PEGBRJE: The Dark and Dogurai
Small. Games. Day.
The Dark is an experimental adventure game created by Eric Koziol, a solo indie dev based out of Japan. Players are an adventurer that has ran in to a cave following an enemy, only to find themselves blinded by the darkness. Unfortunately, that means they cannot find their way back out to possibly rid this new ailment, so there is only one way to go; forward.
Armed with a sword, players will venture in to The Dark using only sound to guide them. Arrow keys give the directions, and the player can swing their sword and heal if they feel threatened, but that is it. The entire game is centered around the player’s ability to use the sound cues given to navigate the maze. They will slowly recognize what it sounds like to be hit and to run in to walls, inching forward to find whatever lurks within the cave. Being able to recall personal orientation is critical to exploration, since the sense of sight cannot assist. It’s extremely easy to get turned around, but the player will never know if they don’t keep a mental map or a physical drawing of their explorations.
The Dark is a neat concept that uses player’s familiarity with sight against them to showcase just how dangerous it can be to lose your sight. It’s a simple game in the sense that the main mechanic is up front and does not really require much ‘depth’ in order to convey its intent. You could get lost for hours without realizing that you never left the entrance, or you might just make it to the ending and defeat the evil. Either way, let sound be your guide; if you like mental puzzles within an adventure game, then this might be worth a shot.
Dogurai is a fast paced action platformer created by HungryBear, an indie studio based out of Brazil. Players will be following in the footsteps of the Dogurai, a dog trained in the ways of the Samurai, in order to slash enemies to pieces and find out what may be at the end.
As the only thing standing in the way of evil, players will be running through six different levels to defeat enemies at all turns and find the bosses to defeat. Slashing with their sword, players will attack all kinds of villainous soldiers while deflecting their projectiles and sliding behind them. The true technique of a samurai is their ability to pull enemies in to the air and slash them to pieces in fantastic fashion, which the Dogurai is well equipped to do. When an exclamation mark appears above their head, Dogurai can initiate this combo, which will then bring up arrow keys. Players need to press these in order before the timer runs out for each arrow in order to slash the enemy to pieces, lest they fail the combo and come back down to the ground along with the angry enemy.
With sliding action, motorcycles and unique bosses to give you a challenge, Dogurai has a lot packed in to its tiny frame. It brings that retro feeling back for those that remember the pixelated days of 2D platformers, keeping things simple to focus on the silly fun that in brings. If you love short yet fun platformers and wish more games had a dog as the protagonist, then do I have a title for you.
