studios, makers of such odd and exhilarating games as Off-Road Velociraptor Safari and Jetpack Brontosaurus, is a lesson in irony. The game puts the old saying, “A bull in a china shop” into perspective as a bumbling Minotaur attempts to run a shop full of breakables - a feat made nearly impossible by his large stature and brutish nature.
Luckily this former denizen of a dungeon is bull headed and has an insurance policy that will pay out for damages when the proprietor goes bat-shit crazy into a rage and wrecks everything in the joint. This rage is aided further by a number of interesting power-ups that you can buy like the table toss, a mad dashing move and several moves involving giant hooven feet.
The game reminds me of Diner Dash, where the player has only a few minutes to deliver the wants and needs of a customer whose love for the item wanes the longer you make him, her or it wait. The gameplay is not all that compelling without the Minotaur’s obviously handicapped gait or his propensity for violence against the very objects he hopes will change his life forever.
If the old minotaur can manage to keep his cool and serve up customers quickly with minimal damage to the delicate inventory - or send himself into a rage and get paid by the insurance for his destructive behavior, he’ll make enough money to marry a cow and live happily ever after.. or as happily as a minotaur can live out the remaining days being married to a cow..
Minotaur China Shop uses the Unity game engine, which means you can load it right up in your browser and play it free, so there is no real reason not to try this game. Take the game for a spin and let me know what you think. Personally I enjoyed the delicate balance of comedy and challenge..
The games we're pulling together in this feature won't appear on any of those best-of lists and get confused looks when you mention them in conversation. Just because time has forgotten these titles, though, doesn't mean you should forget them, too.
