Video Game Review: “Super Fun Web Game”
I have a couple reviews almost ready, but due to my hectic schedule I haven’t had a chance to edit them yet. They should show up soon, don’t worry. In the meantime, here’s a quickly written and minimally edited review of a web-based “video game” for you to read and enjoy. No really, enjoy the review.
“Super Fun Web Game” by Cerebral Cortex of strollingbrain.net (full disclosure: Cerebral Cortex is a good friend of mine). The game is not linked to on the main page, so you’ll need to go here to visit it. If you really want to.
The thing about Super Fun Web Game is that, despite the name, it is none of those things. Well, I suppose that you could argue that it is, indeed, web-based; however, there is nothing intrinsic about the game that requires that it be on the web. As for “super” and “fun,” well, not so much. The game has a single button that you press to get more points, only you don’t always get more points. When you start not getting points (usually the second time you click the button), the game displays your current probability of getting more points, a percentage that goes down with every click.*
That’s pretty much all there is to it. So, is it “fun,” as the name implies? Not so much. There isn’t really much to do, and no room for strategy. Fans of the card game War will probably enjoy it.
Is it “super� Well, given the bare presentation, lack of graphics, and simplistic “gameplay,†it’s hard to imagine a version of it that was less “super†than this. You can’t have a “super†game without at least implying a corresponding “non-super†game, and it doesn’t get much less super than this.
Is it a “game� This is a thornier question. Ultimately, I’d have to say that no, it isn’t. There’s really only one control. Most games require at least two elements, I would argue. In this case, the only element is clicking the button, unless you want to argue that deciding when you’re done playing the game is also a game element – and really, that’s getting much closer to meta-gaming. I’ll admit that in the past I’ve played games with only one control, however, they included an additional element of strategy and/or timing. NS Tower was a game that features a character running back and forth at a constant speed, having players choose when for the little guy to jump in order to slowly make their way up a series of platforms. Thus, NS Tower has only one control, but three elements: the structure of the level, the choice of when to jump, and the choice of how high/far to jump. Super Fun Web Game has only one element, could easily be played by computers without human interaction, and thus, I believe, is not actually a game.
Adding another button would help. I could easily see this as the underlying structure for a gambling game, with a pot of money and a choice of how much to spend on each pull. The odds are pretty much the same. A description of what’s going on behind the scenes would also make this more interesting – there’s no indication of whether the percentage is just an average calculated from previous clicks, or if it actively reduces the chances each time.
*Actually, not quite every click. I’ve noticed that the third click usually (always?) ups the percentage a small amount, and I’m not quite sure why.
Considering that the game bills itself as a “super fun web game,†I have to say that this is a disappointing failure. The probability display is mildly interesting, but with no indication of how it’s calculated, and no way to actually affect it, that display is ultimately unsatisfying. Adding another button would help. The fact that it goes out of its way to say “this web game is super fun. Enjoy!†shows just how much the game relies on its title instead of its gameplay. Hey man, sorry for the scathing review, but I guess you asked for it.