Back with my second review. This time I'll be reviewing "windowframe". A short indie game made for the "Ludum Dare" game jam 35 (https://ldjam.com/) by Daniel Linssen.

(Last try. Improved the formatting too. Fixed all grammar issues, spell checked everything, proof read the whole article twice as well. Used grammar tools to make sure things are correct this time.)

windowframe - Game review

• Ludum Dare Link: http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-35/?action=preview&uid=3479
• itch.io Page: https://managore.itch.io/windowframe
• Platform(s): Windows

Back with my second review. This time I'll be reviewing "windowframe". A short indie game made for the "Ludum Dare" game jam 35 (https://ldjam.com/) by Daniel Linssen.

Have you not heard of "windowframe" before? No worries. This article should tell you all you need to know about the game.

It's a weird complicated 2D puzzle platformer: resizing a game's "main" window changes the game's level. The game "windowframe" allows you to move the edge of the game window and resize the window using your stakes, the only weapon in the game. By clicking and dragging the edge of the window to the stakes, you can also shrink the window from that direction. Thus the name "windowframe". Clever, huh?

When an edge is attached to the stakes, it acts as an impenetrable barrier, like a wall or a platform in any normal platformer. The left and right edges become the walls from which the player can jump. At the same time, when the bottom edge is pinned, it acts as a floor allowing you to come out of holes or points that you couldn't before, thus making previously unreachable areas reachable. And while the edges of the window are pinned, you can move them inward to make it even smaller, but not outward to make them any larger. You can remove the pin on the border by removing the stakes, but this will remove all of them, not just the stakes you want. This is an important part of game design as it prevents you from abusing the system. You start with six stakes, which is more than enough for each edge of the window but you can lose them, permanently!!! So you need to be careful.  Also, every few levels you need to kill a vampire which consumes your valuable stakes. There's only one stake per vampire! So be careful!

Because of this, at the beginning of the game you will feel quite strong and feel the game is easy to beat. You can throw your stakes quite recklessly, pinning all the edges of the window while still having some stakes to spare. But as you progress through the game, especially as your number of stakes drops to three or less, the levels become more of a challenge. Discovering these puzzles will teach you great skills and ideas about how the stakes can best be used, and when you're in the late game, you'll have a very different perspective about the game. You will now have a better understanding of how your knowledge from previous levels can be put to best use. That's when the game will really shine.

• Note 1: There are three versions, all three versions have the same content however they change how the game is displayed. The developer recommends trying the first version only (itch.io)
• Note 2: Being a short game developed for a game jam, there's no save feature. Closing the game will make you lose your progress. However, the developer added a way to overcome that issue. You can use the P key to skip previously completed levels (or levels that are far too difficult, not recommended). In boss levels, pressing P first defeated the boss, then the second press of P key skips to the next level.