Guselect Productions’ #NoticeMe Game Jam entry — Moonleap, is a puzzle platformer that is not only short and sweet, but fun and challenging to tackle. They are now producing Starboy Adventures, and look set to be making more wonderful indie titles.
With an adorable title about a moon with two phases that change as your character leaps — this winning #NoticeMe Game Jam entry forces players to carefully plan their every move. The first level of Moonleap acts as a tutorial of sorts — it shows the character, the moon’s son, only has a short, limited jump to traverse spaces.
As I progress deeper into the 16 levels of the game, I soon myself dealing with more spike walls and enemies than a fan level of Mario Maker. But this character has a trick up his sleeve — whenever he jumps into the air, a differently coloured portion of the level changes. The spikes on the green side vanish, whilst those on the purple side manifest right before his feet.
Using gravity and handy vines around the level, knowing when to jump is half the battle in Moonleap. You need to time jumps and fall carefully in order to reach your goal, very much like how Celeste merges platforming with environmental puzzles. Later levels present players with a snail-like enemy that responds to your jumps by curling in and out of its shell. When curled in, players can use the shell like a platform to bypass the spikes below and reach new heights.
As I reached level 10, I found myself amongst the clouds. The spikes are still present, and now a new challenge has appeared — crumbling blocks. It’s one thing when it regenerates after a short period of time, but what do you do when it doesn’t? That had me deep in thought as I planned my movements across the map — one false move and it was over.
The soundtrack of Moonleap is a gorgeous, upbeat track that harkens back to the days of NES and MegaDrive games, and the pixel art fleshes out every inch of the level. Many an entry in the #NoticeMe jam had been a joy to play, and Moonleap is no exception. I eagerly look forward to what Guselect Productions has in store for us next.
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