The flash version of Pleasantville

August 11, 2011 1:23 PM

Grey is a flash game where you bring color to your world.
posted by schyler523 (49 comments total)

Who are Armor Games and have they made or published every Flash game ever created and published?
posted by Nomyte at 1:28 PM on August 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

I played this game the other day...it's kind of depressing. You keep collecting colorful things for the lady character, but fade a little more every time you do, and then when you finish the game you fade away. I don't get it. Unless I played it wrong or something.
posted by phunniemee at 1:29 PM on August 11, 2011

Spoiler:

The way I understand it is that your character is a ghost and is trying to cheer up the lady, who is sad that you're dead...once you've returned color to her life you can fade away.
posted by schyler523 at 1:34 PM on August 11, 2011 [10 favorites]

I started playing this yesterday, and got bored out of my mind in about 3¹/₂ minutes.
posted by dickasso at 1:42 PM on August 11, 2011 [11 favorites]

Ohhhh, that makes sense, what with the headstone and all. Still depressing!
posted by phunniemee at 1:43 PM on August 11, 2011

The Sixth Pleasantville?
posted by localroger at 1:45 PM on August 11, 2011 [5 favorites]

Pleasant Sense
posted by tigrrrlily at 1:46 PM on August 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

Having played it to the end... oh GOD. Do I have a lot of issues to work through or what.
posted by tigrrrlily at 2:02 PM on August 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

I started playing this yesterday, and got bored out of my mind in about 31/2 minutes.

Yup. Though I'm impressed you made that extra 60 seconds.
posted by Elmore at 2:03 PM on August 11, 2011

As an interactive story it's moderately interesting. The music is great and the visuals are not bad. But the game play is ultimately fairly boring. I almost quit but decided to play it through since it was easy enough.
posted by asnider at 2:04 PM on August 11, 2011

If your guy moved twice as fast, it would be a lot more fun.
posted by smackfu at 2:05 PM on August 11, 2011 [4 favorites]

Who are Armor Games and have they made or published every Flash game ever created and published?

You have asked and answered your own question.
posted by griphus at 2:12 PM on August 11, 2011

Yeah, I get that a lot, smackfu
posted by ook at 2:12 PM on August 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

I couldn't get over giving me WASD and not letting me jump with space.
posted by Zophi at 2:12 PM on August 11, 2011

There isn't much of a game here.
posted by empath at 2:14 PM on August 11, 2011 [4 favorites]

Who are Armor Games and have they made or published every Flash game ever created and published?
posted by Nomyte

If that wasn't rhetorical:
Armor Games is a "Sponsor." They pay developers (like me!) cash to put their branding on games that they think will drive traffic to their site. Think of them as a light Publisher, like EA or Activision, but for small games.

Recently they HAVE been developing their own games too, so it gets confusing. :)
posted by weasel at 2:15 PM on August 11, 2011 [7 favorites]

This was way too self-indulgently "games can be Art, see?" It's like... well yeah, games can be art, but art games can also be Thomas Kinkade paintings.
posted by tjenks at 2:16 PM on August 11, 2011 [14 favorites]

The way I understand it, this is a statement on codependent relationships. Depressed girl requires the world to be made happy. Each time you bring her something, you become less distinct as a person as you're subverting your own needs in order to fulfill hers, until finally, she's happy but no longer needs you and you have faded away to nothingness, anyway. Then she frees a bird. The genders involved aren't really significant.

Or you could be a ghost.
posted by zylocomotion at 2:17 PM on August 11, 2011 [8 favorites]

@zylocomotion, I though it was a story about how the void left by death can be easily filled with toys and candy, but I like your version better.
posted by yeolcoatl at 2:32 PM on August 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

This would be so awesome to watch if I was on the Ambien I wouldn't need to take if I just played this game.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 2:39 PM on August 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

boring
posted by Blackanvil at 2:49 PM on August 11, 2011

Yeah, this is like a cliché of arty games. Moody black and white graphics? Check. Poignant acoustic soundtrack? Check. Simplistic gameplay? Check. I loved Limbo, I'm liking Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, but I fear this game is a bit too simplistic to reach the same plateau.
posted by Nelson at 2:52 PM on August 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

I see dead pixels.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 3:04 PM on August 11, 2011 [14 favorites]

I want to be amazed by the beautiful world as it slowly returned to color. I am not.
posted by meinvt at 3:15 PM on August 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

Gave it an honest, full playthrough. Heartwarming magic did not occur. I'll stick to Zombotron for now.
posted by condor at 3:59 PM on August 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

I liked the music...the game eh
posted by JujuB at 4:03 PM on August 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Well, I liked it a lot.
posted by Put the kettle on at 4:09 PM on August 11, 2011

B+++++: WOULD NOT PLAY AGAIN
posted by mrnutty at 4:19 PM on August 11, 2011

It would've been more poignant if toward the end I didn't keep making Six Million Dollar Man sounds in my head when he jumped. (Wa-na-na-na-na-na-na....)
posted by meandthebean at 4:21 PM on August 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

Needs more portal gun.
posted by brain_drain at 4:37 PM on August 11, 2011

God the comments are a mirror into people's experiences:

This game was clearly about typical women who want and want and want and just say they are depressed but no matter how much they get they are still not satisfied until they get the house, the jewelry and the golden teddy bear. Then once they feel better they are ready to leave and go use up the next poor boy who never had a chance with her anyway because after all... she's a lesbian!

Other people had it as he was dead, getting her peace letter her know she was truly loved.

It is amazing how the same thing will be interpreted 50 different ways.
posted by Ironmouth at 4:48 PM on August 11, 2011

condor: "Gave it an honest, full playthrough. Heartwarming magic did not occur. I'll stick to Zombotron for now."

And I'll stick to Zombo.com
posted by Gin and Comics at 4:54 PM on August 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

I thought it'd be more interesting if:

A) They increased my movement speed 500%. Seriously, that shit was slow.
B) The order of colors mattered and had to be derived, kind of like those Grow games: blue/water almost did that.
C) It wasn't boring as fuck. Seriously. Christ.
posted by disillusioned at 5:14 PM on August 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Braid had the same sort of Chopin-by-way-of-store-that-sells-crystals acoustic soundtrack. It made sense in that game because of the time manipulation mechanics. In every other artsy indie game that has copied that music, it's pretty unbearable.
posted by HeroZero at 5:14 PM on August 11, 2011

needs more this
posted by Flunkie at 5:19 PM on August 11, 2011

Here is the song at Newgrounds, it's called The Terminal - Piano. From the description: In my mind I tried to imagine a looming terminal illness that can affect you. I imagine an old man dying in December with a 1000 stories, but no family or friends to tell it to.

When it gets to about 1:17 I picture in my mind Chocolate Rain and how some stay dry while others feel the pain. I feel my interpretation is equally as valid.
posted by Deflagro at 5:42 PM on August 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Well haters, I liked it. It could have used some improvements - a soundtrack that adjusts and swells based on what colors you've "activated", and the ability to jump around the world as the girl in the end so you can see all the spots in their rainbow glory. But it was enjoyable as it was. I liked that it didn't shoehorn itself into some gameplay mechanic for the sake of game-ishness.
posted by Mizu at 6:31 PM on August 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

B) The order of colors mattered and had to be derived, kind of like those Grow games: blue/water almost did that.

I was pretty disappointed I didn't die when I fell in the water. Or at least, I think it was water.
posted by smackfu at 6:33 PM on August 11, 2011

I wish I could jump like that.
posted by ian1977 at 7:16 PM on August 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

I liked that it didn't shoehorn itself into some gameplay mechanic for the sake of game-ishness.

I don't think that's a fair summary of the criticism in the thread. I'm totally open to games that aren't all run-around kill-enemies collect-doodads solve-puzzles, but this one is just boring. Compare Small Worlds, for example, which is even less mechanicky, even less questy, and also much less boring.

(I quit Grey in boredom after two colours, so maybe I missed something later on.)
posted by stebulus at 7:36 PM on August 11, 2011

Didn't work for me, but then, I hated Myst, too. Just give me speed, strategy, hot death and some shopping at the end.
posted by maudlin at 8:34 PM on August 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

I liked that it didn't shoehorn itself into some gameplay mechanic for the sake of game-ishness.

i would have like there to be a game mechanic at all. Anything, really.
posted by empath at 8:43 PM on August 11, 2011

Square dude: DTMFA!
posted by LordSludge at 8:50 PM on August 11, 2011

This game reminds me very, very much of Blueberry Garden.
posted by archagon at 11:52 PM on August 11, 2011

I've got a feeling that this is a project by someone quite young, so I don't want to be too dismissive of it. There's some nice touches, and although I'd liked to have seen more of a puzzle aspect to the game (e.g. You need to pick up blue before you can get red, etc), it's not the worst game ever.
posted by seanyboy at 1:01 AM on August 12, 2011

My boyfriend heard the music from across the room and asked if I was playing Jane Austen: the Flash Game. And, well. Kinda.
posted by Eumachia L F at 1:53 AM on August 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

stebulus, thanks for reminding me of Small Worlds; I love that game. And speaking of "zen-type" games, an oldie I adore is flOw.
posted by taz at 5:49 AM on August 12, 2011

Heh. I just came back here to thank maudlin for linking Kingdom Rush, which is the first game of its genre I've found really enjoyable.

(It's the build-towers-to-defend-village-from-waves-of-attackers-(who-courteously-approach-along-roads-or-maybe-they're-just-wearing-nice-shoes-today) genre. I always want to call it Tower Defense, but I think that's something else.)
posted by stebulus at 8:46 AM on August 12, 2011

I loved it. Thought it was fantastic design and execution, played through and sniffed at the end.
posted by L'Estrange Fruit at 1:48 PM on August 13, 2011