Canabalt: When simple is addictive.

Posted by Nadia Labeikovsky in

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Canabalt is a game that came out of the Experimental Game monthly challenge. It was such a success that the creators, Semi Secret Software, decided to polish and release it as a full platformer game for the iPhone/iPod and a online version.

Canabalt for me it is appealing since it has a very simple game interaction (tapping or clicking on the screen)which means that I do not have to worry about tilting the device on a certain way or other keys to press. Specially since personally I am very clumsy with iPhone/iPod games.

The goal of the game is simple and obvious as you start the game. The goal is to escape from inminent doom while avoiding obstacles and impossible situations as you run. Your distance is recorded, so at the end or when you fail you see how much you have ran, like a highscore of sorts, creating a compulsion to play over and over to get a better score.

From the black and white beautiful pixel graphics, to the music that complements the game so well in tempo and speed. Canabalt is made to be addictive, and it is a great example of simple made perfect. It does not matter if the setting and situations are strange, you are so concentrated on your goal that it makes complete sense and makes you want to play over and over. An interesting detail of the game is that obstacles are loaded randomly, or appear to be randomly, this means that every play session you encounter different situations, making this game dynamic and different every time you play.

Canabalt is an example as to simple and small sessions of gameplay can be succesful on mobile devices (even on web). If you have not played, I invite you to play it, just click here.