The Curious Consequence Of Negative Co-ordinate Space - Andy Jenkinson

Alright! we are in dangerous territory here. Well, Andy is. Because he has submitted a real game, and first impressions are its a doozy.

Firstly, it has an excellent name. I mean, "The Curious Consequence Of Negative Co-ordinate Space". This title make me think of art school, where a lecturer might invite me to consider the negative space. Although Andy explains where the name came from in the games blurb, which is a good place the start...

In Andy's own words:

The Curious Consequence Of Negative Co-ordinate Space

a BASIC game by andy jenkinson.

for CCSCGC2023

In Spectrum BASIC the command PRINT AT 5,-4;"HELLO WORLD" works, and it really shouldn't.  What weird negative world are we printing in at that point.

Similarly PRINT ATTR (5,-4) looks into this mirror universe.

This game is born of exploring this upside down world, and the caverns within.

Features: 

• Fairly pacy gameplay, given it is entirely BASIC
• A UDG
• 12 levels
• A tiny tune on the start screen
• A score when you finish
• REM statement instructions for DATA to make your own levels

Back to my review:

Wow, pretty cool right? The BASIC listing invites you to design your own levels. I hope people do have a go at that, and if you do, send me a copy please.

So, there is also a 7 note tune that repeats on the intro. It repeats until the game starts, and is the usual beeper sound. I mean it should annoy the hell out of me but it doesn't. I can tell someone musical has worked a little bit of magic with these humble notes - I little arpeggio in an minor key perhaps?

The music provides an air of mystery. Exactly the same vibe as I'm getting from the blurb. This doesn't seem crap then? 

'Ah! But relax, its written in basic - crapness is assured' I hear you say.

But no. This game plays very well. In fact I can't believe it is in basic!

So we have a sort of arcade puzzle game presented very effectively with these simple ascii graphics.

Ytivarg is a reference to gravity failing I think - Also a 90s Czeck band. Who knows which Andy refers to here?

Interestingly the basic listing ranks to difficulty of some of the levels.

This one was pretty fiendish!

So the idea is that you can do a sort of reverse gravity thing, and you have to use this to solve puzzles to clear the level. The game plays very well, and all the levels I've seen so far are thoughtful and well designed. Andy has done something that feels very polished and rather excellent. Has he had a bump on the head? Has is forgotten where we are?

Final thoughts:

This game is totally not crap.

It is a very good mini puzzle game, and I'm enjoying playing it. I'm currently stuck on level 8. It doesn't have a hardness rating in the listing. It doesn't seem hard, but I can't land in the goal. I press against it, doing all the right things but I just slide right past.

OK frustrating. Maybe a tiny bit crap.

The wonderfully named "The Curious Consequence Of Negative Co-ordinate Space" is a welcome entry in to this year's compo. Fair warning to Andy - You have set the bar dangerously high for yourself by making a GOOD game - But I am grateful as its more fun for me.

This is a certified JBizzel Crap Game Compo 23 MUST PLAY. Grab it here.

UPDATE 16/7/2023

I returned to have another go at this game. I really wanted to complete it. I'm glad I did, because it was well worth getting to the end. As you can see, I didn't do that great, I died 44 times and scored 0.

So now I've seen all the levels, I think they are great. This is similar to a Sokoban type game in the way if feels to play. There was only 1 level that I though was a bit too simple given how late on it appears. Maybe Andy is trying to give your brain brief respite before the final push?

I very much enjoyed the final level, and I'm glad that was saved till last.

The only thing I still don't quite get is the time bar. You don't die when it runs out. Instead it turns purple and starts to replenish. Maybe this has an effect on your score?

So, since I have said this is good, I should try to weight it up a little...

The Good

• Interesting and unique game play
• Effective sound and music
• Super smooth basic listing
• Create your own levels feature
• Well designed levels
• No lives, but a summary of performance upon completion
• Replayability

The Crap

• No loading screen
• Not enough levels!