Neon Maze Review

Neon Maze Review - Flash Game

Katherine "Kez" Laczin

Game Design, Fall '09

Neon Maze is a simple flash game that only contains a few mechanics, but can quickly become rather challenging. You are a little neon spaceship who must find the gray square to pass onto the next level. The player navigates around an uncomplicated environment with the placement of the pointer in the game window. To reach the gray square, you must find colored gears that match the color of the walls separating you from your goal. For instance, if you are red, you can only pass through red walls - not yellow, blue, green, etc.

Blue passes through blue...

..but not green

Later in the game, you're introduced to other mechanics, like unlocking walls that you can't normally pass through. To unlock these walls, you must be the color of the wall, and then find the key icon that unlocks the wall. You also gradually run out of time in a time bar on the top left. If you run into a wall, that time is severely cut. But there's no need to fret - the time bar is only a point-adding bonus. Even if it's depleted (like in the second screenshot), you may continue at whatever rate you please until you finish the level.

The puzzles get quite difficult as you progress, but the art style is so straightforward that this game is easily understood, and can be great for little breaks in-between working. The music is fantastic. It stays on a steady, smooth beat that isn't boring and fits the adorable simplicity very well. It's a great little game that requires thinking, but not enough to cause you stress.

~Kez