Writings of Mass Deduction

I’m purchasing an Xbox Live Indie Game every day, seeking out the quality titles that got lost in the shuffle and are not well represented in the top 50 lists on the Xbox Dashboard. Today is day #123, and today’s game is “DoubleVision”.

Not all games have to be shooters, RPGs, or other genres traditionally popular with hardcore gamers. Sometimes it’s nice to celebrate a quality game that harkens back to a simpler time. For me that simpler time was getting my hair cut as a kid. Let me explain.

There is a magazine called “Highlights” that I used to read as a kid, particularly when I was in the waiting room to get my hair cut. Somewhere near the back of each issue was a spot-the-difference challenge, where you were given two pictures and had to compare them. I loved these things, and have a soft spot for them to this day. And it’s not just kids, spot the difference machines are popular adult fare in some pubs. So when I saw that DoubleVision, much like those adult pub machines, had dropped from 240 Microsoft Points to 80 MSP a couple of days ago, I bit. But there’s more to this game than those pub machines.

First, from the developer:

“Doublevision is a remake of the pub classic ‘spot the difference’

But it is much more than that!

Think you have good vision? Put it to the test! Spot the differences in the pictures. Arcade has you race the clock to get the top score. Freeplay lets you relax by yourself or compete with a friend. Want something different? Try PuzzleJunk and put your mind to the test! With in game awards, over 150 different puzzles, there is something fun for everyone!”

Puzzle Junk mode has you spotting objects hidden in the picture, and provides a unique challenge separate from the game’s main mode. The huge number of puzzles is great for 80 MSP, and might just be enough you could come back to the game months later and find a few puzzles you don’t remember the solutions too (for those of us without eidetic memory, at least).

The game has a hints system for when you’re stuck, and a simple point-and-click system for identifying solutions to puzzles that worked well for me. This game was 400 Microsoft Points when it launched in early 2009, but can be had for 80 MSP at present.

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