Welcome Time Wasters!
This week my adventures for an interesting game led me to an experience called Cloudia.
Cloudia is a short, experimental game that puts players in the role of a llama named Cloudia. This llama can’t jump, but players will still have to traverse a few levels in this platformer without the vital ability.
Since players can’t jump in Cloudia, they’ll have to use other means to get through the various challenges in the game. Luckily for them, our llama friend is lighter than clouds. If players run off a ledge into the clouds below, they’ll be shot back up into the air.
Coming up out of the clouds definitely gives players a nice boost, but it’s not a high enough jump to get them to every area. To get around this, players will have to eat different leaves. These leaves are set at different heights in the game and each one launches the player a certain amount. However, players can only collect one leaf at a time and they are used as soon as they come out of the clouds after eating one.
This element of the game means that players will likely have to think about what they want to do before attempting it. This will help them move ahead quicker, but those that are fans of the trial and error method can use it as well.
As I already said, Cloudia is a very short game. There’s a total of three levels for players and each one only takes a couple of minutes to beat. This is more of a concept than a completed game, and the developer says as much. I found it to be an interesting idea, but I don’t know if a whole game could be supported by it. Still, I bet it would make for a fun section as part of a larger platformer.
I think this might be what I like most about browser-based games. Developers aren’t being pushed to get a certain number of views or sales for a return. Instead, they’re free to try out different ideas and see how players react. It’s a healthy way to test out concepts before putting them in a finished game. I much prefer it over the mess that is Early Access.
Cloudia features retro-inspired graphics that are refined enough that they could appear in a finished game. This is especially true when players see the effects of clouds breaking apart as they drop into and come out of them. It was only a small detail, but it gave the game a better feeling of polish than some finished games.
The audio in Cloudia is okay. There’s only a single song that plays throughout, but its soft melody matches up well with the visuals and gives the game a good sense of atmosphere. However, I have a gripe with the sound effects. They’re a little on the loud side when compared to the music and are killer if players have headphones on when trying this game out. A little adjustment could go a long way here.
Overall, I enjoyed Cloudia for what it was: a short game to test out a unique concept. If this seems like something you’d enjoy, then please go check it out. You’ll spend maybe 10 minutes with it, but it’ll be an entertaining 10 minutes.
Cloudia earns 3 GiN Gems out of 5!