FLASHBACK: Grid16 by jmtb02 (2008)
Grid16 is a fast-paced Flash microgame collection that pushes player reflexes and endurance to the limit.
FLASHBACK is a series of articles that look at notable Flash games and their legacy in an often overlooked and forgotten era of independent games.
Grid16 is an intentionally stressful game. It's a time-limited microgame collection like Warioware, Inc, and has a simple and punishing concept: there's sixteen on-screen minigames, and players complete each in short bursts, one after another. If players fail the minigames, they disappear from the grid. Slowly, the pace of the game picks up with a speed multiplier, bringing the player closer to a swift and unforgiving end when all of the minigames are exhausted from the grid.
The collection of minigames is nice and simple. It has to be, because players pick up and leave them at a moment's notice. Each minigame uses the arrow keys to continue a pattern of hitting or avoiding incoming objects. There's rudimentary takes on Breakout-style ball-hitting, Asteroids navigation, and even a minigame that looks and plays like Flappy Bird, if a little more polygonal. There's enough odd takes on the concept and obscure control schemes to be unpredictable.
Grid16 came out in 2008. The design of the game is unmistakably of its time, with every element - from the pastel minimalism of the minigames to the looping menu music and acid house - suggesting a title optimised to keep the pace fast on Internet browsers of the time. In the fashion of the era, completing the game provides high scores and statistics that once could be shared with an online portal.
Grid16 was created by jmtb02, the pseudonym of John Cooney, a prolific Flash developer and CEO of game portal Armor Games. Cooney turns up nearly everywhere in an attempt to survey the Flash game landscape, and was particularly known for his platformer-puzzle series Achievement Unlocked and This is the Only Level. Much like Grid16, these games revel in finding inventive ways to subvert player expectations about how puzzles should be approached.
Grid16 can still be played on sites like Newgrounds or using the Flashpoint Flash game archival project.
