What are your thoughts on base jumping?

Hello, and welcome to this week's Of Stories and Dreams!

Today, let's talk about base jumping.

While on a floating structure.

Possibly from space.

I am talking about the twin games:

(The yell is optional... if you want)





Created by the evil geniuses at Dejobaan Games, these games take base jumping and run away with it to create quantifiable evidence of how awesome your jump was.

Allow me to give you a fragment of the intro narration:

"In the year of Our Lord 2011 you cannot look up from beneath the city and see the stars; but you can look down from above it. And you can jump. The jumps you make are not about art, they are about reckless disregard safety. The jumps you make are not about culture, they are about a reckless disregard for regulation. The jumps you make are not about science, they are about a reckless disregard for gravity."

After that, you are introduced to the gameplay, which is as follows:

1. Freefall from a structure, and try to land in one piece.
2. Stick close to floating structures to get one kiss per structure, and hugs so long as you stay close enough to them.
3. Get enough kisses and hugs to earn teeth. Use teeth to open new levels.

Please note the permanent shout at the top of this screen

Furthermore, each level is graded  from zero to five stars, depending on how many points were acquired during play. While it is perfectly possible to earn zero stars in every level and unlock everything, it's an interesting challenge to try and get five stars on all of them!

Level selection screen

 All levels are cubes, but not all cubes are levels.

To top all of this insanity off are three facts:

1. Each level is named uniquely, ranging from "Floating cars are here, Mr Burton", to "I accidentally the entire city of Boston", going through "Everyone on the East Side hates you"
2. Amongst the level cubes lie some audio cubes, holding priceless gems such as "anti-meditation", grandma's cookie recipe, time traveler's advice and many more
3. Every few jumps you will hear a slow voice in this screen, belonging to Drevin, a news anchor, providing crazy news with such off-the-wall comments you can't help but laugh

With a gentle learning and challenge curve, slightly black humour and intense gameplay, A reckless disregard for gravity/For the awesome are sure to keep you hooked!

Just don't look at the achievements...

For another game with a variable difficulty curve (albeit with slightly more plot), try out VVVVVV

For a game with roughly the same semblance of plot that also provides lots of fun, try any of the Katamari Damacy games!

That's all for this week!

Have a nice landing, and remember to keep on Dreaming!