Indie Spotlight - Wonderputt

During the past couple of years, Flash games have been starting to wipe away the stigma of being simple throw-away games without much depth, visuals, or gameplay value. Case in point: Before Super Meat Boy, there was the Flash game Meat Boy. The Flash version was barley covered by the big game networks, and it wasn't until the game made its presence as Super Meat Boy that it got the attention it deserved. But today, we're not here to talk about Meat Boy; we're here to talk about another Flash game that has the potential to gain the attention of the big-game outlets and prove that Flash games are meant to be taken seriously. The game in question is Wonderputt, a minigolf Flash game.

Wonderputt is an 18-hole minigolf game with an animated eboy-esque art style, which was nominated by the Independent Games Festival for Excellence in Visual Art. The game has an Easter-color palette that is complemented by smooth and fun animations, which keep you interested with each hole. With the completion of each hole, a new animation is presented that ranges from a cow-snatching UFO to a diving submarine. These animations act as a nice reward for finishing each hole, but you're rewarded with more than just that.

There is a point system at the end of each hole that is tallied up, depending on how many stokes you take. Those points then disappear and are tallied up at the end. It would have been nice to have a constant tally onscreen throughout our round, just to get a sense of progression. The only progression that you get is the completion of each round, and so at first, it seems as if points don't matter. In addition to the point system, you have 12 possible achievements, a collectible system where you collect shards of a rainbow scattered through out each hole, and the ability to share your high score with friends through Twitter or check your standings on a worldwide leaderboard.

The combination of great visuals, achievements, game design, and more offers high replay value all packaged within a free-to-play Flash game. Wonderputt is a Flash game that is meant to be taken seriously, and it is our indie spotlight of the week. You can support the developer by playing the game here. For more stories like this, check out the GameSpot Downloads Blog.