I recommend the miniphants.

April 22, 2011 7:11 AM

Flash Fun Friday! Elephant Quest: the best elephants-with-lasers Castlevaniaesque RPG you will play all day.

This game has everything. Elephants! Balloons! Mini-elephants!

It also has unique level-up system that is a surprisingly compelling mini-game in its own right.

posted by keeo (21 comments total)

It's got badges on Kongregate, too. Just in case you were planning on getting any work done today.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:19 AM on April 22, 2011

This genre is called Metroidvania! This game has elephants!
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:02 AM on April 22, 2011

Very addictive. Thanks.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 8:20 AM on April 22, 2011

In 15mins my elephant has 4 mini elephants, 4 keys, 5 ballons and 3 mine cart laser things following him. The screen is kinda crowded.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:25 AM on April 22, 2011

I love this game so much! If you play it on Armor Games and log in, there's a bonus quest involving Sushi Cats.
posted by epj at 8:56 AM on April 22, 2011

Have they fixed regeneration yet? Two playthroughs through, and my elephant doesn't regenerate despite having that stat maxed out. :(
posted by ®@ at 9:32 AM on April 22, 2011

Regeneration seems to happen in spurts. It works on screen fine, the next, no regen. Thankfully it's hardly necessary.
posted by explosion at 9:56 AM on April 22, 2011

I'm sort of disapointed that there don't appear to be secrets in little alcoves and cliffs that require skill jumps to get to, but I guess there's enough happening in this game without throwing that in there.

Pretty fun. Sort of wish it was a full-fledged game instead of on Kongregate.
posted by codacorolla at 10:09 AM on April 22, 2011

The level-up system is sort of like Final Fantasy X's sphere grid. Rather than just levelling up and getting random stat increases or choosing directly which stat to boost, you follow a set path of upgrades. The path branches and there are huge bonuses at the end of certain paths which give you a target for what sort of character you want have. You can be a middle-of-the-road balanced sort of character, or you can shoot for the 50+ agility, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_X#Sphere_Grid

One thing that irks me is that you can't max out every stat. I'm stuck at 70 for "cantering" and I'm curious how much swagger the elephant can pull off.
posted by cyberscythe at 10:21 AM on April 22, 2011

What does cantering do anyway? I figured it was some sort of black-box stat like luck, where it's not immediately obvious what the benefits are, but it has huge dividends in some obscure way.
posted by codacorolla at 10:31 AM on April 22, 2011

Cantering makes your elephant move differently, i.e. more cutely. As I remember, maxing it out means the elephant rocks back and forth with every step. It can be a bit annoying when you need to make small steps.
posted by missix at 10:39 AM on April 22, 2011

That was a most excellent waste of an hour.
posted by cschneid at 10:52 AM on April 22, 2011

Maybe I'm jaded from years of min/maxing stats in grind-style games, but the idea of a stat that does nothing but make my character more cute actually makes me angry.
posted by codacorolla at 10:59 AM on April 22, 2011

I can't find the final goddamn balloon, but now that I've beaten the game, I don't care. It was fun and brief.
posted by klangklangston at 11:48 AM on April 22, 2011

Well, it's not like you have to put points into it.

Fun game. It's good that as the screen become OMG crowded with items that you become an unstoppable laser machine so it doesn't matter as much if you get hit.
posted by Four Flavors at 11:50 AM on April 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

I played this on Kongregate a few days ago. After I beat the game, I kept playing so I could get enough points to max out every stat. IIRC, when you max out cantering, you get roller skates.

I am hopelessly addicted to games like this.
posted by pemberkins at 12:39 PM on April 22, 2011

Well, it's not like you have to put points into it.

I really don't mean to shit on this game, since it is so well made, and I would say I'm not even really angry, but I do think a stat like that is bad game design.

There's a certain convention that every stat does something. Certain exemptions to this are that some stats aren't readily apparent (like Luck) but influence everything you do in small, beneficial ways. Certain stats are useless until you max them, at which point they become insanely powerful as a way to reward adventurous players. A stat that's just flat-out worthless, with no real indication, just seems like a bad idea from a design stand-point. But, then again, the game isn't that hard, so a few wasted points probably don't matter.
posted by codacorolla at 1:04 PM on April 22, 2011

That was fun. I beat the boss and it froze on me, though. :(

Aside from that, the only two things I wanted were a) bigger, easier to read map, and b) more challenge from the enemies to make the extra firepower not redundant.
posted by yeloson at 1:09 PM on April 22, 2011

O man, I went from fully operational Death Star to Pink Floyd laser show. Good use of an hour.
posted by anotherbrick at 4:03 PM on April 22, 2011

Well, I played for a while, then got stuck in a wall. Oh well.

Has a nice addictive quality, but the movement doesn't have enough inertia and is fiddly. Not enough challenge in the enemies-- it's all just blast away all the time.
posted by alexei at 5:35 AM on April 23, 2011

This is built by the same guy who made some weird meta-games like Achievement Unlocked and This is The Only Level, which I think might help you understand the crazy upgrades.
posted by RobotHero at 8:59 AM on April 23, 2011