I think you need a new section or at least some symbol for downloadable games. The profusion of reviews of Windows-only games is annoying when you have to search the text to find whether it's playable online.

Amazing game. Simple, well realized, addictive and fun.

BTW, The soundtrack of this game is one of the best I've ever seen in any game, let alone a freeware.

Great find!

i'd like to see the speedrun(s) ... any idea where to get them?
btw, jay, your site rocks.

Brian - I'm working on a feature that addresses your concern. Soon. In the meantime, should you click on a link without reading our review first, you're on your own.

Cheers, scaph! =)
As far as video of the speedruns go, the game's website only lists the runs as in a high score table. Apparently the game does not save speed runs for later viewing.

my computer is downloading it *so* slow

anyone know what exactly the "yoga ball" does?

I like the style of the game, but it would be nice to have a little more for the eyes. If this game was as visually pleasing as it is innovative, I would pay for it. 3 out of 5.

Good game over all, its a lot shorter than I would have expected it to be. the ending is a little anti-climatic.

Did anyone else notice the numbers flichering in the stars at the top of the practice area (must have ball 8 to get there) and does anyone know what they mean? I thought that on the final level when you had to put in the code that it might get you an alternate ending, but I have yet to make it through with those particular balls.

for tose interested
BTW: Adrian: the Yoga Ball, as far as I can tell, keeps its enertia better than the other balls. Which obviously has some purposes.

*sigh* windows only....
someone steal me a windows computer so I can play these delightful games :D

i dont get the spider thing at the top of the tower.
i have ball 2, thats it and i am stuck

i am so stuck on that stupid spider tower thing, its driving me crazy
I NEED HELP WITH IT!

I absolutely adore this game!
The

was a joy. @gfraed

help, i'm completely stuck on the underwater level... the part at the begining with the lasers :(

Awesome game! The music fit perfectly (and helped dampen the IMMENSE FRUSTRATION at the two hard parts--Can anyone say Glass Ball or Underwater Lasers and not cringe after beating this?!)

Teonis' second spoiler was exactly what I needed to continue and then finish the game, it really isn't incredibly hard once you get the hang of it. I can see why the top speedrun time is

Teonis' first spoiler:

My first speedrun?

Hmmm, I have the fist five balls now... and I am stuck. and that is a damned shame cos this is a great game.

Hey all, this game is really excellent, I completed it and had a lot of fun. The
combination puzzle/action is pretty neat.

To answer a few questions:
underwater level:

spider tower:

OK, I'm feeling a touch silly -- I have materials 1-3 and 5-7.

How did I miss #4, and where should I get it?

Alright for Multimedia Fusion!
I love that program, and the guys at Clickteam are geniuses.

I will remain adamant that The Games Factory is the absolute easiest game creation tool for what it makes. As long as you can settle for cartoon-quality graphics, you can do almost literally anything with it.

Good times.

Oh, and another great game made with Multimedia fusion is the superfun Atu'los, a Medieval MMORPG with Legacy of Kain styled graphics.
Or, the origonal, anyway.
Wait, Blood Omen was the sequel, right?

Whatever.

Nevermind, figured it out

Good game, I like this a lot..
But what are the secret game called "dodgesquare" and "pop" how do you play them? Or am I missing something

thanks! im at the last level now 0.o good game jay!

some people dont seem to get the spider so

Sarah, if by underwater level, you mean the secret base behind the tiger, you need the 0 ball, since the 0 ball can fly.

Gods and goddesses, this is a tough game.

Does anyone know what ball you need to get past the

in D

C

U

L

? I have 1-7.

First of all, although you CAN enter the lab with just balls 1-7, to beat it, you need ALL of the balls. Second of all, remember that once you start the lab level, you can switch balls, so you don't have to go through the game with just the Pathetic Ball.

So, to get past the trap with the laser beams, all you have to do is avoid touching the walls until the lasers turn off. If you have all 10 balls, this is easy. If you do not, this is impossible.

P.S. I beat it! *does the happy dance*

I know the guy who made it from a musicians community site. A highly talented (and quirky) individual. That would explain why the music is so good :)

same stuck after 5 balls

any hints?

ok, in the tower at the firstplace when you climb onthe bricks, once your in you have to get the spider to the ottom to hit the yellow button, HOW
I NEED HELP PLEASE!!!!!

to sarah

This is a great game that I found via another site a week or so ago. It stricks a very good balance between fustration and return-to-ability, so you find yourself going back to it to get just a little bit further.

In response to Teonis:

If you're stuck at any point, don't forget to revisit areas you've been to with new balls. And think carefully - you sometimes have to do slightly strange things to get to the right places...

i have balls 1 2 nd 4, but not 3
i am so stuck

ok to get the 6th ball u need the 3rd

Huh how did you get ball two or 4 i could olny get ball 3 and 5 can u get some help

Remember that you can always check the WaDF support forum when you're stuck!

Dear god was this a difficult game. I know it's game play is interesting and overall it's been put together quite well, but I can't get past how utterly hair-graying it was.

For me it was 5 minutes of gameplay crammed into 18 hours of doing the Exact Same Things over and over until they worked by random chance.

Now I admit that I like Cave Story, even though it's about as difficult, but it has so much story and so much more to see and do when you're not trying to jump onto a platform without getting killed for an hour straight.

All in all, this game feels like it was too short and easy originally, so the developer gave it a bunch of places that requite one-in-a-billion-moves to make it longer. Not my idea of a really good game. A shame, since it's quite well put together and polished up from a development point of view. And it really does have a method of play that's pretty uncommon.

Grr....I'm so close, but I can't get past that tiger that sucks everything in. I assume I have to use that crappy orange ball, because it has -powers, but whatever I try won't let me get that ball into his lair. I think i've tried all possible passageways...any advice?

geekazoid - Ball 2 is the easiest to get. Go as far to the east (right) as you possibly can with ball one. A porcupine gives it to you.

Where did you get 3 and 5?

ok, thanks everyone. i have no idea what to do next then (i have the first eight balls.)

HELP! I've got balls 1-6, and I can't find anywhere else to go.

Mordecai

argh, ok i'm stuck on shadowlands. i took the very first right but now i'm just going in circles and can't find a way out.

sarah:

Here are the locations of the nine ball upgrades. Three additional levels--Crystalline, Utopioca Minor, and Strange Place--aren't necessary, but do provide helpful hints.

#2-Normal Ball

#3-Iron Ball

#4-Speed Ball

#5-Glass Ball

#6-Yoga Ball

#7-Pathetic Ball

#8-Jump Ball

#9-Cold Ball

#10-Free Ball

Finishing the game

"Secrets Levels.exe"?

i'm stuck in the crystal path

i'm all the way at the end with the three blue circles
and then i'm stuck :p

Bart: Find your way to the spot where the 4 corridors dead-end. In fact, it is not a dead end. Approach the intersection from the right. Run straight at the wall. You will go straight through.

An explanation of what the balls do:
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

ugh, the controls on the flying ball are impossible. it's kind of ruining the whole game for me and i may not even be able to finish. they should take a cue from ball revamped (love that game.)

HOW do you do the spider thing
im still so confused
i need a total walkthrough on that level
i just dont get it

hi, don't know why but i played it the first time, then i saved, when i tried to start the .exe again it says "cannot load changeanim.cox. This object might need an external program or library not yet installed."

what am i to do?

alright, i put in the four digit code (and one of the hidden game ones.. maybe i'll do the other one later) and some lights started flashing but that's it. is that the end? i'm almost afraid to hit esc.

gaef - on the spider thing

I don't remember the details, but you need to manipulate the Red and Blue Blocks by turning them on and off with good timing to get the spider down to the last room at the bottom, so that he can push the yellow button.

Watch how the spider moves and where he goes depending on where he drops when you make the blocks he's walking on disapear.

Anyone want to post a walktrhough on the Shadowlands?

ergggg...can't get past the Shadowlands!
spent hours on it...help?

help! i click on start game and it brings me to a picture of like buildings projected by a box machine thing and it doesnt go anywhere from there. whats wrong?

Here's a Shadowlands walkthrough:
(There are actually a few different routes through the place. If you're having a lot of trouble, you may want to try a different path and see if it works out!)

Jenn: That's the intro. Just watch and listen to the storyline.

Anyone tried the challenges on the forums? Some of those people can do ridiculous moves. I liked the challenge of getting to the top of the tower with just the blue ball.

i have 1-5 and i am stuck, i know you have to use the lead/iron ball to get on the platform thats blocked by the downdraft, but i cant get the ball high enough
i think you have to use the platform to the top right of that screen

i have 1-5, i am so stuck
read my last reply and find out stuff
i need help
i can get to utiopicaor whatever but i think i need ball 6 to beat it
but i dont have ball 6!

I'm stuck in utopioca. I bounce between purple and red lines, and I don't know where to find an exit. There doesn't seem to be any ! It's strange, the previous screen (with colored lines too) was quite evident... help !

For Utopioca, different balls are stopped by different colour lines.

piou23: Try using different balls. Each type reacts differently with the lines.

I hope this helps!

How do I get the 7th ball into the tiger place?

uhhh... i feel stupid, but i got all the balls but i cant figure out what to do
any help?

wait, nvm, i just figure it out....
...now i really feel stupid

Thanks Fishybobbins and Numair's Angel.
In fact my problem was that I didn't know you could suicide yourself by pressing SPACE, and thus change the ball. Without that trick, I had to restart all the game every time :( Now I'm in Wallace & Gromit's paradise, a world full of cheese :p

Oh man... I can't get it to play...
It looks awsome...

YAHOO!!! I just did a speedrun! 1 hour, 20 minutes. Of course, it's a far cry from the 15-20 minute runs on the high scores. I blame the fact that I'm not used to Hard Mode physics. (which are mandatory for speedruns).

i loved this game! the soundtrack wasn't in any moment irritating, actually.. it was quite nice!
very adictive.. but i think the graphics could be more appealing, but its nice too.
btw...

OMG! ANOTHER WINSDOWS GAME!
seriously jay. its not fair. u give such great reviews of games and then i can't play them with my linux box. argghh...
well, u can't have everything. i can't believe that wine can't run it. sigh.

I hear you, man. I do prefer my Mac, although I also have a Windows box so I don't miss all the excellent games available exclusively for that platform.

By the way, isn't your Linux box capable of running Windows in a dual boot configuration?

okay,
I've got balls 1-5, and I know you need to go to utopica, but I can't get the iron ball on that platform
any help?

I argree, this was a great game to find. The music was soothing and the background was amazing and artistically stimulating. I say this 'cause I beat the game. Hehehe.
Not going to try the secret levels though.
I think the number input process is just too tidious. At least for me anyway. =)

Great game. And not really that frustrating and hard as some people say.

Btw, was anybody else reminded of Cauldron 2 for Commodore 64? That game had pretty much the same control scheme. Also, THAT was a punishing game, even with infinite lives cheat I couldn't finish more then 10% of it.

I digged this game, and beat it on normal difficulty, with a little spoilery help, but for some reason the sound effects didn't work for me. The music did, but of the "different and wholly appropriate bouncing" sounds, nada. Which is a pity, because I'm curious what some of those balls sound like.

pointyclick :

HELP AGAIN! I've got all 10 balls, and got to Dr Cliche's underwater lab. I've turned on those 4 things that show a 0 when you go on then, and I can get to the room that has the 4 numbers, but what do I do now?

AlexJ--

The 4 numbers are the code you have to input on those little lights that say "0". The number will change depending on which ball you activate it with (using the blue ball with make it a "1," etc), so you have to reach the lights with certain balls to input the code.

i cant save the game. whenever i return i have to start from the beginning... i scream

i got 4 balls and did the freaky ufo now three times .. if i have to do it fourth, plz help me what i can do

quote jay:

I hear you, man. I do prefer my Mac, although I also have a Windows box so I don't miss all the excellent games available exclusively for that platform.

By the way, isn't your Linux box capable of running Windows in a dual boot configuration?

Answer:
I do have a dual-boot, but it stinks when you have to reboot all the time. no fun at all-taking a break from work and playing agame means rebooting. Plus i hate windows.

but all is well! i tweaked the wine windows emulator and I can now play this game perfectly on linux! hooray!

i cant get the secret levels unlocked, i know how to get to them, its not in the game, i made it to the end of the thing in harara mountains with the red squares, but now what do i do,

i found the code

hey guys, im loving this game, but im stuck in the 3rd screen down of the crystal path where theres a laser blocking my way. I know the glass ball goes though the lasers...but then its too far down so you get shattered. Can you help?
cheers guys
peace

ok i fixed the last problem, just some jumping around did it
but now im stuck on crystal path again, theres this bit ive got to with 3 blue circle things, and i cant go anywhere else i dont think...help aaah
worlds most infuriating game definitley!

How do you pause a speedrun?

sheesh. finally beat it.

I was a little disappointed on the hardness of the last level. the crystal path was harder to figure out, and the utopioca.

how do you get the secret games, i have the numbers, now what

Everyone says the yoga ball has the best jumping power, but time and time again, ite been ball #4 for me, is there something im not doing?

dirtychinchilla

jay, have you seen the #modarchive games by the same creator? i desperately need a walkthrough for the second one and i can't find one anywhere on the internet. :P

Again, does anybody know how to pause the speedrun and whether the time still ticks while the ball selection screen is on?

Imagine how infuriating it is when you speedrun for half an hour and are right near the end and the da*n phone rings and you do not know the correct way to pause the game, if any.

AHH, think of where you've entered a code before. Don't worry if you have a short term memory, you should know where it is ;D
(if you've beatent the game that is....)

Just finished it. What an awesome game, with awesome ideas. I particularly liked the Utopioca level, and the final one... although crystal path could have been replaced and I wouldn't have missed much

Please stop with the downloadable games...or as Brian mentioned in the first comment start a new section for it. I love the site but I am not willing to slow down my computer even more by downloading a bunch of games. Sorry for the critism...I will end on a positive note. Everything else is superb! Keep up the good work haha.

HELP!

I've got balls 1-9 and I don't know where to go. Where is this underwater lab or whatever?

i have balls 1-6 but i can't do the lunar level. i have no idea where to go. i've gone as high and as far west as i can. am i supposed to west at the bottom?
i'm also stuck on the crystal palace. you have to use the glass ball for the laswer but how? - it constantly breaks!
please help

Dear All,

I have all 10 balls, and I'm on the underwater Dr. Cliche's lab area. If anyone is stuck on something before that, and they've read the above 90 or so comments and can't figure it out, you can e-mail me, I guess. It's goyston [at] gmail dot com. Please don't spam me.

This is an incredible game. It makes me miss the good old days of Nintendo when games were simple and yet so entertaining. For some reason this one really makes me think of megaman.

the_garden_fairy: Crystal Palace is maddening. All it takes is a lot of patience. If you're stuck on a section, give it 10 or 20 tries, then walk away for a while. It really is much easier to do when you're not frustrated and can be more relaxed about it. There does seem to be a few different routes through the level, so if you really can't do it, try a different way.

Can anybody give the two 4-digit codes? I found them both in the game but didn't bother to write them down at the time.

ok, I must have missed something... I put in the code for the secret level, but it the teleporter didn't do anything. It just said "secret level unlocked." How do I get into the secret level?

thanks keith for your help on the crystal palace. finally got through but i am seriously stuck on the lunar cheese factory level or whatever it is called. is there some kind of trick to get passed the fan on the very far left so that you can then go underground because i have tried using balls 1-7 and i cannot get passed it.

please help!

also kevin: i don't know about the secret levels because i haven't got there yet, but there are two games in the "within a deep forest" file that you download. maybe you enter the secret level through the other game...?

the garden fairy:

possible spoilers...

to the guys at jig:

i love what you are doing here, and my only wish is you could find more games like cave story and within a deep forest! they keep my attention focused for a few days, rather than a few minutes like most of the other games here...

>All in all, this game feels like it was too short and easy originally, so the developer gave it a bunch of places that requite one-in-a-billion-moves to make it longer.

Actually, it's the other way around. Orginally, only the hard mode existed, and it was about twice as sadistic. Then I decided to add the new "Easy" mode so normal people could play the game :) I actually never intended things to be so hard, it's just that when you create a game, you spend so much time playing it that you get very good at it. At that point, it becomes very hard to understand how most people will play it.

But I guess different players are different too - I never thought Cave Story was that hard at all.

i got balls 1-5 and im stuck i dont know what to do next.....i need some help please.....what do i do after i get the glass ball???

heh-i feel realy stupid but i dont seem to be able to find the 2 ball.i found an underground tunnel but i cant get past the lava coz the walls to tall and if i just go right above ground i get eaten by spikes!

Everyone has been talking as if there are only two secret games to unlock, but it says there are three, if you open the "Secret Games" file.
Where's the third code? I can't find it anywhere!

On another note, great site Jay! I love it!

O.o Never mind... it appears that the third secret has magically opened on its own...

This looks really fun, I'll download it later today.

P.S. I had to get the comments to 201

I downloaded this yesterday, and it's really good - simple yet not, and pretty hard. The mine cart seemed a little out of place. Right now I am stuck on the crystalline level, I think, where the glass ball must be used. It's the blue one with miniature people.

I finished the game recently the ending felt like somewhat of a letdown, as it was not extremely challenging. It did take me awhile to find the save spot in the last level.
A very nice and pure platformer game.
It did get annoying to travel from one side of the main level to the other, jumping over those lava pits. And more hints on what order to do the levels in would have been nice.
The puzzles were cool, (the spider thing and the colors).
The future level was pretty sad - I think it was mostly for emotional effect, as opposed to difficulty.
After you get the

, I was chasing the little sparkly thing for a while - and then it disappeared. Was it supposed to do anything?