I like to think that I have a degree of competency when it comes to discussing games. I've grown up with some form of gaming, and the Facebook variety has never caught on with me. I have never been so hardcore of a gamer to actually look down upon the Facebook games, but I have never responded well to them. Amidst all of the glorified progress bar games comes a new developer that delivers the most game-like Facebook game.
Feed The Rocker comes from Red Aphid. The current version on Facebook is in beta, but it looks as though the game is coming along nicely. FTR is a rather basic physics style game that tasks the player with guiding food pellets to a goal, the goal being "the rocker's" mouth. Players will help the pellets navigate the stage by placing objects to create a path for the food. My initial run through the game consisted of about twenty stages that gradually increase in complexity. As players score more food pellets, they will be given bonus guitar picks as collectibles. These are then used to display in your personal stash, or can be given away to Facebook friends. The game forces the player to advance further by locking stages which the player can unlock with positive Karma. Karma decreases with every pick that is saved, but increases when picks are given away. Unfortunately, I could not advance since I'm quite positive that most of my friends are not into the Facebook game scene; if they are, then they are usually playing five other Facebook games.
On a note for presentation, the game has some hit and miss going on with its overall production. I get a good feeling about the art style, but the sound/music production leaves a lot to be desired. It is a cool idea to have the guitar riff away as pellets bounce off of it, but the random riffage gets terribly annoying after about a minute, if that. Also, due to the casual nature of the game, there's literally no risk of failure. If you do not score enough points on a level then you can retry it with no penalty. This loses points for me, because I eventually started not really caring if I was passing levels or not. However, there are some very creative levels, and the inclusion of an achievement/leader-boards system would help this game out.
Overall, I like the game. With some added incentive, aside from getting your friends to join, this game could turn out to be a gem in the otherwise overcrowded Facebook gaming scene.
Be sure to check out the interview with developer Red Aphid.
Feed The Rocker
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