Toby: The Secret Mine | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Developer(s) | Lukáš Navrátil |
Designer(s) | Lukáš Navrátil |
Composer(s) | Matthew Steed |
Engine | Unity |
Platform(s) | Windows, Linux, OS X, iOS, Android, Xbox One, Wii U, PlayStation 4, Switch |
Release | Windows, Linux
|
Genre(s) | Puzzle-platform |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Toby: The Secret Mine is a 2015 puzzle-platform game developed by Lukáš Navrátil. It resembles Limbo .
Toby: The Secret Mine is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer with black silhouette graphics. The gameplay is very similar to Limbo but its atmosphere is much less dark and world is much more colorful. The player controls Toby throughout the game, guiding him through multiple levels set in varied environments such as forests, caves, a mine, blizzard etc. There are puzzles on the route that the player must solve to progress. There are also multiple traps that the player can easily overlook unless alert. These traps vary in each environment with the blizzard levels focussing heavily on timed platforming. There are also kidnapped friends that are hidden throughout the levels adding an element of exploration. The game consists of 21 separate levels in all. [1]
Toby lives in a nameless town whose residents are being kidnapped by a red-eyed cats. Toby decides set up for an adventurous journey to save his friends.
Toby pursues gets through a Lost Mine full of dangers and traps set by kidnappers. Toby eventually gets to hideout of kidnappers and defeats their leader. The leader offers Toby his crown and player is given choice to accept the crown or kill the kidnapper.
If he takes the crown, Toby's eyes turn red and Toby becomes the new leader of kidnappers. His friends turn evil too and Toby is seen standing on a cliff as his homeworld is burning.
If Toby kills the kidnapper, his friends are freed and they return home.
The game was in development for one and a half years. [2] It was inspired by Limbo, Nihilumbra, Type:Rider and other games. Navrátil worked on the game alone. He had to deal with the difficulty of his lack of experience. He eventually finished the game and in October 2015 it was released on Steam via Steam Greenlight. An iOS version is currently planned. [3] The Nintendo Switch version will be released in Japan on July 9, 2020. [4]
KeenGamer called Toby: The Secret Mine "a beautifully crafted puzzle platforming game." The review praised the game's aesthetic and gameplay including the puzzle sections. Criticism was reserved for the lack of story and for the unintuitive nature of some of the sections. The game was rated 6/10. [5]
Gone With the Win was critical of the similarities between Toby: The Secret Mine and Limbo but praised its charm and gameplay. [6] It also criticised the guesswork required in the puzzles but gave the game a positive review overall with a 7/10.
Bubble Bobble is a 1986 platform game developed and published by Taito for arcades. It was distributed in the United States by Romstar, and in Europe by Electrocoin. Players control Bub and Bob, two dragons that set out to save their girlfriends from a world known as the Cave of Monsters. In each level, Bub and Bob must defeat each enemy present by trapping them in bubbles and popping, who turn into bonus items when they hit the ground. There are 100 levels total, each becoming progressively more difficult.
A platform game is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels that consist of uneven terrain and suspended platforms of varying height that require jumping and climbing to traverse. Other acrobatic maneuvers may factor into the gameplay, such as swinging from vines or grappling hooks, jumping off walls, air dashing, gliding through the air, being shot from cannons, or bouncing from springboards or trampolines. Games where jumping is automated completely, such as 3D games in The Legend of Zelda series, fall outside of the genre.
Commander Keen is a series of side-scrolling platform video games developed primarily by id Software. The series consists of six main episodes, a "lost" episode, and a final game; all but the final game were originally released for MS-DOS in 1990 and 1991, while the 2001 Commander Keen was released for the Game Boy Color. The series follows the eponymous Commander Keen, the secret identity of the eight-year-old genius Billy Blaze, as he defends the Earth and the galaxy from alien threats with his homemade spaceship, rayguns, and pogo stick. The first three episodes were developed by Ideas from the Deep, the precursor to id, and published by Apogee Software as the shareware title Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons; the "lost" episode 3.5 Commander Keen in Keen Dreams was developed by id and published as a retail title by Softdisk; episodes four and five were released by Apogee as the shareware Commander Keen in Goodbye, Galaxy; and the simultaneously developed episode six was published in retail by FormGen as Commander Keen in Aliens Ate My Babysitter. Ten years later, a homage and sequel to the series was developed by David A. Palmer Productions and published by Activision as Commander Keen. Another game was announced in 2019 as under development by ZeniMax Online Studios, but was not released.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is a 1995 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The player controls Yoshi, a friendly dinosaur, on a quest to reunite baby Mario with his brother Luigi, who has been kidnapped by Kamek. As a Super Mario series platformer, Yoshi runs and jumps to reach the end of the level while solving puzzles and collecting items with Mario's help. The game has a hand-drawn aesthetic and was the first in the franchise to have Yoshi as its main character, where it introduces his signature flutter jump and egg spawning abilities.
Donkey Kong 64 is a 1999 platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the only Donkey Kong game to feature 3D gameplay. As the gorilla Donkey Kong, the player explores themed levels to collect items and rescue his kidnapped family members from King K. Rool. The player completes minigames and puzzles as five playable Kong characters—each with their own special abilities—to receive bananas and other collectibles. In multiplayer modes, up to four players can compete in deathmatch and last man standing games.
Blackthorne is a cinematic platform game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for the Super NES and MS-DOS in 1994. The cover art for the SNES version was drawn by Jim Lee. The following year, Blackthorne was released for the Sega 32X with additional content. In 2013, Blizzard released the game for free on their Battle.net PC client. In celebration of the company's 30th anniversary, Blackthorne was re-released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One as part of the Blizzard Arcade Collection in February 2021.
Toki Tori is a puzzle video game with platform elements, released by Capcom in September 2001 for the Game Boy Color. It was developed by Dutch video game development company Two Tribes and is their first published video game. The game follows a young chick, Toki Tori, and his quest to rescue his younger siblings, still in their eggs. To progress through the game, the player must pick up each egg on a level using a set number of tools, with new tools being introduced as the player progresses through the four worlds. This usually involves careful planning and creative thinking.
Scooby-Doo Mystery is the name of two video games released by Acclaim Entertainment and Sunsoft in 1995 based on the Scooby-Doo animated series. One of the games was released for the Sega Genesis and features a more traditional adventure game-style interface. The other title, released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, is an adventure game with platforming elements. Both were released only in North America. In both games, players take control of Shaggy Rogers and Scooby-Doo, who help solve various mysteries with other members of Mystery Incorporated who serve minor roles during gameplay.
Limbo is a puzzle-platform video game developed by independent studio Playdead and originally published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. The game was released in July 2010 on Xbox Live Arcade, and has since been ported by Playdead to several other systems, including the PlayStation 3, Linux and Microsoft Windows. Limbo is a 2D side-scroller, incorporating a physics system that governs environmental objects and the player character. The player guides an unnamed boy through dangerous environments and traps as he searches for his sister. The developer built the game's puzzles expecting the player to fail before finding the correct solution. Playdead called the style of play "trial and death", and used gruesome imagery for the boy's deaths to steer the player from unworkable solutions.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! is a 2010 puzzle video game developed by Nintendo Software Technology and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. The game was released in North America on 14 November 2010 and is the fourth game in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series.
Kirby's Return to Dream Land is a 2011 platform video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It is the ninth mainline installment and the twenty-second game in the Kirby series. While Kirby's Epic Yarn was released in 2010, Kirby's Return to Dream Land is the first traditional Kirby platforming home console game since Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, which was released in 2000 for the Nintendo 64. The title was released in North America on October 24, 2011, in Japan on October 27, 2011, in Europe on November 25, 2011, and in Australia on December 1, 2011.
Skylanders is a toys-to-life action-adventure video game series published by Activision. Skylanders games are played by placing character figures called the Skylanders on the "Portal of Power", a device that reads the figures' tags through NFC and "imports" the character represented by the figure into the game as a playable character.
Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy is a puzzle game developed by Level-5 for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the sixth entry in the Professor Layton series, making up the third and final part of the prequel trilogy of games and according to Level 5 CEO Akihiro Hino, it was intended to be the last Layton title to star Professor Layton himself as the protagonist. However, with the announcement of Professor Layton and The New World of Steam in 2023, this is no longer the case. The game saw a release in early to late 2013 in all territories except North America, where it was released on February 28 of the following year.
140 is a platform game independently developed by Jeppe Carlsen, known for his gameplay direction for Playdead's Limbo. The game is described as a "minimalistic platformer", using electronic music to create synesthesia as the player makes their way through four different levels, each with its own sound-track. The game-play has been compared to other similar games which involve music synchronization like Sound Shapes and the Bit.Trip series, though with difficult platforming elements comparable to games in the Mega Man series. The game was released on Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux systems in October 2013, on Xbox One in August 2016, on PlayStation 4, Wii U in September 2016, and Nintendo Switch in January 2020. A release on PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS was planned, but later cancelled.
Mighty Switch Force! 2 is a puzzle platformer developed and published by WayForward Technologies for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the fourth game in WayForward's Mighty series and the sequel to 2011's Mighty Switch Force!. The game was released on the Nintendo eShop on June 13, 2013 in North America and in the PAL regions on June 27, 2013. The game was later released for the Wii U in October 2013. A puzzle game using similar elements and assets, Mighty Switch Force! Hose It Down!, was released for iOS on February 12, 2015 and for Microsoft Windows on June 4, 2015.
SteamWorld Dig is a platform action-adventure game created by Swedish video game developer Image & Form. The second installment in the SteamWorld series and the sequel to SteamWorld Tower Defense, SteamWorld Dig has the player control Rusty, a steam-powered robot who arrives at a small Western mining town called Tumbleton after having received a deed for a mine from his long-forgotten uncle, Joe. The objective of the game is to dig through Tumbleton's mine, which also involves solving puzzles and platforming to avoid traps and enemies.
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a 2014 action puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U. The game was re-released for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS in 2018 with additional content. It is a spin-off of the Super Mario series and a part of the larger Mario franchise. The game stars Captain Toad and Toadette as they complete levels and save each other from the antagonist Wingo. Each level is contained within a miniature diorama-like environment that requires puzzle-solving and platforming challenges to complete. The player also uses the Wii U GamePad to rotate the camera and reveal new information and interact with the environment.
The Lost Vikings is a puzzle-platform game developed by Silicon & Synapse and published by Interplay. It was originally released for the Super NES in 1993, then subsequently released for the Amiga, Amiga CD32, MS-DOS, and Mega Drive/Genesis systems; the Mega Drive/Genesis version contains five stages not present in any other version of the game, and can also be played by three players simultaneously. Blizzard re-released the game for the Game Boy Advance in 2003. In 2014, the game was added to Battle.net as a free download emulated through DOSBox. In celebration of the company's 30th anniversary, The Lost Vikings was re-released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as part of the Blizzard Arcade Collection in February 2021.
BoxBoy! is a puzzle-platform game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS handheld console. Players control Qbby, a square-shaped character who can produce a string of connected boxes. The boxes are used to overcome obstacles in stages that Qbby must be guided through. The project plan for BoxBoy! was devised in 2011 by director Yasuhiro Mukae, although the game did not enter development until 2013. The core gameplay concept remained the same throughout the title's development, however, changes were made to length of levels and the structure of the game. Each set of stages was designed with a specific theme in mind with the intention of expanding the game's depth by introducing new elements continuously. The game was released via the Nintendo eShop distribution service in Japan in January 2015, and worldwide in April 2015.
BoxBoy! + BoxGirl! is a puzzle-platform game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the fourth game in the BoxBoy! series, a follow-up to Bye-Bye BoxBoy! (2017), and is first instalment to be released outside the Nintendo 3DS. The game features a two-player multiplayer mode, a first for the series.