Factory Escape

My sixteenth game is out and you can play it now! Factory Escape is my fourteenth #onegameamonth game, and the theme was “30 seconds.”

Special thanks to Richard for the music. He did the music for my last puzzle platformer, so it’s appropriate that he did the music for this game as well. It’s another puzzle platformer (yay)! And unlike previous games of mine, which Lightning Spark has called “[not] the hardest game known to man” and “[not] too difficult,” this one should be tough enough to challenge even hardcore gamers. So this is for you, Lightning Spark. Enjoy!

9 thoughts on “Factory Escape”

  1. I definitely enjoy this one, and it is hard, but there’s one significant issue:

    Am I supposed to disappear when I move left?

    Maybe it’s a browser issue or a Mac thing, but when I turn left I vanish until I move right. It’s making the already difficult Sans Shoes level extra hair-pulling.

    1. That bug makes no kind of sense at all. What browser are you using (and how could it be so wrong)?

      EDIT: Okay, you must be using Safari. Goodness knows why Safari can’t just work like every other browser, but I believe I’ve fixed it. Refresh it and try it now.

        1. It took me entirely too long to get the joke, but I see what you did there. So did I fix it? Are you now an ambi-turner?

          EDIT: Okay, so it took me entirely too long to get it, but I woke up this morning and suddenly remembered that Zoolander finally turned left when he did Magnum. So now your joke makes complete and perfect sense in a ridiculously specific way. My hat’s off to you.

  2. Oh hey, I was mentioned! I actually meant to write this review a while ago, but something got in the way of that.

    That thing would be the level 36, though honestly I procrastinated on writing this for about a week for reasons that I’m not even sure of myself.

    None of the levels required too much thought (though “Deception” tripped me up for a second). The real difficulty came in executing the required actions in 30 seconds or less. Because of this, level 32 was just as easy/easier than 11, once I knew how to beat them. While the possibility of falling at inopportune moments during 32 could arguably point it towards it being a bit harder than 11, it’s 21 levels after it, making for a kinda wonky difficulty curve.

    That said, I realize that difficulty curves would be tough in this sort of environment. Your remark towards “MMTTT” could at least partially apply here: “The only way to prevent an instant win was to clutter up the field of play and block the goal.” Aside from boxes blocking the exit, having to go out of your way to get a key was the only other solution to prevent a clear sweep of each level. Now, despite the direct comparison, I do believe that the levels are much more clever and in-depth than the ones in “MMTTT”

    After a few tries on any individual level, it wasn’t nearly as frantic feeling as the first attempt, but that’s only natural in a situation where repetition is required if you fail. This is extremely minor, more of an observation than anything else.

    The music is spot on in terms of evicting the frantic emotion one would have if they had thirty seconds to escape an exploding factory. Props to Richard!

    The Long-Fall Boots and Remote Control were fantastic ways to spice up the gameplay. Combining them with different recurring types of level types, including ones with keys, made for plenty of level designs. 36 levels struck a perfect balance between too few and too many, where I was satisfied with the length of the game, but didn’t grow tired of its mechanics before I finished it.

    I noticed that the instructions at the beginning of the game were not particularly informative in the way they were presented. I was surprised when I was greeted with the first room, and had no idea how to navigate it despite having just read instructions. They were simple enough to find out on my own, so after the first round of 30 seconds, I gained my bearings and legitimately begun the game.

    Maybe a visual diagram pointing out different parts of a basic level would’ve allowed the players to more easily take in the information? It could also get the players acclimated to this specific type of platforming environment before the game actually started.

    Level 36 was the bane of my existence due to how perfect (hence the name) you have to be. A slightly early jump will result in you crashing into the stair-forming platform, returning you to the platform you were just on. This would ruin any run that this would happen on, at least in my experience.

    After several (4?) days of trying in brief sessions (30 minutes each on average?), I finally beat level 36, and I had developed an odd strategy for it. I’ve beat it five times by now, but that’s not particularly important.

    All in all, I had a fantastic time playing this game (not including level 36 ;Þ). It was really fun, and it kept myself on my toes. I could feel the adrenaline pumping during those last few seconds of a level , swiftly approaching the door, and– and making a dumb mistake at the last possible moment, then repeating it all over again. Ah well.

    Even with the few little gripes I had with “Factory Escape”, it’s one of my favourite games of yours. If I had to choose an absolute favourite, it’d probably go to “Raise the Sun”. I also really enjoy “MMMMM”, “A Snowball’s Chance”, and maybe even “The 100-meter Splash”, but I feel like this game would take second place. Then again, this is just a really vague list subject to change at any time.

    Good grief, this review is far too sporadic. I blame this on the fact that I’ve been writing this for a week at widely spaced intervals, and at forsaken hours of the night. Sorry for the absolute mess this is, not to mention that it is an absolute monolith of text. I’m looking forward to your next project!

    1. Quick request: Could you show me how you beat level 36? It should just take four screenshots of you standing at the consoles for me to see what technique you used. I’ve become fascinated with how people beat that level. A lot of the later levels become about finding the most efficient solution, but “Perfection” basically demands that you memorize the keystrokes for the most efficient solution and perform them without stopping to think about it. Despite this, I’ve seen several people beat the level in different ways. Here’s my solution, as an example:




      I’m pretty sure that’s the fastest, most efficient solution, but I’m not 100% certain. Either way, I’d like to see how you did it.

      1. My method wasn’t as efficient as the one posted above, but it’s fairly close. Counting the keystrokes, yours is much shorter. That said, I hadn’t spent very much time thinking of the best strategy.

        Here’s a download link to a .avi file including the strategy I used to beat “Perfect”:

        https://www.sendspace.com/file/o4ehjw

        …Please excuse the MLG effects added in post recording, I honestly couldn’t help myself.

    2. Ha! I love “Deception.” The four levels preceding it are designed to establish expectations so that “Deception” can trip you up. In fact, the level before it is named “Buildup” for that very reason.

      Level 32 (“Long Jump”) is a bit of a special case, along with 29 (“The Divide”). The solution they share is different from every other level, and that made it hard to know where to put them in terms of difficulty. In the end, I put them on the last row as a sort of “calm before the storm;” a short respite before the unrelenting difficulty of the final levels.

      Of course, the other part of the equation is that it’s hard for me to rate the difficulty of my own levels. The whole puzzle-solving step that takes place when playing is not really there for me; I designed the puzzles and already know how to solve them. I think I know which ones are harder, but I’m not always right.

      I’m glad you enjoyed this one! Your list of favorites is almost the same as mine, except I would probably replace “The 100-Meter Splash” with “A Signal in the Void” or “Bouncy Planet.” It’s personal opinion to some degree, sure, but mostly it’s just a list of my best games, right? I think anyone would have at least three of those same games in their list. I’m pretty thrilled to have that many clear highlights after only a year or so of making games, and I’m equally thrilled to have “fans” (if that’s the right word) like you who regularly provide feedback. Thanks!

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