A Nightmare of Flashing Lights! – 140 – Carlsen Games

Hey all you amazingly resilient readers, welcome to another review by your guru of the indie world, Fat Adam. I am back, bringing you reviews again, and not just focusing on the playthroughs. (Although you can watch those at our Youtube Channel)

This week I want to take a moment and review another indie game. I’ll be focusing a lot on the older and newer indie games, so you can get some knowledge, while giving some love, to the smaller dogs out there. I decided to pick up 140 by Carlsen Games and give it a whirl, and boy howdy was it ever a mind screw of a game.

You are a cube (who becomes a circle when moving, and a triangle when jumping) who is trying to survive the world you seem to have been created in. With static being your main enemy, this game is a large platforming introduction which fans of the genre will find challenging as it progresses, and those who have not played many games of the style will struggle a bit while they get used to having to keep thinking on the spot.

This is not the classic inane platformer. With its unique color scheme, decent soundtrack, and difficulty level increasing as the game goes on, it gives you a fairly full game with very little needing to be in it. There is no story, well none that is on the forefront other than survival. There is not really any “enemies” as you’d be used to. You just need to stay away from the static you will find all throughout the game. It is like the lava in Super Mario World, instant death. Thankfully there are so many damn checkpoints all throughout the game, you usually don’t start more than a few feet from your death.

The graphics aren’t really anything special, but that is the point of the game. The developers managed to create a game that feels full-bodied, but has very little to it. I couldn’t believe I spent more than 20 minutes playing it, considering the other indie games I have in my line-up, but it was well worth it.

Almost all of the reviews on Steam are saying the same thing, that the game is fun, short, and has an awesome audio track that matches the beat of the actual game. Including the graphics. I am almost fully in agreement, and recommend you actually try this one out yourself.

FINAL THOUGHT

This game is fun for anyone who loves platformers (as I’ve mentioned), anyone who loves colourful games with little depth but a lot of range, but also for people who want to learn WHY people who love platformers are absolutely crazy gamers. They are unforgiving, they are brutal, and they become some of the most frustrating games to play. Either way, they are worth the time and effort, as you get the sense of accomplishment you don’t get very often anymore.