Obstacles: Gems of Power

This is one that probably gets a quick glance over unless you're into some old DOS or Nintendo games. A small game made by an extremely small team with some potential for a serious puzzle game. I did receive this game for free so bear with me and my review as we unpack this one.  The [b]gameplay[/b] is fairly simplistic. Pick a character (or different coloured square with a different "special" ability) and collect a specific item to progress to the next "level". Sort of like Tetris, the more of the item that is collected means that the game becomes more difficult. The game starts out with the character cube, an item to pickup / collide with, and a single spike looking object. Whenever the player moves (even slowly or slightly) means that the game continues to move, or play. This allows time for the player to figure out a path safely to move their character in order to pick up the object. For each item picked up results in another spike object being launched at the player. They are launched in a grid like fashion and the character as well is [b]controlled[/b] in a grid like 8 direction scheme. The game is fun, initially, and the movement of danger coinciding with the movement of the player is a neat scheme. Add a special ability for each different coloured square and the player has a chance to really push their score. Like I said initially it is fun, but unless you're the type to play these puzzle types over and over, you might just find it boring.  The [b]graphics and visuals[/b] are quite simple, but all flow well with the game. Appropriate sprites (or drawings) were chosen and keep the game consistent throughout with its theme. There aren't any major effects or particle effects, though there is some minor ones for some flair. Nothing over the top in this environment as the [b]gameplay[/b] seemed to take most of the attention. The [b]sounds and music[/b] are okay. They are there, but that's as far as I would go. There isn't anything in this realm to further pull the player into the game.  Overall, certainly not a great game, certainly not a terribly programmed game, but approaching okay. It is a very basic puzzle game with one or two twists to keep the player coming back for more. There is certainly a lot more than can be added here to further entice players to jump into this game: more dynamic levels, more power ups, more characters, more items that provide abilities, more enemies that perhaps don't follow linear directions... well you get the point, I'm not getting paid for suggestions here. I will recommend the game, but highly suggest Gamers do their research before purchasing. A sale, in my opinion, may make it worth while.  [h1]RATING: 5.8/10[/h1] [table] [tr] [td]Gameplay[/td] [td]C[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Story / Campaign[/td] [td]C[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Visuals / User Interface[/td] [td]C[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Sounds / Music[/td] [td]C-[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Replay-ability[/td] [td]C-[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Overall [/td] [td]C[/td] [/tr] [/table]

this game's fun!!! it's the kind of game that's conceptually straightforward, but harder than it looks... it's also nice to have a game with arcade-y, score-chase-y rules that you can still play at your own pace. taking time to plan your way around a huge cluster of Obstacles™ is really satisfying to do. go play it!!!!! (low playtime on this review is because the dev is my friend and i got to play it a lot before release!)

fun game but WHY DO THE ARROWS HATE THE CUBE I AM JUST A CUBE

!! This is so fun :D I can definitely reccommend it, its an excellent arcade game!

It's so amazing to see this product come to fruition after so long! This game is a masterpiece of strategy, precision, and skill! Every character has such amazing abilities and the unlock system keeps me wanting to play more. A steal for the price!

very fun game the green cube is my favourite

i love this :D it's like strategic but also fast paced??? kate has done it again, truly

I enjoyed the gameplay and the wide variety of special abilities, runs well on my PC

Had fun!

Good game! Easy to learn, but takes effort to master. The way obstacles stop when the player does allows time to consider how to approach what the game throws you; this has not stopped me from crashing directly into the obstacles lmao.