Blurb from rockpapershotgun:
Ohhhh. That’s really clever,” were the words uttered by my mouth as I realised The Fourth Wall‘s conceit. And then I realised I was going to have to try to explain it with words.
It’s a 2D sometimes-side-scrolling platformer from DigiPen student group Pig Trigger, in which you can control the character and the scrolling of the screen. So, run left or right and the screen scrolls with you. However, hold down Ctrl and it becomes static, and running from one edge has you appear on the other side. So you might drop down a hole and appear from the corresponding point on the top edge, or run from the left and appear on the right – it’s a notion familiar to anyone who’s played enough 80s/90s platform games. But here you’re in control of where the screen stops and starts, and it’s manipulating this which allows you to progress.
Which is such a brilliant idea. So, for instance, there’s a fiery deathtrap in front of you, and you want to reach a platform on the other side, too high to jump to. So, jump upward, until the fire is off the bottom of the screen, hit Ctrl, and then drop down the bottom. You fall through the top of the screen, and as you fall steer to the platform. Reached.
A typical puzzle may look like this:
What can you do here? You can retreat back to the left, but that’s where we came from, and why do we game if not to progress? It’s that door we’re after, but clearly it’s unreachable – this isn’t Dustforce. It’s way more simple than it looks.
Jump up, and that pit’s gone. But the top of the screen is solid so there’s nowhere to fall. So run along the now-safe bottom of the screen unto the gap in the heatwaves, and let go of Ctrl.
It rapidly gets far more complicated, as you’re having to hold the screen mid-fall to allow yourself to climb upward (yup, it’s that much of a brain-hurt), or jumping out of the left of the screen, turning, and falling back in the same side again in a different area. Soon you won’t be troubled for long by a moment like this (oh, the solution is so elegant):
And the music, which you also can’t hear, is utterly sublime.
Oh, look, you just have to play it to understand. It’s free, and it’s utterly brilliant.
Download here: http://thefourthwallgame.com/?page_id=80
FAQ from The fourth Wall website:
FAQ
Why should I care about your game? What is The Fourth Wall?
The Fourth Wall is a game about screen wrap. You are a wizard that has the ability to control the boundaries of his 2D world. Embark on a lifelong journey, solving puzzles through a unique, calming world.
I’m impatient! When is the game going to be released?
January 2012. You will be able to download the game from this website once the game is released. A more specific date will be announced soon.
I’m broke! How much will I have to pay for this thing?
$0.00. As the game is a student project, the game will be completely free.
I’d like to know more about the fine people that built this game! Who are these cool kids?
The Fourth Wall was created by students at DigiPen. To learn more about them, navigate to the “About the Team” page at the top.
What can I do to support the game?
We’re not able to accept any proceeds from the game, but you can do us a favor by checking out these other awesome DigiPen games!
http://www.aflippinggoodtime.com/
http://www.whatissolstice.com/
Another helpful bit would be to vote for us in the Indie Game Challenge: http://www.indiegamechallenge.com/2012-finalists/the-fourth-wall/
