Thoughts on Ynglet
As a game designer I think it is very important to play a lot of games. You want to have as big of a collection of technical solutions, interesting mechanics and game identities in your head as possible. What you’re mostly looking for is unique expressions; games that tell you something that you haven’t been told by a game before. These expressions you most often find in indie games made by smaller teams or indie developers because that is where innovation happens most of the time.
Ynglet is a game for me that really feels like an “old school” indie game. It is the essence of a PC indie game for me. And I think the reason for this is that it is so well made and well packaged while not taking any big risks but still manages to maintain a memorable profile.
The high concept pitch as I’ve understood it is “a platform game without any platforms”, and even though that doesn’t really spark any sort of fantasy or imagination in me it is still enough to at least get me interested in what it is. The gameplay is really simple. You can move around in all directions as long as you are on one of the shapes (let’s still call them platforms) and you will fall down if you find yourself outside of them. What you need to do is move between the platforms in a fashion so that you don’t fall down. You can “save” your progress on any shape as long as you stand still long enough on that shape holding a button, this makes the game less punishing for those that fall often as you can yourself control how much progress you lose (although I more than once forgot to save my progress and had to redo the whole level. You unlock a few new skills along the way that gives you some more movement abilities, but not too much.
The gameplay isn’t really what makes Ynglet interesting. It is fine, but to be frank I lost interest after a few levels a couple of hours in (still happy with my experience). What really stands out is the game flow and the audiovisual experience; the blend between music, sounds, visuals and game mechanics are spectacular. I don’t really have a good way of describing it other than that the game reacts to what I’m doing and matches my flow with music, sounds and visual effects. Moving also feels very nice, swimming from platform to platform with your little squid guy.
Just a masterclass in gamefeel, presentation and focusing on what’s important for the game your making. Nothing extra is added on here that would dilute the experience or add artificial game time not anchored in the core idea. Just a really chill meaningful experience that does not overstay it’s welcome, something I’ve come to appreciate more and more.