Lemmings Meets The Incredible Machine
In Eets, as in Lemmings or Junkbot, your job isn't to control your character or critters directly, but instead to place items on the screen that affect their behavior, and guide them to the exit point of the level. In the case of Eets, the "exit" is a puzzle piece placed somewhere on the screen, and you have a single "eets" -- a cute little animated guy -- whose abilities are determined by his "emotional state," which you can alter. A scared eets will stop and turn around when he comes to a ledge; a happy eets can jump short distances; and an angry eets can jump big distances. Typically, levels consist of several platforms--and you have to figure out how to guide your eets from one to the next in order to get to the puzzle piece, by placing little powerups that he eats, changing his state to make sure the right jumps happen at the right places.
Naturally, as the game progresses, additional items are added -- prankster whales that can suck your eets up and spit him out over long distances, large marshmallows that only angry eets can eat, superpigs, radioactive gingseng, and more. In all, the game contains more than 100 puzzles--along with an excellent level builder. And there's an active community at Eetsgame.com, where fans have already contributed dozens of levels--so if you finish the game and are hungry for more, there's lots to be found.
"Easy to learn but hard to master" is, of course, something of a gaming cliche, but it's a description that's apt for Eets. Controls are extremely simple, and in-game pop-ups teach you everything you need to know as you go along--there's no manual, and none is needed. Every level has a hint, and if you fail too often, you're given the option of seeing the full solution (looking at the hint, or the full solution, reduces your score, of course).
There's no question that Eets is excellent for what it is.
Oh, btw--it was an Independent Games Festival finalist, and was chosen by Game Tunnel as their 2006 "Best Casual Game of the Year."
