Have you ever played a launch game? Don’t get them confused with a physics game which involves launching (like Angry Birds), but has a finite space vertically and horizontally. I became somewhat enraptured with them this past week. So I wanted to review, compare, and recommend three of my favorites.
(Quick note: I don’t particularly have a favorite Flash Games site, and listing two links to http://www.armorgames.com/ should not be an endorsement, but I will say that their website is one of the least distracting, and didn’t flood Google Chrome with tons of cookies or malware or any of that.)
The basics of a launch game are that you are in a contraption, and it is going to launch you forward, with the goal to go as far horizontally as possible. You are rewarded for your travel with money, which you then spend on upgrades to your launching ability. Launch games also include an endgame, either by acquiring so much money, or being able to travel so far horizontally.
Flight
In this game, you are represented by a paper airplane, which is being launched around the globe (or at least, around the eastern hemisphere). The design is great, and the accompanying story is touching and funny.
The really big stand out for Flight is the dynamics of gameplay. You are given an amount of “fuel” for each launch that allows you to control the pitch of your paper airplane, or gain a slight boost to your speed. Conservative use of fuel can help you adjust the plane’s trajectory and gain a great deal of distance; or you can blow through all your fuel to ascend to the heavens. During flight you are encouraged to collect stars for money and paper cranes, which award higher multipliers for stars collected. Aiming for stars is somewhat tricky, but you will collect plenty along a long enough flight.
Burrito Bison
So, you’re a bison, minding your own business, walking peacefully through a grocery store when suddenly you are kidnapped into a bag of candy to participate in a coliseum wrestling match against a giant jawbreaker. Already, I’m in love. Unlike the other two games I’ve mentioned, this launch game is completed only when you are able to travel the full length of the game horizontally. This entrant also has the least amount of player interactivity post-launch. You could launch your bison and go make a cup of coffee for all the game cares.
The delight of the game is in its whimsy, but also its challenge. A great many things are standing between you and freedom from your captors, including two giant doors and a glass pane. The speed of the bison must be above a certain level, or you won’t break through the door, and go back to the launch point. Speed can be increased through hitting certain gummis (some are carrying bombs, you know, as gummi bears sometimes do), but can also be decreased by missing a gummi (landing on the ground) or hitting a gummi police officer. Lose too much speed, and you are paid for the distance you traveled (and robbed from poor gummis you landed on) and sent back to the launch point.
Pogo Swing
This game made me laugh. Twice. Not just a polite chuckle at a moronic joke, but actual aloud laughter. It doesn’t take itself seriously, but has a more real worldly premise than Burrito Buson. Sort of. You are a group of teenagers, eager to buy something expensive. The answer? Earn money by jumping off a swing onto a pogo stick as far as you can.
Pogo Swing allows you to rotate your character midair. Full rotations earn you more money, but if you don’t land pogo stick first, the results are undesirable. This mechanic adds a risk to greed, which I always find to be an enjoyable gameplay element. When I fail, it’s my fault for being too greedy in going after a seventh rotation, and I watch my teenager bounce to the ground on his head.
Each of these games can easy suck two or three hours of free time away from you, and are fun enough to play, but probably not as enjoyable to play over and over again. Once you have purchased all of the upgrades and reached the end game (either through traveling total distance, as in Flight; escaping the candy bag in Burrito Bison; or by earning enough money in Pogo Swing), there isn’t much else to do, and the sense of trying to accomplish something is gone.
The Games: Flight, Burrito Bison, Pogo Swing
The Cost: Free – these are all Flash games and should work perfectly fine on any recently purchased PC
Worth It? The only thing you are giving up is time, and you were probably going to waste in on the internet anyway.
Best Parts: For launch games in general, it’s the simplicity of play which is a big draw.
Worst Parts: Not a lot of post-game, if you’re into that sort of thing. If you finish the game and still want to play, find another launch game.
Overall: I started playing these Flash games at work, because almost anything is better than work. But when I got home, I still wanted to play them, instead of using any of my much more expensive video game systems. A testament to good (and addictive) design.
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