Eets

There’s something totally refreshing about discovering a game that hasn’t been built by a huge studio with a multimillion dollar budget and marketing campaign. When said game turns out to be totally original and fantastic-looking, with high re-playability - well, it just makes my day. Eets is one of these games. It’s a beautiful, quirky puzzle game which encourages original thought and creativity in its players.

The gameplay is simple: you guide the little eets man from his starting position to his goal, a shining golden puzzle shard. The little guy (I’ll call him LG for short) can do a bit of manoeuvring himself, depending on what sort of mood he’s in. If he’s happy, he’ll walk to the end of a ledge and do a little hop off; if he’s scared, he won’t leap off the edge, but turn around and walk in the opposite direction; if he’s angry, LG will growl and make a huge jump out into open air.

So naturally there are elements to the game which will affect LG’s mood. As you progress through the levels you are exposed to new and trickier components which affect how LG can move around. Shooting LG with chocolate kisses makes him angry; eating a happy bud can vastly improve LG’s mood; leaving him in the dark can cause him to become scared, and even trip off the edge of a platform.

Little Guy’s mood is only the beginning of things; there are also other environmental elements that can be placed, by the player, throughout the level, which can also affect his movement. For example, prankster whales can suck LG (or other moveable elements) and then snort him out through their blowholes. You discover more of these as you progress through the 100 available levels.

The game provides hints if you’re stuck, but the beauty of it all is often to find an alternate path, using the tools at hand. Creative thinking is encouraged and rewarded! If you manage to pull something truly special off you’ll be rewarded with a trophy to add to your “goodie collection”. Trophies are awarded for such goals as: cause 1,000 explosions, do something special, or solve a level without placing 1 item. (This same creative gameplay has some neat side-effects. I always have a bit of fun destroying the place with bombs, making LG jump off into the void, or setting him up to be bounced back and forth between a couple of prankster whales for a while before settling down to the puzzle in earnest.)

The artwork is lovely: clear and crisp and colourful. Each world (there are seven) also has a completely different theme; my favourite is the spooky “Ginseng Hollow”. The related music and sound effects are also first-class – not at all repetitive or annoying, as some other puzzle games’ soundtracks are!

In addition to all of this, there is also a puzzle-making facility to the game, which allows players to create their own puzzles using any of the components from the original game. These can then be shared via the website, and rated by your peers. There’s currently over 70 custom puzzles created by players on the site. There really is a potential for unlimited gameplay.

The website itself contains a lively community that has developed around the game. There is a weekly column, puzzle reviews, community tools, and prize contests. The entire enterprise is really well-rounded and professional. They’re also a sweet lot: their blog advertises discounts for father’s day.

It’s indie, it’s oddball, it’s creative and clever.

Eets is downloadable from the website www.eetsgame.com, in demo and full version, which costs $19.95USD.