Friday, November 23, 2012

Play TNNS in the bathroom!

I tend to play a lot of games in the bathroom, usually on my phone. In fact, since my free time started hemorrhaging a few years ago, game time and bathroom time have become almost synonymous. I have a friend who thinks it's super gross that I use my phone in the bathroom, but I ignore him because he uses his laptop in the bathroom and that's probably more gross. 

Anyways, my most recent bathroom mainstay (at least since I had to make a mid-year resolution to stop playing Super Hexagon) has been the new pong-like TNNS by Action Button Entertainment and Rbbx Inc. 


So whats the game about? Well remember that one movie where Angelina Jolie teaches some dork how to "bend" bullets by twisting his gun while he shoots? TNNS is like that but actually good.

The heart of the game lies in the very precise control you have over the ball(s) after it hits your paddle. Wiggle your paddle to the left or right, and the ball curves in that direction. Once you've mastered the basics, you can start doing more complex curves to get the ball shooting around obstacles or bouncing directly into prizes. 

The tactile feedback the game provides is some of the best out there. The window of trajectory control after the ball hits the paddle is just large enough to precisely hit targets. The audio is filled with satisfying crunches and pops while the visuals shake and spark with each impact. All these factors combine to give a sense of the game as a precise physical mechanism, rather than just a digital simulation. 

Other than that, here are some things that make TNNS a great bathroom game: 
  • Games tend to last less than a minute.
  • The levels are procedurally generated to a certain extent, so every game is guaranteed to be different. 
  • No concentration required! Let your fingers do the work while you go about your business. 
All in all, TNNS is pretty neat and basically better than just leaving old Dilbert collections next to the toilet. 


No comments:

Post a Comment