(Originally posted on September, 2013)
Released 2010, PC
In the past, I wouldn't usually keep up with flash and indy games. However, with current/next gen production values continuing to inflate and indy artists finding their groove, lately I've been more interested in indies. I managed to discover Tower of Heaven after stumbling onto its amazing 8-bit style soundtrack. What's more, the graphics are a throwback to the monochrome Gameboy, sporting low-res yet authentic looking sprite work. Not knowing much about the game, I was already considering paying a small fee to play it. After discovering the price (free), there was no choice but to try it out.
Developed by Askiisoft, Tower of Heaven is best described as a platformer with some mind bending ideas that make it feel like a puzzler at times. Though the game is extremely short, the difficulty rapidly increases as you climb the tower's 11 floors. While controlling the movement and jumping of a humanoid character, the voice of the tower's master, presumably God, dishes out increasingly absurd commandments as you irritate him with your progress.
At first glance, the gameplay seems like the simplest of platformers, avoiding hazards while getting from point A to B. The laws (rules) are what make this game stand out. Some of the things you are required to do (or not do) to avoid death are startling enough to rack the player's brain and force them to look at the game entirely different from level to level. During the dozens of death you'll likely encounter, don't be surprised if you're laughing at yourself rather than cursing the game.
Even though I'm playing a flash game with a keyboard, the controls are simple and well-tuned enough that I might as well have been playing on a giant, old-school gameboy. Even with the deliberately low tech graphics, there were some well-done reflection and parallax effects and a sense of atmosphere at times. The only complaint I can offer is that the wind physics are a challenge to figure out, but they didn't stop me from finishing the game.
I came away from Tower of Heaven wanting to see what Askiisoft could do with a larger budget and more time. Whenever I need to brush up my platformer skills or enjoy some chip tunes at some of their finest, I’ll definitely return to the tower.
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