Designer: Michael Brough

Platform: Web Browser

Date: May 8, 2014

Game Location: http://mightyvision.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/corrypt.html

Explanation

Corrypt is a Sokoban (warehouse keeper) style puzzle game in which the players must retrieve mushrooms and solve box puzzles in order to progress. Initially players must simply solve movement puzzles that involve pushing or pulling boxes with the goal of reaching mushrooms. Throughout the game NPCs warn you about magic and ask for your help. After successfully saving one of the NPCs children you are introduced to a magician. He begins casting spells that affect the world around you. The spells the magician casts either remove or add tiles on the screen. Your character is also able to use magic at a price. As the game progresses the magic begins overrunning the world and eventually leads to what I would describe as a calamity. The game ends when the player has collected all 7 score gems as the magic finally overruns the world, causing more changes than the player can keep up with and it fades into nothingness.

Screenshot

The purple headed figure in the center of the screen is the player character. Notice the mushroom near the top of the screen, these are collected and used for various reasons like purchasing magic (mostly) and helping other characters in the game (somewhat). The orange box next to the character are the puzzle elements that often block your path, in this image the box needs to be placed on the small blue circle adjacent of it. This will cause the blue blocks in the upper right to “disappear” or open would be a better term. This image is of an older build of the game. In the current build there is a counter on the right side of the screen (in the grey area) that shows the amount of mushrooms you have collected, your magic, and your point tiles if you have any. The bottom right shows the map of the area you are in and the two icons at the top right represent the backspace (undo) and escape (menu) options available to the character.

Strategy

• Trial and Error
  • While this may not be a valid strategy in the typical sense it is in Corrypt. Players can undo changes they made by hitting Backspace (Delete on Mac). This resets the room they are currently in to its default position.   Allowing players to reset the screen provides them with a clean slate to begin from, thus allowing new movement combination to be used with the hope of successfully completing the puzzle.
• Build Up
  • Players are provided more and more complex puzzles throughout the game. By adapting the lessons learned from previous puzzles players should be able to determine the correct solution to the current problem.
• Use Magic
  • If a player is truly stuck they can resort to using magic to make a cheap hole in the area they desire. This can aid players by allowing them to circumvent areas they are struggling with.
• Watch a Walkthrough
  • Here is a walkthrough of the first half of the game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3er0gB2SmvM
  • Here is a speed run of the entire game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BAVUc_2SEc

Dynamics

• Because magic costs three mushrooms to purchase if a player uses it unwisely they can find themselves unable to proceed. Using magic can also be a double edged sword. While it may make a specific puzzle simpler, it can also unexpectedly increase the difficulty of another puzzle.
• Because the “magic effect” can occur anytime you enter a room that is new, contains a new item, or has a magician in it the game can become extremely frustrating in a short amount of time.
• The character pushes and pulls boxes adjacent to it. This can cause problems when a player only wants to walk away from the boxes and increases the complexity of what looks to be a simple puzzle.
• Collecting score gems destabilizes the world as evident in the screen and in the music. This provides the player with the sensation that they may have just done something they shouldn’t have.

Additional Notes

For me the way the world ends after using magic had significance to it. It made if feel like the designer was trying to convey the concept of life itself. If we continually alter everything around us eventually there will be nothing left. I also liked the idea of having a game world become more or less explore able depending on user based decisions as well as scripted events. This is an interesting concept that I applied in my final project game in Programming Fundamentals, the player was able to destroy certain walls so that they could progress, but radiation would leak out sometimes blocking a path requiring the player to walk through it to go back, this would lower your health. Players had to think about their next move carefully in order to make it to the exit successfully.

Similar Games

Yellow Out – Move vehicles in a parking area to provide a way for the yellow car to drive out.

Sokoban – The original warehouse keeper. Push boxes onto the designated positions in order to progress. Playable at: http://sokoban.info/

Design Ideas

I have actually used the idea of this style of game to produce some similar box pushing games myself. Though they are nothing in comparison to the polish and complexity of the games presented here I was proud of it. Relating it to other games though may prove to be an interesting concept. Imagine a board game, maybe a dungeon crawler in which you have to find a key to exit the dungeon. The key could be behind a box puzzle and the player would need to solve the box puzzle while fighting monsters (and survive) in order to exit the dungeon.