Fugdale’s Funhouse

If the words ‘Obstacle Course’ make you tingle down below, then I have a treat for you. Three games step out of the crowd in this sub-genre. Each game has its own unique twisted way of throwing obstacles at you. Hope you make it through.

Maze Frenzy - Somewhat Amazing

Deftly subtitled ‘NoName Game #1 by NotWorthy’, this simple obstacle course game packs a mean punch in a pretty pastel package. Recalling games like Puki , the color pallette for Maze Frenzy consists of almost white and baby blue.

You start by clicking a tiny red ball with your mouse button. Once you have the ball, you simple move it through the intricate moving course avoiding touching any walls or objects along the way. Similar to games like Operation, you have to have a steady hand…one slip and the game ends.

With all the turning gears and tight spaces in the game you will need all the stabilizers you can get. This game will frustrate anyone who likes to breeze through levels onto the next. It takes some serious skill to get through the course. Those who have a low threshold for starting over will quickly exhaust yourself on this one. But I think everyone will want to at least give it a try.

Everybody Panic! - Line Game - Obstacle Course on Crack

I love this game. I hate this game. Think Maze Frenzy on crack. You work your way through very similar 2-D obstacle courses full of swirls, traps and rotating areas. If you touch the sides of the walls or any object you get sent to the beginning. It takes all you have to get through these very tricky mazes. And you have 8 fully-relized courses to choose from. You can also choose between using your mouse/trackpad or your arrow keys. You can master it with any of these techniques, but each has its own dynamic, so you will want to experiment.

The cursor responds sluggishly to the motion and direction you move your mouse or keys. If you hold down the button you will speed up and if you suddenly switch directions you will quickly brake and reverse, but a definite lagging response from the cursor adds to the intensity of passing through the course. I guarantee only genius savants will stand a chance of making it to the end of any these mazes unscathed on the first try. Due to the massive size of the courses, you only see a portion of the maze at any time. Therefore, you won’t be able to anticipate the many twists and turns which lie just off screen.

An intense and nervewracking challenge course, Everybody Panics, will have you going back again and again just to get a little further than the last time.

The Game of Disorientation - Trip Out and Die

This twisted, acid flashback take on the obstacle course genre scores high marks in my book due to its truly disorienting visuals and gory death scenes.

You view the 2-D game as if hanging directly above the main character. You control a tiny man and guide him through some very simple mazes. The character has to cross over timed slicing machines or risk bloody massacre from the spike-lined walls, but those obstacles alone don’t cause much havoc. Whatever drugs this little man has taken cause the room to twist, turn and stretch like sheet of mylar in a windstorm.

As you progress, using the arrow keys, you must remember which direction you travel at all times because as the room morphs you must continue pressing in the direction you started in. This game quickly becomes a bizarre nightmare as you work your way through. I actually managed to make it through all the courses fairly quickly and only died a few times, but not without considerable challenge and entertainment. So I encourage everyone to give it a shot. Just watch out for those spikes!