Tinyhack – A Fun 9×9 Adventure Game

An all-too-unfortunate belief in gaming is that graphics = awesome, but in a lot of cases, that’s just not the case. There have been a countless number of big-budget titles released over the years that have had mind-blowing graphics, that were just no fun to play. Alright… some have downright sucked. Taking the belief that graphics don’t matter to the extreme, Boing Boing editor Rob Beschizza crafted a fun little game comprised of no more than a 9×9 grid. That’s right… 81 pixel graphics.

The game, titled Tinyhack, sees an adventurer traversing dungeons in search for gold artifacts, while either avoiding or taking monsters found inside head-on. Despite being simple, the game is not always that easy, with a single death undoing all of your ‘hard’ work. The goal is to collect 16 of these artifacts and then make it to the Island Fortress.

During the quest, you’ll gain the ability to use magic, find a sword, shield, boat, and even a pub – the latter of which is necessary for a full heal. And yes, in case you are wondering, I am still talking about the 9×9 game in the picture above. Like back in the Atari 2600 days, you really need to use your imagination here, but that’s part of what makes it so interesting.

The game is built in Flash, and may not work ideally in all browsers. Once at the page, you can click inside the game and then use your arrow keys to begin moving the character around. Be sure to keep your speakers turned on as well, as there are different sound effects for different events. There’s no music, so you may want to load up some RPG-inspired chiptune song before playing.

After spending quite a bit of time with the game, I’ve concluded that doesn’t quite have what it takes for us to begin including it in our graphics card reviews.