Beware the Gremlin
As I worked on Watch Me Die! I realized that my well was drying up. In search for inspiration I slunk around some local bulletin boards to appeal for suggestions. A fellow by the name of "Gremlin" suggested that I throw together a quick game featuring his namesake. I told him I would be back in an hour or two, and I set to work.
With a mind to my limited development time, and perhaps as self-conscious commentary on my level of burn-out and apathy, I began by drawing a stick figure. That in turn led me to subvert expectation by animating the figure as fluidly and precisely as I could. Along a similar thread, I gave him an enormous bazooka -- because he's a stick man; where could he hide it? I then drew a handful of background tiles, and built a small map around the character's exact movements.
To fulfill the game's remit I threw together a boss monster, inspired to no small extent by Bowser from the original Super Mario Bros.; then to add interest and to give the player something else to shoot at I added some destructible crates. Shoot a crate, and its shards fall downward to destroy everything beneath. Shoot the gremlin several times and it would drop a key, allowing egress from the stage.
That was the game; Beware the Gremlin, I called it. It was self-consciously the simplest thing I had ever designed. It was also perhaps the most elegant and functional. Every element supported everything else. There was nothing extraneous, there was nothing confusing, and unlike Friction everything worked exactly as it should have. The game did what it promised to do, and then with comic understatement it was over.
For the last time in over 15 years I tacked on my A-J Games logo. Just to be obscure I added a secret level; then I uploaded it to the BBS. My client, if that's what we can call him, was disconcerted. He hadn't expected for the player to kill the gremlin. He sent me a conflicted thank-you, and I think that may be the last I heard from him.
In fall 2011, the game was slightly updated to add sound effects and original music.
- - EJR Tairne
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Contents
Story
You're in a building, trapped by the evil Gremlin. Find your way to freedom.
Instructions
Arrow keys move you. Enter picks up. Space shoots.
7 and 9 (on numerical keypad) jump left and right.
Tab commits suicide.
Credits
Graphics, Design, Sound, Music - EJR Tairne
Game engine, design tools - G. Andrew Stone
Beware the Gremlin (c) 1995, 2011 A-J Games, a division of Jeneric Rules LLC
Availability
This game was distributed on local bulletin boards (e.g., The Kobayashi Alternative), contemporary to its development.
Archive history
Beware the Gremlin was retained as part of the archive from the game's inception. On September 11, 2011, an updated version was added, with new original music and sound effects.
Links
Interviews / Articles
Misc. Links
Downloads
- Beware the Gremlin! (127.5 kB)
- Level 1 map (22.6 kB)
- Level 2 map (40.1 kB)
