Weird Machines

Joe Schmitt turned me onto Puzzle Farter, a game by Pet Tomato. I'm constantly on the look out for silly Flash games that will keep me occupied. More often than not, I'm disappointed by poor gameplay mechanics, lackluster design and/or one-shot gimmicks that quickly become tiresome.

Puzzle Farter, on the other hand, hits a trifecta:

1. Simple Gameplay/Easy Learning Curve
   The controls for this game could not be simpler. Up, down, left and right to move, and another tap/hold of up to use your special power (spoiler: it's a fart-powered butt-boost). The first couple of levels are very simple and let you get hold of these controls, which are very elegant in their own way. Too often simple gameplay mechanics are marred by lack of fine tuning. Puzzle Farter hits the sweet spot with its simple physics.
2. Pleasant Graphics
   It looks good! Much like the gameplay, the graphics are a simpler 16-bit style throwback, and it couldn't be more appropriate. It doesn't have the flash-bang of modern 3D console games, but I've always thought that just because you can make a game that has particle effects and 3D tricks out the ass doesn't mean you should. I long for the days of the good 2D side-scroller.
3. The Human Connection
   This is easily the most important of the three. A game won't hold water with anyone if they can't relate to it. I immediately thought of no less than 10 people to send this to ("Hey, I found a game that reminds me of you!"). Even the corniest game with lackluster graphics and crappy controls will catch some users if one can relate to it. Fortunately for Puzzle Farter, it hits all three.

So go play it! The only criticism I would have is that it has very little replay value, but that is dwarfed by the joy of playing a game that exemplifies the "trifecta." Plus it makes me giggle like a school girl every time I hear the fart sound.

IMPORTANT EDIT!
As it turns out, it's actually just Adobe's store that's all crapped up, but the point remains!

"What's that," you say? "Surely Adobe.com Adobe's store could not be a bad example of Flash, for they are the stewards of Flash, and would never abuse its power." But I think they have. I'm not going to delve too deeply into this, since it's an exercise in frustration, but I believe that Adobe has fallen into the trap of replacing HTML/JavaScript with Flash where it's not necessary, and is indeed a worse choice.

I present the following three reasons as proof:

1. Because the MouseEvent.MOUSE_WHEEL event is broken on Macs, Adobe has destroyed Mac users' ability to casually scroll through a page, instead forcing us to revert to the arrow keys or, god forbid, actually dragging the scroll bar.
2. Many of the things I love about Firefox (my web browser of choice) are completely broken on this site. I can't open links in a new window by middle or right clicking, as Adobe decided that links must behave exactly as they would on an HTML page by opening a page.
3. There is nothing I have found on this site that cannot be done (perhaps better) using HTML and JavaScript. The only Flash-related effects I've seen are rudimentary transitions and overlays that would be just as easier, if not easier, outside of Flash.

There's something to be said for using your own product. After all, if the cook won't eat his own food, something is amiss. But honestly, why go to such great lengths to emulate something that needn't be emulated and ultimately fail to improve upon it? There isn't even any AJAXy-type stuff (which, incidentally, works just fine as actual AJAX).

Don't get me wrong. I love Flash and ActionScript, but I love appropriate use of Flash and ActionScript even more. Inappropriate use of Flash is what makes some people hate it, and given Adobe's stature, their misuse of Flash is correspondingly huger.