A quick one this week, and something of a cheat, as both games come from the same source. I can only plead the onset of Sick and the work of mentally psyching myself for Mario Galaxy’s release tomorrow. I’d considering putting something here about how I really mean to be posting more, but with gravity to defy and princesses to save, I think we both know that’s a lie. It’s highly likely that next week’s post will be written in the vaugely offensive voice of a cartoon plumber. Prepare yourselves now.

At any rate: games.

Orisinal, the site of Ferry Halim, has quietly featured exceptional Flash games since sometime in 2001. There’s no real rhyme or reason to how often a new one appears beyond “when its done”, nor is there any way of knowing when there’s something new to play besides checking occasionally or waiting for some other part of the internet to tell you. The only real common thread running through Orisinal and the work it hosts is the games themselves – each is based on a simple mechanic, some of which will be more familiar than others depending on the depths your game vocabulary. All (of the ones I’ve played) are controlled with the mouse, and all of them are about playing as long as you can before the game beats you. Even more interesting than that, though, is how many of the games are about helping some one or something – there’s precious little direct competition here, and more often than not you’ll find yourself in a support role as you help four burly men keep their grip on a rhino or guide a panda through the forest in search of food. That Ferry Halim’s games have quietly made him one of the most popular Flash game developers around is hardly any coincidence; he understands the core of wat we find appealing in games, and he gives it to us in spades.

I can’t decide if tonight’s games are my favorites because they’re the best work he’s done, or simply because they’re the most recent. Both are about helping someone else, and both are far closer to art than anything seen in a web browser is supposed to get.

Winterbells appeared about a year ago, and is still the first thing I instinctively click on whenever I visit the site. It’s about going up.

More to the point, it’s about a rabbit that wants to go up, and he needs your help. You guide him around the screen with the mouse, dragging it left and right to get him to follow the pointer. A single click is all it takes to make him leap towards the bells decending slowly from the sky, and each one you hit bounces him up a little further. Pouncing on birds along the way boosts your score and grants you even more altitude in the process.

The first thing that hits you is the soundtrack – light, playful strings that set the mood completely. This is a game, see – the rabbit understands he’ll never make it too far, and so should you. It’s not about the destination, it’s about leaping from bell to bell as you climb higher, each little ding signifying more points and a chance get that much farther than you did last time. Even when you fall for the first time – and you will fall, believe me – and feel your stomach crumple as the rabbit rushes to what must surely be his doom, the music never lets you forget that this is all for fun. There’s no real pressure, no frustration to be found here. It’s just playing for the sake of play. And it’s beautiful.

The Crossing comes from a similar place – jumping animals, helping, play till you lose – but carries with it a very different feeling. Using a paddle as a bridge, you help deer after leaping deer make it across a chasm without falling to their apparent doom.

But there’s more to it than just melancholy deer Pong. Music again – and again, strings – plays a big part in the experience, setting a tone that is almost haunting. While you’re not likely to play very long – even beauty wears thin with repetition, after all – you’ll probably stick around to note that it isn’t always the same deer you’re escorting across. While some can clear the gap in two leaps, others can’t quite make it and will need you to catch them a second time if they’re going to reach safety. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough of a poignant touch to make it all the sadder when one slips past you and falls in to the abyss below. It’s hard to shake the feeling that they were counting on you, and you let them down. You prick.

And it doesn’t stop there. While the remit of this self-appointed weekly spotlight says I only have to talk about two games, there’s a lot worth looking at on Orisinal, not the least of which is how Halim has grown into an impressive designer and developer since uploading his first title. I’m always enamored with watching ideas grow up in public, and few places offer a better view than Orisnal’s life story of one person’s idea of what games can be.

Filed under: Flash Games