Humorous Games
I recently discovered "Mom Hid my Game", a minimalist point-and-click puzzle game that wins on its humor. The game has you trying to find your "game", a Nintendo DS-style handheld gaming console, which your Mom has hidden. As you search for the game, any number of mishaps can cause an instant Game Over, such as peaking behind the blinds and getting caught by Mom. The game delivers everything in a lighthearted and humorous tone, with cheery music and a bright blue background to make it open and fun. The developer has made several other versions of the game, including some spinoffs which play on concepts introduced in the original.
What makes the game so much fun is its ridiculous sense of humor. I've always been a fan of absurd humor, and this game delivers a ton of it. I'm also reminded of how much I enjoyed the Monkey Island games as a kid. Mom Stole my Game seems like a super lite version of Monkey Island at heart.
As I make my Balloon Ghost game, I'm reminded of the need to keep it light and humorous. I don't want to make it a funny game necessarily, but I want to keep the tone silly instead of serious. Robot Ops was also very light, but I think Balloon Ghost will benefit from adding some extra lightheartedness to the "dying" and "losing" animations. Perhaps the Balloon will get mad at Ghosty for dropping him? Enemies should also be treated with a bit of fun. They should be challenging to deal with, but the player shouldn't hate them or feel too indifferent toward them. These enemies aren't the same as in my other games; while they are dangerous to both the balloon and Ghosty, the enemies aren't trying to "kill" the player and are instead just there minding their own business and getting in the way.
I'm glad I found Mom Hid my Game, as it has given me inspiration for my current game.
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