The Age of Steam: The time when technology was at its pinnacle, bringing science, research, and inventions to the forefront to the world. However, with great leaps in science comes unwanted attraction, and it wasn’t long before mad scientists stole schematics of advance technology for their own diabolical plans. There is only one secret agent to save the world from these mad men, and you could never ask for a better man in the Mad Age than This Guy.
“Mad Age & This Guy” is a Sokoban puzzle arcade game where you take control of This Guy to push boxes, trap robots, and bomb everything in the way. As with Sokoban games you push boxes to clear paths, trap robots, and activate floor switches. This Guy can blow them up if needed but be sure to keep plenty for Sokoban puzzles’ sake. There are also barrels that work as the boxes would, but when hit with a bomb or level hazards, such as lasers and fire vents, they’ll explode with a wide blast range.
Speaking of explosions, the bombs are not infinite, meaning each level gives you a limited amount to work with. If you plan ahead, however, you’ll find they give you enough bombs for each stage. This Guy can also push his bombs in front of him, but remember the explosion also kills him.
The robots of the Mad Age are out for This Guy’s blood and will give chase if he’s close, increasing their speed to catch up with him. They will, however, lose interest in him if he’s too far as if he dropped from their radar. This does help when you need to block them off or, better yet, trap them between a few boxes but with a few of the robots’ movements being unpredictable it will take patience before you can blow them up. One series of robots, the deadly steampunk roombas, are slightly easier to trap since they run along the walls, though you’ll have to be fast since they move quickly.
The main objective of each level is to survive and get to the exit. You may need to pick up some keys to unlock a few doors, but keep in mind that they also keep robots in as they keep you out. Two other objectives are to collect parts for a Secret Machine and destroy all the robots in the level. These two aren’t necessary to beat a level, but they make for a good challenge as the difficulty increases as you progress.
To illustrate the Mad Age they went with pixel art inspired by steampunk. The worlds fall under the Caves, Artic, and Castle biomes but the designs only stand out enough to remind you which one you’re on. The robots follow the steampunk aesthetics, if you’re not picky about the definition. They are bulky machines with earlier models put together with spare boilers and light bulbs, so there’s madness in their logic when they worked on this game.
As for This Guy, he wears a tasteful Victorian vest and top hat. He may be a balding middle-age man with a pet canary under his hat, but old age won’t stop This Guy from his job or fashion sense. What’s neat about your perspective into the game is that the screen is stylized to work as a sort of film projection, giving you an interesting way to immerse yourself in the game.
Under audio, you’ll hear plenty of steam hissing (this is a steampunk game) and explosions but the music, despite there are only a few tracks, brings some likeable piano scores reminiscent to a silent film. This is actually a nice combination with how the view looks like a film projection as it gives the sensation of playing out a steampunk film.
Playing as This Guy in this Mad Age makes a fun arcade game that takes Sokoban puzzle elements and adds some explosions, clanks, and a stylish protagonist. “Mad Age & This Guy” will give you plenty of challenges as you go through each level, with each new world continuing the difficulty from where the last left off.
It can be frustrating to trap robots even when you are trying to complete all objectives on each level but when dealing with mad scientists you need to use your wits, and patience, to solve puzzles and blow any problems to scrap. So in overall, ” Mad Age and This Guy” is a puzzle game that’s worthy of your time even if most of it is used for trapping a robot between an explosive barrel and a bomb.
Pros:
+ A fun, challenging arcade Sokoban game with bombs, robots, and This Guy.
+ Steampunk inspired presentation with piano scores and a neat projector view of the game.
Cons:
– Robots can be frustrating to trap and destroy.
Gameplay: 4.5/5
Graphics: 4/5
Sound/Music: 5/5
Controls: 4/5
Replay value: 4/5
Verdict: 4/5
”Mad Age & This Guy” is a fantastic arcade puzzle game that will challenge you on every level there is from the very start to the very end, and remember, when dealing with a mad man’s conquest of taking over the technological age with killer boiler bots and deadly roombas you can always count on This Guy.
Title: Mad Age & This Guy
Developer: Atomic Wolf
Format: PC
Genre: Puzzle Arcade
Resolution: 1680 x 1050
Release date: 2017-10-24
Difficulty: Easy to Madness
Spent time: 2+ hours
Average grade internationally: N/A as of writing. Gamerankings.com
PEGI/ESRB age rating: PEGI7+/Everyone
Price: $9.99
Credit:
Robin Ek – Editor
David Lucas
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @GamerFoxem
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Tags: Atomic Wolf, Indie games, Mad Age and This Guy, PC games, PC review, Puzzle games