Wait, wait. I’m not talking about some zombie-based game. It’s a strange new game called Brainpipe by Digital Eel. What is Brainpipe you ask? Umm… Good Question!
I was looking up IGF winners, when I came across this little gem. It’s both bizarre and supremely psychedelic. Of course I only played the demo, but apparently the demo is enough, as I can’t get past level 2. Essentially you’re like some kind of eye or something (the screenshots should help a little… maybe). It’s a wire-frame iris. Your objective is to see how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop. ERR… I mean the object is to simply move your “eye” around the screen as you move through a “pipe”. Try to avoid obstacles, use your left mouse button to slow down. You also get points for playing, and for collecting special glyphs.
This is what the blurb on their website says, and I quote – “BRAINPIPE is a unique gaming experience. The ultimate objective is to transcend humanity. You do this by navigating the tunnels of your mind, exercising your hand-eye coordination while relishing in the funkadelic sights and sounds of your inner self. Collect the illuminated glyphs while avoiding the nasty obstacles. They may look all nice and shiny, even warm and inviting, but each brush with them brings you one step closer to eternal darkness!” – End quote.
Wah-huh?
It is actually simple to play. And it’s simple obstacle avoidance and endurance. I started level one and thinking it was pretty ho-hum, as far as game play is concerned, and I beat level 1. They claim it has 10 levels, so I’m thinking, if they’re all like this, it might not be worth buying. But then I have played it for over an hour and still haven’t beaten level 2. In fact it’s got that addictive quality to it because you’re like thinking, well it’s easy, just aim the round part, and I have it made. But you keep missing one or two glyphs and soon the thing is spiraling out of control, and you’re like “Wah-huh?!?”
The graphics are fairly interesting. Pretty shiny, sparkly, objects. And it looks like you’re moving through a giant lava lamp. The sound and music are nice. The sounds are not at all annoying, in fact they are pleasant. There isn’t exactly music to speak of, it’s more of an ambient sound track. They do have one song on the end credits, it’s like chip music, which was interesting to see in a fairly modern game.
Now it might sound like I was being negative up there. I hope I was conveying it’s uniqueness. But also the fact that it’s weird, but a good weird. You can easily kill a lot of time with this game, even though there’s not a lot of complexity. Good, strange, addictive fun.
Name: Brainpipe
Developer: Digital Eel
Final Analysis: And odd and interesting experience, maybe you should try it.
Price: $14.95
Where you can get it: Shrapnel Games
Tags: addicting, brain, Digital Eel, fun, game, games, IGF, independent, Indie, odd, strange