IGF 2011 Review: Cave by Peter Lu
You can’t always judge a book by its cover. A game may seem to fit a certain mold on the surface, but you quickly find out that there’s more to it than meets the eye. The story for Cave, from UCLA student Peter Lu is just such a game.
On the surface, Cave looks to be a puzzle platformer with a simple premise. Players are placed in the role of a boy and a girl trapped inside a dark cave. Each must explore the cave, flipping light switches and opening passages until they can find an escape while avoiding the hazardous spikes that are seemingly around every corner. The boy is able to jump higher distances and move quickly, while the girl moves slower, but can crawl through passages. It definitely seems like a puzzle platformer on the surface.
Cave seems to take pride in taking the plot on a completely different path than one might expect. Without spoiling specific plot points, some of the directions the boy and girl need to go are somewhat head-scratching. The ending, in particular, comes across as a bit odd. The plot twists are purportedly part of the game’s allure, but they might come across as more confusing than anything else.
The game is a perfectly competent puzzle platformer and the experience is short enough that players won’t mind going through several rounds of trial-and-error. Cave is no walk in the park, but it’s not incredibly frustrating. Overall, players will likely finish this one up in less than an hour and have a good time with it.
Those looking to try out Cave can download the PC or Mac versions for free from the game’s website. Also look for Cave to make an appearance at the 2011 Independent Games Festival as part of the event’s student competition.
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