LSD + NASA = Tranquility
This is your game on drugs. Any questions?
My must play title is called “Tranquility” and it’s a web based game that I could only describe as a “Puzzle Platformer”. This game will soothe you, make you seasick, and teach you how to pleasure a woman with your mouse all in one session.
Someone ate too much circus and got sick…
The goal of each level is to find this disco ball and navigate the screen to hit it:
You move forward, back, right and left with the mouse and the game is very sensitive to how fast you move. As in real life, only a slow and steady hand can advance you to the next level. There is gravity which constantly pulls you downward, and platforms (spinning and stationary) that bounce you upward. Gravity is a metaphor for the emotional scars you suffered in childhood while the platforms are the uplifting narcotics that temporarily make you sane. Hidden in this swirling cyclone of “Psychodelic Zod Prisons” is the disco ball which is a metaphor for Jesus Christ who is the only thing that can save you from this vicious cycle of drugs and depression (or at least that’s how Kirk Cameron explained it).
While you bounce and swirl around, mysterious new age music plays. It reminds me of the soundtrack to Blade Runner but not as catchy. The music reacts to what you do during the game by playing notes when you hit the platforms and changing tone depending on how high or low you are. Sometimes it works, sometimes it sounds like an obese cat slowly making it’s way across a Casio keyboard.
Most of the challenge lies in being able to subtley move your mouse and bounce off the platforms without falling to the floor and having to start over, but sometimes finding the sphere is a challenge:
Thank God for that giant red arrow.
All joking aside, this is definitely a game that everyone should try. Its mood and gameplay are a pleasant deviation from the norm. Plus it’s free. And it will get you high without screwing up your probation. I’ve only tried a few of the demo levels and will record a final podcast summary after I hit the network game. You can try it for yourself here:
Thanks Will Jennings, you sexy bitch.