Fugdale’s Funhouse

Now you see me…Now you don’t. We’ve got 3 fun games today which all feature invisibility. All three games require you to maneuver or shoot with an invisible cursor. So Mr. or Ms. Invisible…it’s time to unwrap your bandages and disappear from view!

Today’s Games

Cursor Invisible

Invisibility

The Invisible Quest

Cursor Invisible - Break Plates

You get three seconds to locate your cursor and remember its position. Then it turns invisible. You then have to smash as many gray plates as you can by clicking on them. You will be given 3-5 plates at a time, scattered about the playing field. The plates will overlap sometimes as well.

Speed becomes important in this game because if you wait longer than about 3 seconds to hit the next plate, the game will end. If you click anywhere other than on a plate, your game will end. Needless to say, your game will probably end soon as it becomes extremely difficult to discover where your invisible cursor lies.

The game does give you a small visual clue in the form of a tiny red explosion each time you successfully smash a plate, so once you’ve got the hang of it, you should be able to get a good string of smashes in before eventually dying. The game compels players to try one more time to beat their last score.

Invisibility - Harder Than It Looks

This very basic game doesn’t give you much help at all. Your cursor is completely invisible the entire game. Each level of this multi-level obstacle course starts off with a ‘Go’ button. Place your cursor on it and click. Then a maze will appear and you must move your cursor through the course to the ‘Stop’ button. If you hit a wall or an obstacle you have to start again.

This game becomes maddening after about the second level. With no visual hints as to how fast your cursor moves, you will quickly lose track of it. I found it best to just try to speed through and use your intuition. But that becomes difficult when you start getting moving obstacles which you have to maneuver around.

I challenge anyone to make it past level 5. I’ve tried several times and I’m still working on it. The game provides a fun challenge, but I imagine most gamers will give up out of frustration after a few tries. Although some people may really want to see if they can do it. At some point in the game you should get a password to save your progress, but I haven’t yet reached that point.

The Invisible Quest - Follow the Eyeballs

This invisible cursor game has the same concept as the previous game, but it plays a lot better due to the visual clues the game provides you with. However, it is still extremely difficult to play at times.

When you click the button to start, your cursor will be placed at the ‘Start’ button for the next maze. You must move the invisible cursor through the maze to the ‘Finish’ button. The first thing you will notice is that you don’t need to actually click the start button, you just start moving as soon as the maze appears. The other thing you will notice is all the helpful red eyeballs scattered around the perimeter of each maze. They eyeballs follow the movement of your cursor, so you have a general idea of where it sits on the screen.

The eyeballs only provide so much information and it still gets really hard to remember exactly how far along you have moved. This is one of the few games I actually recommend controlling using a laptop track-pad. When you use your mouse, it’s easy to reach the end of the mouse pad and you have to pick up your mouse and reset it to continue. A graphics pen seems too touchy. But having the ability to lift and replace your finger on a track pad works great.

Five new entries compete in the Obstacle Course and Maze category. Instead of scoring each game, I’m going to rank each entry against the others. Which game will find it’s way through to the Funhouse top position? Find out shortly. Today’s games include a maze generator, a couple 2-D side scroller flying games, a 3-D obstacle course and a tricky cursor maze. Enjoy!

Today’s Games

Copter

Distraction Game

Maze Generator

Missile Game 3D

Pointer

Copter - Crash and Burn

Test your flying skills in this Helicopter flying 2-D Scroller. Press and hold the mouse button to lift your helicopter higher. Release to drop the altitude. But watch out, the helicopter decends very rapidly when you don’t apply the gas.

The game measures your distance. You get one shot at it, so don’t crash into the ground, the ceiling or the numerous boxy obstacles on your path. Your best attempt will stay recorded at the bottom of the screen.

As with most one-note games of this sort, enjoyed the challenge at first, but eventually gave up after a few tries.

Distraction Game - Pesky Animals

This adoreable cartoony game seems similar at first to many 2-D side scrolling games. You take your little yellow canary (?) and fly through the air collection cherries and watermelons for points, while avoiding missles which pepper the course.

The unique feature of this game comes from outside the playing screen. Several large cartoon animals appear around the course and try to distract you from your relatively simple task. For example, one might tilt the screen, another will stomp on the screen making it smaller. These pesky friends like to find as many ways to distract you as possible, so beware.

The game has cute value and some original devices, but the distractions and course seem to stay the same each time you play. Never-the-less, the course features many obstacles to muddy your path. Unfortunately, you only get one chance. If you hit an obstacle or the sides of the screen you have to start all the way over. How far can you go?

If you enjoy this game, check out Disorientation

Maze Generator - Amazing Results

OK, this doesn’t really count as a game, because you really can’t play it. Math.com brings us this fascinating maze generator. Ever wonder how a computer generates a maze? Now you can find out.

Adjust the size of the grid and the interpolation method and the application will generate a maze right before your eyes. If you select ’show solve’, the generator will demonstrate the process of solving the maze.

This probably won’t hold anyone’s interest for too long, but if you’re the type who enjoys watching your computer defrag or staring at the pipe screen saver, you will find hours of interest here.

Missile Game 3D - Fire in the Hole

This game from Albinoblacksheep.com takes all the nerve you can muster. You play from the point of view of a missile careening down a tubular tunnel, working your way through various rotating gears with holes inside them. You must pass through the holes in the gears to continue otherwise you crash a die.

The first round is a qualifying round, where you get unlimited missiles. After that you must make it through the remaining 9 levels with only 5 missiles–a feat next to impossible in my book. To be honest, I haven’t quite made it through the qualifying round yet and I’ve tried about 50 times. (I am using a laptop track pad). If at first you don’t succeed, try try again. Each time you do, the gears randomly generate and their speed of rotation changes as well, so you will get different courses each time you play.

The game also offers mouse sensitivity settings which come in handy if you feel the controls get too jerky. Although this game frustrates me to no end, I enjoy trying to make it through the courses a lot. The design, simple black and white atmosphere, lends itself well to the concept as a whole.

Pointer - Point Your Way to the End

I really enjoy simple games of skill like this game. Each level presents you with a maze full of spinning cogs and moving platforms. You start each level by clicking on the ‘S’ and then guide your mouse pointer through the course to reach the ‘E’ at the end. However you can’t touch the sides of the path or any obstacles or you have to start the level over. The first few levels are very easy and then you get into the trickier passes.

The gears and other obstacles sometimes require you to move quickly or get caught in the mess. If you play this with a trackpad, make sure your fingers don’t have moisture, as you need to move lightly across the pad without getting stuck. Mouse controls feel a little better, I like using my finger for some courses. One of the enjoyable aspects of this game is that you don’t have any object or icon representing your mouse, just the regular pointer. This greatly reduces lagging on slower computers.

If you enjoy this game, make sure to check out Maze Frenzy and Everybody Panic.