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The brain is a magnificent device. I might not have the same scientific appreciation
for it as certain friends of mine, but I do enjoy stimulating it with strange things.
Like Space Ghost, and the comedy of Ben Bailey, and psychedelic indie puzzle games that at
least claim to be about connecting neurons. I’m fairly certain neurons aren’t spaced
out this regularly, but the general idea seems to be constant: Make connections, eventually
clear neurons from the playfield by joining them all to a glowing white neuron, continue
on. At least, I think. The tutorial very much follows the old axiom “Show, don’t tell,”
and simply demonstrates the gameplay non-interactively. I learned the game, but not the specific mechanics,
and certainly none of the terminology.
There are three game modes: Timed three- and five-minute challenges, and a survival mode
where completing links awards more time.. Using either a cursor or a freefloating pointer
(if you so prefer), you draw sequential connections between neurons of the same color. The more
connections you draw, the more points that cluster will eventually be worth. While connections
can’t traverse huge distances or cross through other nodes or connections, they can loop
back on themselves and create circuits, before branching off and creating other circuits,
with each having a multiplicative effect (I love that word). A couple loops and you’ve
turned a cluster of eight or ten neurons into sixty or seventy points, which - once the
grey matter hits that line dividing the playfield from the score - gets converted into fuel
for the Trance gauge. What happens when the Trance gauge engages?
Yep, the entire playfield begins to glow red and all neurons are considered the same color,
allowing you to rack up massive combos. Unfortunately, if you’re like me and neglect the actual
lose conditions of the game, you let an uncleared neuron hit that aforementioned line, and bam.
Game over. I don’t believe I’ve ever said this about any other game, but I actually
want this on my phone. The mechanics seem to be perfectly conducive to a touchscreen,
as anyone who’s unlocked an Android device can attest, since the only non-cursor control
you have to worry about is the occasional use of the right bumper to accelerate the
flow of neurons. As an XBLA indie title... it’s certainly not bad, especially since
it’s only a buck, but it seems less like the kind of meditative experience I’d prefer
to have on a console (see: Megacity) and more like something I can poke at while standing
in line at the DMV. Still, it pokes all the right sensory receptors and stimulates the
grey matter as a whole... and if I’ve misused any terminology, please go easy on me.