Today’s game is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Flipside of the divine is a puzzle game that the authors’ site describes as:
“Flipside of the divine is a unique action game set in the world of the ancient Aztec mythology. You play the role of an eagle warrior and your goal is to find a way through the dangerous and deceptive world of the gods. By manipulating platforms and flipping enemies down into the abyss you use both your mind and your fighting skills to get to the portal that will take you to the next level!”
This game was the project of some university students in Sweden. The object of the game is to use your special powers (sending an eagle out from in front of you) to flip over up to 5 panels so you can make it to the portal. The game starts out rather easy with tutorials on the first couple of levels, and then gradually gets harder. By the end you’ll be having to juggle not only flipping over the panels, but fire spaces that burn your birds; enemies that hop around the board trying to get you to fall through; enemies that eat away at the panels; tornadoes that send your bird in different directions; and more. Flipside challenges you to think outside the box and mind your full surroundings.
Gameplay is a mix of puzzler and platform, due to the fact that you’re running and jumping most of the game. Graphics are a little dated, but certainly not bad for a group of students. Controls can be reconfigured to your specifications. Personally, I prefer to “shoot the bird” with my mouse and run and jump with the keyboard. This game is also great for using a gamepad, (via xpadder http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/687) although you might want one with analog sticks to control the camera. Camera angles are set by default to be overhead, but with the roll of a mouse wheel it can be first person or anything in between. There is a pretty cool look at how the game progressed at the authors’ site. It’s interesting to see just how much was accomplished by looking at the screenshots.
Another plus to the game is that it includes a level editor! Even if you beat the game, you can create your own boards. It comes already installed with 3 custom created maps, for extra flipping.
The download is 46mb’s, so it’s going to be a long day for those on dial-up. Trust me though, the wait will definitely be worth it if you like puzzle games. Once you unzip to your designated destination, just open the file, bin, and then release. The exe is called Flipside. There is no shortcut made for the desktop so you’ll either need to save somewhere that you’ll remember, or create a shortcut. A rendering screen will come up for you to adjust your settings, and then you will be on your way.
Overall, I give this game a 9/10. I took 1 point off for lack of music. I would have liked to have a little something to listen to while I play, but then there’s always last.fm!
Download and screenshots:
http://www.flipsidegame.com/
