Life is Pain

Life is Pain is a platformer that honestly warns of its character with its name. The two-dimensional world is drawn abstractly, without unnecessary details, and it works: the player sees geometry, traps and enemies, and there is almost no scenery that would distract from the mechanics. You will play as an alien who needs to go through sixteen levels, collecting keys. Each key is a small puzzle: sometimes it is protected by a dangerous place, sometimes the path to it opens only after manipulating the mechanisms. Mistakes are punished instantly, and the level may not be completed in one go. The controls are simple, but the tracks themselves require caution: the jump is calculated in advance, and rushing leads to falling into a trap. In such games, pleasure is usually born: at first it seems that it is impossible to pass, but after a dozen attempts your hands do everything themselves. Separately, it is worth noting that the levels are interconnected by a route, and keys open up new sections of the map, so the progression order feels like a gradual progression in depth, and not as a set of separate tests. There are also hidden places where extra lives are hidden. The difficulty is adjustable: you can play carefully, or you can try to sprint, which will almost certainly end in a fall. The Life is Pain was made by a small team and does not shine with technical polish. But for fans of challenging platformers, this is the case when a short game turns out to be longer than it looks - due to repetitions that are not annoying, but invite you to try again.