Chalk - Free Play

The game Chalk was a very interesting find, though finding it wasn’t the challenging part. This game is definitely a challenge if you don’t play through the tutorial, getting past the first level even after playing the tutorial proved difficult but fun. The game is challenging and fun and still manages to be played using only the mouse; though the four keyboard input keys do help.

With only having so many game mechanics, this game does have a moderate replay value. I love that you are able to play through the levels taking things head on one at a time or trying to use as much chalk as possible in a line to do combos and essentially knock out almost everything on the screen, if you are skilled enough. The levels stay the same which keeps it from giving replay a different challenge each time.

Chalk is undoubtedly game play driven; the mechanics of the game drive the player to enjoy their experience. There isn’t any story at all besides what the player makes of it, a Parisian girl fighting off monsters and ships with chalk. That doesn’t sound like the kind of game I would want to play. But when you describe Chalk as a game that uses chalk as an “Omni tool”  to manipulate enemies and objects in the game to protect your character, it presents the game as a gameplay driven game which will target more people to play this game.

The game’s graphics and sound is bare bones compared to today’s console titles. Though only 2d, the graphics are very artistic and theme-like. You control a Parisian girl that has a magical piece of chalk that destroys and deflects and moves objects around. A very indie like feel to the game, everything looks like it was drawn in chalk and keeps the game looking child-like, even though the gameplay is nowhere near a child’s game. The games sound was great; I love the feel of old school 8 and 16-bit music. It keeps a fast pace which correlates with the pace of the game, and each power up sound brings me back to Mario and Mega Man.

The controls are great, It was extremely easy to learn and very accessible for anyone to play. The controls of drawing the chalk are so simple to learn but trying to master using the chalk is very challenging which makes for a lot of fun. You only have the mouse and four or five keys, if you want a challenge you can just use the mouse and two mouse buttons to move and draw. Using minimalist controls and a high challenge keeps players interested and focused in the game, trying to get better and up their game.

I loved the boss fights, they were innovative and fun. There are even mini boss type enemies during levels that you have to kill while avoiding blue box line breakers and ships. I could barely talk to my fiancé and play through the levels without dying.

I don’t know if I would change it necessarily, but the amount of time you can draw the chalk would be interesting if you could level up and draw longer or get an upgrade which lets you draw longer for a limited time. This would give you a chance to do bonus damage and clear the screen, helping you during difficult times. A simple addition with many possibilities.

I give the game Chalk 7 out of 10 Taylor Lautners being eaten by a pack of wolves. I love the way the game brings you into it with a training level to teach you everything and then starts you off with a challenging level instead of a level with a ridiculously low challenge. Solving puzzles while defeating enemies with chalk definitely takes the violence out of video games, I have never had so much fun playing with chalk in my life.