Ynglet

Nifflas (Nicklas Nygren), a Swedish game developer, created the initial prototype for [i]Ynglet[/i] during the No More Sweden game jam on July, 19th 2013. This jam did not have a theme, allowing developers to openly explore their ideas. [i]Ynglet[/i]’s idea was about swimming and jumping between floating water bubbles, playing as a “space dolphin,” a “platformer without platforms,” and in general creating an abstract, joyful environment. The prototype consisted of five levels, all containing variously placed moving, rotating cube- and circle-shaped bubbles, and the player had to move between them and collect all the seeds in the level. Despite the simplicity, the game was already fun, with the final level being tricky due to the movement and rotation speed of the bubbles. The game was forgiving; the only way to die was to fall, and collected seeds didn’t reset on death. So, the game was all about atmosphere, and knew it was mostly about experiencing this strange, wonderful environment. Nifflas already knew the world in its prototype state: the hand-drawn bubble world was artistically flourished with fourfold symmetric mosaics in and around the bubbles, somehow giving the feeling of…

psychedelia forever

the perfect blend of simplicity with interesting, emergent mechanics that allow for lots of adaptability in gameplay, and the perfect blend of visuals, audio, and vibes that can't lead to anything but immediate flow state. very open 'puzzle' game that lets you solve most things however you want, while leaving room for fun skill expression, and the openness of the game is well balanced (more so on the higher difficulties. don't let the name of the highest difficulty, "too hard", scare you away from it (only available after fully beating a campaign)). reminds me a lot of mosa lina in how i feel playing it, which means this game, with just its 3 hour runtime (although i will probably be playing more soon), might be in my top 20 favorite games oat (which i swear means more than how it might sound. i play a lot of games i think maybe).

I've played through Ynglet to 100% a few times because its one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I've had in years. The game's difficulty is masterfully designed. There are three difficulty levels which range from relaxing to pretty dang hard, but you can take a checkpoint on any safe 'platform'. This way the player can tailor the challenge beyond just those three difficulty levels. The visuals are super simple but lovely. There are so many spots where you'll just pause for a moment to take a look around at the very interesting shapes and lines. The music design is incredible. The audio reacts to everything you do, so it feels like you're playing perfectly in-time with the game and makes every movement extremely satisfying. Do yourself a favor and play this game.

fun little platformer thats unlike anything else. really cool graphics and its cool how your movements change the music. would absolutely recommend esp bc its on sale rn for like $3. just try it.

It's challenging and fun without being too difficult. Lots of levels, and beautiful graphics.