MyHouse.wad

by Veddge and Thomas.

This is a custom level for Doom 2! Just a normal map of someone’s house, it seems?

…

… ok, ok, there’s more here than first appears. Part of what makes this cool is that it’s a “doom” thing, but don’t worry, you don’t need to be a true doom murderhead to appreciate it.

I recommend reading Eevee’s “gradually-unfolding list of tips” once you’ve played through the level!

[Download doom .pk3 file]

How to play a doom level in 2023:

  • First, just grab the level from the link above.
  • Next, download the latest version of GZDoom.
  • You ideally need a doom .WAD file from the commercial version of Doom 2 at this point – look for a DOOM2.WAD file in any version of Doom 2 and copy it into the GZDoom folder. (there are other options here if you don’t have Doom 2, but you’ll have to figure those out on your own.)
  • Drag the myhouse.pk3 file on to gzdoom.exe, and the level will start:

Zipline Obby

by Wild Roleplay.

Oh hey, I recognise that zipline! It’s EgoMoose‘s zipline script! (I used it myself in Climb the Giant Man.) What’s that? You’ve somehow made a huge 150 stage obby focused on it? Whattttt

So, this is a classic “blue sky” Roblox obby, which is a popular obby flavour that I have a guilty pleasure fondness for. You can see the whole world at once. Stages are short, and usually trivial. It’s often less about making each level stand out, and more about just having a lot of content with an occasional difficulty spike to keep things interesting. They’re great to play with a group, in ways you wouldn’t necessarily expect. I’m sort of fascinated by them.

Anyway, this game is definitely in that genre, and most of the levels are pretty simple. The way the zipline script works is that you hop on one end, and you’re zipped along to the end, with no further input needed. Honestly, I wouldn’t have thought there was much you could do with that, from a level design standpoint, but this game really surprised me! Cool game, with a lot of cool ideas, especially as you get further in.

[Play on Roblox (account signup required)]

SLIPPY

by Stuffed Wombat.

This game is pretty slight – which makes sense, it was made in just two hours! But it does a very clever design thing that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before, so I’ve found myself thinking about it again and again. Let me tell you about the thing!

SLIPPY is a simple 2D platformer with a bunch of stages. But instead of having you complete each level in sequence, or, god-forbid, presenting you with a neatly arranged grid of levels to choose from, SLIPPY just randomly changes the level each time you fail.

You still have to do all the levels, to be clear, they’re just being fired at you in a random order, and if you fail you immediately get to try a new one! And this means the game ends with you dramatically alternating between the same 4 levels you’re stuck on, then 3, then 2, and finally just replaying the single hardest level. Amazing!

[Play online (itch.io)]

Sylvie Lime

by Sylvie and Aria of Love ♥ Game.

It’s a new Slyvie platformer! Actually, this one’s already been out for a little while, but I was reminded to finally go and check it out thanks to its recent Nuovo nomination at the IGF!

In typical Sylvie fashion, it’s an untraditional-traditional platformer. Press the keys A through R to activate any of the many powers you’ll find across the game’s world, or press S through Z to become a lime.

I think the game is best experienced without being too over-explained – but I do recommend reading Andi McClure’s post about the game over on Cohost, which does a great job of talking about what’s cool about the game and why it’s so interesting from a design perspective.

[Download for Windows/Mac/Linux (itch.io)]