Kid the World Saver turned out to be a constructive twist on the point A to point B retro platformer formula. It’s a game less about action and heroics than the title might suggest, and more about paving the way to Kid’s destiny.

Try not to let your inner child
fall into a bottomless pit.

Kid ambles peaceably without prompting and turns when he bumps into things. It’s not as heroic as you might hope for a world saver, but you can inspire him to rise to the occasion. Different colored blocks make Kid run, plod, or jump as he passes across them, and you can literally pluck these blocks out of the sky to help guide Kid from one side of a level to the other. It’s like Lemmings, but without the plural or the impotent rage.

“It’s a playful 2D puzzle platformer,” says Benjamin Chang, the game’s production consultant, “If you played with blocks as a child, you’ll be able to play our game.” Kid is definitely targeted at a casual audience. You can plummet into bottomless pits, but there are no enemies in sight and not much consequence for failure. Blocks are also abundantly available in the game’s current incarnation, so the only real impediment to progress is your ability to plan and your reflexes as you place the blocks.

Well the shirt is awesome.

Playing the game for white-knuckle challenge misses Kid‘s sandbox charm, however. The developers call it a platformer, but the game is really a level-design simulator that you play while the (admittedly stupid) player strolls through it. Though if that’s not sandboxy enough for you, the development team has already added a free play mode and plans to add a level editor for the game’s ultimate release.

Kid the World Saver is still early in development, so the game’s ultimate scope remains undecided. The development team is considering release on platforms from the iPhone to a PC release. In the meantime, they’re working a demo that you’ll be able to find at their web site. Go have a look unless your inner child has wandered away.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Tags:   GDC · GDC 2009 · IGF · Kid the World SaverNo Comments

Trackback to this article.