Bug Swatter / Zombie Crusher is a game I made in May 2010 as part of Klik Of The Month Klub – a monthly game jam hosted by Glorious Trainwrecks. The basic rules of Klik Of The Month Klub are that all games must be made in two hours or less, and they must be made using Klik N Play (a game-making tool designed for educational use, released in 1994).
The concept behind the game is to divide the player’s attention between two separate sub-games. On the top half of the screen, a man is being attacked by waves of zombies; on the bottom half of the screen, a small red insect is scurrying around in random directions. The man can punch the zombies to defend himself, but the player can only trigger a punch by clicking on the insect. The timing of the player’s click is therefore determined by the position of the zombies, while the location of the click is determined by the position of the insect.
This is a simplified treatment of a concept I’m very interested in – connecting unrelated games with small, non-essential rules (although in this instance, the connecting rule is essential to defeat the zombies). Developing this idea on an industrial level would allow a diverse group of players to enjoy games that suit their personal taste, while contributing to a shared play experience across the network. I believe this would create a stronger network in the long term than similar existing strategies like cross-promotion, or same-game social loops.
You can download the game for free from Glorious Trainwrecks, although as a 16-bit Windows program you may face difficulties running it on a modern PC.