The game might not approach the novel in terms of complexity or depth, but did the novel feature a boss fight on top of a speeding train? I think not.

If you are interested, you can play the game here.

Small Worlds is a browser based casual platformer that was created for the Jay is Games “Casual Gameplay Design Competition #6″. While it can be finished in just a few minutes, it is one that has stuck with me for days.

You are alone on what appears to be some sort of science fiction base. The base appears to have sustained heavy damage and it’s up to you to restore power to one escape pod. You do so by traveling into different worlds where missing pieces of the station have been lost.

The game focuses on exploration in a very interesting way. When you first begin, you can see your character and a few steps in either direction. As you explore more of each level, the screen zooms out to show more and more of the map. This allows you to see what you have explored of each world in it’s entirety.

This is a unique take on level design. It forces the game designer to stick to very small levels (hence the game’s title) or else you would soon be unable to see your character well enough to progress.

Since there are no enemies to fight, the fact that your character is continually getting smaller on the screen is not a detriment to controlling him. The visuals, while simple on the surface, are quite detailed and intricate once you have zoomed out an entire level.

The soundtrack is mesmerizing. This is one of those situations where the music fits perfectly with each game world and adds an ambiance that really shows what can be accomplished when working in multimedia entertainment.

There are only five worlds to visit, which is a shame because it really got its hooks into me. I would love to see a more fleshed out version of this concept. Maybe someday we will see a full version of the concept emerge on a download service like Steam or Xbox Live.

You can play Small Worlds on the Jay is Games’ website for free.

With all the crazy technology at our disposal, gigabytes, gigahertz, and gigagodzilla, it is too easy to forget how fun and challenging even simple little games can be.

Super Karoshi is one of the best of the many flash games that are available on the intertron tubes. The goal of the game is to murder Karoshi. This is accomplished by jumping into spikes, getting slammed in the head with a hammer, or eating too many cheeseburgers. Like the best puzzle games, it forces your brain to think in new ways to accomplish your goal of killing Karoshi. Each level forces you to think outside the box in a variety of ways, so that every time you think you have begun to figure out what is going on the game throws in another unique little twist.

The game definitely has a warped sense of humor, which should be expected in a game about trying to figure out how to kill the main character. Half the time the game is trying to convince you that you have reached the end and you are done. Every couple of minutes another screen with the words The End is popping up. By the time I did beat it, I was still a little convinced that the game was pulling a fast one on me, and there was really more to see.

The graphics are simple but endearing, the only real graphical effect comes from running into one of the dozens of spikes on the wall which results in enough blood to make Mortal Kombat’s Scorpion smile.

I heartily recommend this game to anyone that likes their puzzlers with a dark and weird sense of humor.

The game can be played here: http://www.karoshigame.com/