Qomp (2021)

This is a fun little platformer game. I was gonna say "I got it because it was 2$ in the steam sale" but there were lots of 2$ games and I only got one or two of them, I had a feeling it seemed better than a bunch of the other almost-free games and I was right, this is really well-made! This is a no-filler game, every level adds some new type of obstacle or explores the concept in a new way, and they're basically all good. (It's like an hour or two long)

It's sort of like VVVVVV I guess because all you do is press to reverse gravity, but you're constantly moving left or right because you're a pong ball. Ocasionally this movement scheme gets a bit hard to deal with but nothing in the game requires that much precision so it was fine.

My only gripe is that if you die after activating a switch, you get brought back to the checkpoint with the switch triggered, which lets you cheat your way out of doing some level segments fully, since they'd be harder if you had to hit the switch and make it back alive.

Qomp is a single button game where u are the ball in a hypothetical game of pong trying to escape for your life. The only move you can make is to change directions on a single axis (with some cool variations). It’s very short and simple but really well made.

It takes the precision and focus of a precision platformer, while being very paired down and minimal. It’s super novel, and while not the most exciting game I’ve ever played, I think it’s worth a play through.

This game is super neat. At the start, it's simple. You're the ball in a game of Pong, and by pressing a single key or clicking to toggle which direction to go in, you must escape from the paddles so they lose the game.

From there, it very quickly becomes a full-fledged puzzle "platformer" that uses this simple mechanic in increasingly inventive and fun ways as you navigate traps and other tricky situations. The most obvious comparison is to other 2D games with novel movement methods like VVVVVV and Dandara, and at times you'll feel a bit of what I might call "Celeste-lite".

I love some of the ideas used in the levels, like the little bit of Snake shown in its trailer above, and some traps that behave similarly to a lot of 3D Mario obstacles where they move or enable/disable themselves every time you "jump".

I wouldn't call it a hard game, and it has several accessibility options as well to become easier, but it can really test your timing and problem-solving ability. Some sections require a lot of precision, and the way the ball changes directions can be hard to wrap your head around. Luckily, the game is really forgiving with checkpoints most of the time.

The game is advertised as being 1-3 hours long, and took me about 75 minutes to complete. This may sound short, but it is very dense with clever ideas and fun challenges, definitely worth the low price of $6.99 USD.