Rosie Planet

I tried out this game a while ago when the creator was first demoing it and the improvements to the look and feel are pretty crazy. At the time I noticed a few things and they were very receptive to criticism and development. Seeing how much has changed with the controls to make it a lot smoother to play is really sick. There are a lot of really cool level ideas that lean into some interesting gimmicks making some of the levels feel very unique. There can always be more polish applied but you can see the passion of someone who enjoys a platforming game.

I nearly missed this game. I played the demo about four months ago and came away thinking it just wasn't for me. It felt brutally difficult - I could barely make it through a level without dying multiple times. Enemies seemed relentless, and I even considered messaging the developer to say I thought the difficulty was a little too high. Then, about six weeks ago, I booted the demo up again and realised something I'd completely missed: the level I'd been playing was actually from much later in the game. So I bought the full game. I'm so glad I did. Rosie Planet is an absolute gem. It's original, charming, eccentric, and packed with personality. It clearly wears its love for classics like SM64 on its sleeve, but it never feels like a copy. It has its own identity, from the funny little character noises and genuinely amusing NPC dialogue to the slightly spooky atmosphere in places. You can even buy furniture to decorate your little house, which is such a fun touch. The platforming is excellent. Like many great 3D platformers, there's a learning curve. Once you understand the moveset, camera, and level perspective, everything clicks into place. There's a real sense of progressio…

I'm grading on a curve here, because game development is a long, grueling process - any aspect of which can be, and often is, the work of a lifetime. This makes playable games - let alone fun games - by solo devs a rare sight. Rosie Planet is among them. The fun ones. It's fun. But the reason I'm recommending it, specifically, is for aspiring devs and people who are simply interested in game design. It is imperative that those who wish to engage critically and meaningfully with Good Art be exposed to flawed art, because when you take a feature for granted it becomes nearly impossible to understand the effort and care that went into making it work. As a teacher once told me, engineers spend thousands of hours making sure you never realize that they were involved at all. New concepts are introduced frequently, and it's inspiring to watch both the complexity and the acumen with which it was created grow over the course of the game. The physics, for the most part, feel good in a way that's hard to articulate until - again - you've played something that feels bad. The music is pleasant, the visual effects are juicy, and in general things feel very On Purpose. There's also, however, …

this game is a gem that deserves more love!

Rosie is relaxing on an airship on her way to a beach resort for a much-needed vacation. However, the trip turns out to be a trap set by an evil wizard, who launches rockets at the ship and forces her to jump to safety. She lands in a small village and must now make her way to the city to confront the wizard. As a classic platforming hero, Rosie’s main ability is her jump, so there is not much to learn. She can climb poles, dash which is often combined with a jump to reach greater distances, and kick enemies or objects. Because her kick has a very short range, it is usually safer to rely on the traditional method of jumping on enemies’ heads. Some enemies protect their heads, though, so you will have to avoid them or use the kick instead. You begin in a small village hub where you can explore freely, talk to people, collect beans, and enter stages. There is no danger here. A bird guides you toward your objective, and your main goal is to collect large floating stars and complete stages marked by colorful flowers. Doing so rewards you with magical seeds that allow you to progress. After this first area, you gain access to a car and can drive around the island to visit new locatio…

So, just to be upfront, I had played through this game in the playtesting phase, and received it for free. This is a game that wears it's inspiration of 3D platformers on it's sleeve, and delivers the experience with really neat levels, hub worlds, and some unique mechanics every now and then to keep things interesting. It may look a little rough at first glance, but something to note about this game is that just about everything was made by a single person, which in itself is very impressive considering the variety of levels, worlds, and music. Especially the endgame special levels. If you're looking for solid 3D platforming, this game is certainly worth your time.