Starseed Pilgrim is a 2013 puzzle-platform game from independent developer droqen. Players plant 'starseeds' which grow into plants, each with different growth patterns and interaction mechanics. Players plant these starseeds on floating platforms and on fully-grown plants in order to traverse the game world. The game was developed in Adobe Flash and was released in April 2013 for Windows and OS X.[a] Reviewers praised Starseed Pilgrim's game mechanics and the process of learning their interactions, but criticized the learning curve as steep. The game was a finalist for the Excellence in Design award at the 2013 Independent Games Festival.
Starseed Pilgrim is a two-dimensional puzzle-platform game.[2][3] The player begins the game in a hub world consisting of floating platforms.[3][4] From the hub world, they can enter a different platforming world, which consists of a floating platform made out of blocks.[4][5] The player is then given a few 'starseeds' at random, and can plant them in blocks to grow plants.[5][6] Each plant has a different growth pattern and interaction mechanic based on the starseed's colour: for example, pink starseeds create a slowly growing vertical plant, and their blocks can be dug up to obtain more starseeds. The player grows plants on top of each other in order to reach keys floating above, while staying ahead of a corruption originating from the starting platform that steadily corrupts blocks.[7][8]
Starseed Pilgrim
Download File: https://8vofovirwa.blogspot.com/?file=2vI1BM
If the player touches a corrupted block, they are transported into an inverted version of the current world: plants and blocks turn into open space, and the previously-empty space turns into solid blocks.[8] The player navigates this inverted world to return to where the starting platform was; there, the player can use a key they collected to return to the hub world.[4][8] This also allows the player to bring with them any unused seeds from the platforming world, as well as any starseeds collected in the inverted world.[3][9] The collected starseeds can then be planted on the hub world's platforms in order to gain access to other floating platforms.[3]
Starseed Pilgrim received "generally favorable" reviews according to the review aggregator Metacritic.[18] Reviewers praised the core gameplay loop and interactions between game mechanics, particularly the process of learning them, but criticized the learning curve as steep. Rich Stanton of Eurogamer praised the game's mechanics as "an absolute delight" once understood, particularly the inverted world which "delivers on a concept both narratively and mechanically", though characterized the learning curve as a "wall".[5] Stanton also praised the sound effects as pleasing, while also functioning as a gameplay indicator of the corruption's spread. GameSpot staff described the visual and sound design as utilitarian but aesthetically consistent and effectively communicating information, but singled out some sound effects as "harsh and discordant".[3] The staff cautioned that learning the mechanics "can be exceptionally challenging", but that it ultimately rewarded players with "an intense feeling of satisfaction" from exploring and learning how the game works. Writing for The Telegraph, Phill Cameron also praised the core gameplay loop, characterizing it as a process of "incremental understanding" that is continually subverted by new mechanics interactions to consistently surprise the player.[20] Cameron opined that the lack of in-game explanations made the learning process more interesting, and that the randomized growth patterns of the starseeds rewarded player "improvisation and adaptation". Anthony Fordham was more critical of the lack of explicit instructions: in their review for PC PowerPlay, Fordham described Starseed Pilgrim as "a very interesting exercise in game design" and its mechanics as "original", but criticized the process of learning the game's systems as unclear and obfuscated.[19]
You grow. You grow a second brain just for the pilgrimage. You become efficient and find ways to better your future before you get there. You hone your understanding of the mechanics. The smallest details become important to you, like a craftsman now, an artist. One step in the wrong place can break your artwork; the difference between success and starting the cycle again is often so slight.
"Perhaps it's the minimalist aesthetic of Starseed Pilgrim that leaves the door open for interpretation. When I play, I can relate to the lone pilgrim standing on the edge of a rectangular world set directly in the middle of nowhere. The blank game screen reminds me of the blank page and how both are filled with such potential; potential to search, to discover, and ultimately to make a connection with someone else. I see all forms of expression like poetry, game design, and even playing games as a kind of reaching out into nothingness in the hope of making a meaningful connection. My goal with this analysis is to closely examine the strange and unique game of Starseed Pilgrim so that we might find ourselves on the same page. My best tools are clear language, design theory, and a long history of video games to draw examples from. The following is a full game design analysis of Starseed Pilgrim...."
The game takes place on blocks floating in a small rectangle of white space, and you play the pilgrim: a stick figure who can jump, tunnel and plant starseeds. A simple introductory screen explains all of this, though you'll need to check the 'readme' file for one important instruction that should really be in the game - dig pink blocks to get more starseeds.
Through here is where you can start planting starseeds and experimenting. The pilgrim's controls are child's play: arrow keys for movement, up to jump, space to plant a seed and double-tap to tunnel sideways or down. You begin these areas atop a large pile of grey bricks which are gradually being swallowed at the lower end by the influence of a star; the brightly-coloured starseeds let you grow out and away from the corrupting blackness, though you'll never quite escape it.
There are eight colours of starseed and no limit to how many you can carry - the catch is, you can't choose which one to plant next. The three seeds you have immediately incoming float above the pilgrim's head, which allows for a bit of forward planning, but at first you just have to learn how they all work. Each colour of seed grows in a particular way and the blocks it produces have their own kinks; pink ones, for example, grow straight upwards at a slow rate, and each complete block can be dug for an extra seed.
What's next is a bit of a mini-spoiler, so if you like the sound of Starseed Pilgrim give this paragraph a miss and get thee to the website. The puzzle of how the seed types interlock is only really the opening as, after you've worked out the basics, other avatars come along that bring their own small changes of pace to growing - starseeds might sprout faster, for example. This means that, just as you're mastering what the types do and how to build, the game makes a shift. This particular change isn't merely a mechanical one, either. It also brings the beautiful and delicately crafted audio front-and-centre.
Each colour of block has an instrument associated with it, and as they grow and complete, an arpeggio plays. Most starseeds sprout multiple blocks, so plant two or three at the same time and there's a cascade of perfectly-harmonised notes as they grow. This in itself makes growing a pleasure. But it's also a mechanic in its own right. Starseed Pilgrim restricts your view somewhat, and it's not practical to go back and keep checking the corruption's spread. Instead, you can hear it spreading, a much lower frequency of sound but ever-present in the background, and much more notable in your proximity.
So you're growing a series of platforms, and growing further structures out of them. Towards what? This is frustrating I know, but: best to work it out yourself. It's pretty obvious after a few games anyway, and what's even more interesting is what happens at the end of each growing session - the moment when you run out of seeds and the spreading corruption has you trapped. Delay as you will - and it's possible to plant for ages without being caught - eventually the pilgrim is touched by the blackness.
You control the so-named starseed pilgrim, a cosmic gardener armed with a handful of starseeds. Move and jump with the [arrow] keys, tapping [down] to remove blocks below you. You can also remove blocks to your side by running into them. Hit the [spacebar] to plant a seed. Different seed types are shown floating above your head, and each one does something different when planted. The orange seed, for example, quickly grows straight up or straight to the side. The pink seed moves much more slowly, but if you dig out one of these blocks you'll add another seed to your inventory. You wouldn't be much of a starseed pilgrim if you didn't have any seeds in stock, would you? 2ff7e9595c
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