Forget-Me-Not

By: Derek Yu

On: September 6th, 2011

Dropped into a randomly-generated maze reminiscent of the classic Pac-Man, players new to Forget-Me-Not will happily gobble “flowers” and shoot enemies for a few minutes before all manner of wacky creatures begin warping in – bombs, centipedes, replicating diamonds, etc. The enemies are not only harmful to the player, but also damage each other and the maze freely, adding to the chaotic feeling of the game. They can also rob you of the key, an important item that lets you unlock the level’s exit door and protects you from killing yourself with your own bullets as they pass from one side of the screen to the other (nothing’s worse than realizing you’re shooting yourself in the butt because some random beastie nabbed the key). Eventually, the screen goes black except for a small area around your character and a ghost chases you around until you get the heck out or die.

Until you learn how to grind against walls you’ll probably feel overwhelmed by the sheer number and variety of opponents in the game. Grinding builds up your power and lets you plow into enemies, destroying them instantly – once you get used to it, you’ll even welcome the sight of the formerly indestructible centipedes, for example, as their entire length explodes at your touch, showering the level with high-value fruits. If you grind for too long, however, you’ll explode yourself, and much of the game is spent trying to stay at that sweet spot right as you’re overheating. It’s a really fun system that works well with the player’s relatively weak, but long-range, gun.

Forget-Me-Not began on iOS, but its creator, Nyarlu Labs, has just released it for free on Windows and OSX. According to Deihlanos, a Forget-Me-Not fan (see the video below) and accomplished shoot ’em up player, the balance of the free version has been improved by putting more emphasis on collecting chains of fruits and flowers rather than grinding into enemies. Having not played it on iOS, I’m satisfied with the scoring in this version and am generally very happy to have discovered it – it’s a real gem that I’ll probably keep playing for quite a while. My only hope is that, to go with the obvious Pac-Man comparisons, the game gets a similar kind of Championship Edition or sequel in the future. Go nuts with it!

TIGdb: Entry for Forget-Me-Not