
It's sort of like watching people play charades, only in a virtual world. Since each game takes place on a stage, any other person in the space can watch the events unfold. The stage part of the game is also a large part of the appeal. So it's not necessarily pure skill that determines the winner, but a mixture of clever thinking and luck. Each decision on your part involves trying to figure out what your opponent's are thinking. The person who manages to survive without losing all of their points is the winner. You start with 20 points and each attack reduces that number. Three choices, each with their own potential risks and rewards. It's divided into rounds, and in each round every player has to make one of three choices: you can attack another player, which prompts a giant mechanical hand to slap them across the face you can block, which reduces the damage inflicted if you do get attacked or you can reflect, which sends an attack back at a player if they attack you, but also inflicts significant damage on you if you don't get attacked. And the game itself is incredibly simple. Going up to one of these stages gives you the option to join a game, which can feature anywhere from two to six other players.
Slappy happy game reviews full#
The game takes place in what appears to be a circus tent, which is full of a number of stages. Winterbottom, Slap Happy Sam is not only charming, but also perfectly suited to the Home platform. Developed by The Odd Gentlemen, the indie studio behind The Misadventures of P.B. Really, Conspiracy doesn't feel all that much different from other Home spaces like Sodium One. There's a conspiracy-type story involving different factions and such, but after playing several missions I had little idea what was actually going on and even less desire to find out. You can completely ignore the hacked e-mails you find and not bother to check the contents of the briefcases you risk your life for, and it doesn't really matter. Worse still, it doesn't provide a very intriguing world to inhabit. This is an action-style game set in Home, and as such it doesn't play particularly well. The later missions are more challenging, but not any more interesting. There are two tutorial-style missions that you can play for free, and after that you'll need to purchase a pass for $2.99 to access the rest of the game. Some are timed all are simple and easy to solve. These range from a memory-style game to a Connect 4 meets Tetris puzzle game. Sometimes this will open a locked door, sometimes it will turn off the automatic gun turrets, but each time it will require you to play a simple mini-game. You'll also come across plenty of computer terminals that need to be hacked. Frustratingly, you can't fire your gun and have the goggles on at the same time, which can lead to you getting caught by the spotlights while trying to dispose of robots. If you get spotted too often or for too long, the mission is failed. The security lights and lasers, meanwhile, operate on a pattern, so you'll need to do some quick memorization before venturing out and around them. I was often chased by the security bots, but at no point did any actually attack me. You hold the right trigger and it aims automatically, and after a few shots the robot goes down. The combat is so simple as to feel superfluous. There are some gadgets to help you out, including guns for taking out robots and goggles that let you see spotlights and other security measures. It plays sort of like an awkward stealth-action game mixed with a mini-game collection. You'll be confronted with locked doors to open, computers to hack, security robots and lasers to avoid, and more. Here, you can chat with other players, purchase new outfits for your avatar, and, of course, take on missions.Įach mission has the same goal: get through a variety of obstacles to collect a briefcase, and then get out quickly before time runs out. There's a central hub area in a surprisingly bland futuristic volcano lair, complete with flowing lava and plenty of screens and terminals. You take on the role of a spy of some sort, tasked with infiltrating various areas and collecting briefcases full of information. One of the new games, called Conspiracy, is developed by Jet Set Games, the studio behind the iOS strategy game Highborn.


Last week the service saw two of these games released, and Ars headed back into the virtual world to see just how good they are. Now Sony is attempting something different: releasing Home games crafted by actual game developers. There have been game-themed spaces to explore, alternate reality games, and plenty of mini-games. Ever since the release of Home, Sony has experimented with various ways to entice users to enter the virtual world.
