September 1st, 2012 | By Alex Wilkinson
Tagged in: Chroma | coffee break | free to play | Mark Foster | PC Game | Platformer | Puzzle | Telepaint
Puzzle platformers are synonymous with indie devs I guess for the most part they are reliant on interesting unique ideas to pull them off but do not have to focus greatly on graphics or even a story. I have recently been playing Time Fcuk again which as some nice ideas however Telepaint brings some over some very interesting ideas to the puzzle platformer series relying on a dynamic of creating portals to get your intrepid hero to the exit. Although not really similar Telepaint had a dynamic similar to that of Lemmings (for lack of a better example) where you are guiding a character what can not be stopped and you must do your utmost to guide him to the exit safely.
Telepaint is the brainchild of Mark Foster and was originally created in 48 hours for a game jam in which the games had to be played on six giant coloured buttons which quickly becomes apparent as the original input device, however it does translate quite well to the keyboard. The only problem I came across with Telepaint was the controls being 1 2 3 4 5 6 for me was a little bit tricky at times and required a lot of thought as I am not used to pressing numbers in such sequences, it was a nice challenge and I feel it did work for the overall even if six big colour buttons does sound a little easier (It probably is not).
As with every puzzle game it was frustrating at times especially when your fingers just didn’t seem to work, but that is puzzle games for you in a nutshell. The game design is very nice overall with a great retro theme that was clean and simple but by no means basic, the audio is a standout as each teleporter block creates different notes which can make some nice sounds, the overall look and feel for this game is solid and well worth a go.
Average completion time – 25 minutes
Telepaint can be found on the official site here (Windows only), Mark Foster is currently developing Chroma which we have featured here previously and in fact Telepaint runs off much of the same source code so odds are Chroma will turn out to be quite the formidable game in its own right. Be sure to check back to The Indie Game Magazine to see all the latests on Chroma.
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Alex Wilkinson (539 posts)
Full time gamer part time writer and a Graduate of King College London I have been playing computer games ever since the days of the much loved Amiga. Playing a broad spectrum of games over as many platforms as possible with a distinct obsession with RTS games even though lacking in much of the micro ability. Tweet me @alexwilkinson