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Trust me, I love watching TV just like the next guy. But did you know that staring at the TV screen all day long, watching lots of YouTube videos, etc can turn your brain into a pile of jelly? Well, maybe it won't turn it into jelly, but it will certainly decrease your brain power. It will make it very hard for you to concentrate on something for more than a few minutes.

 

So what should you do to regain your focus? First of all, stop spending a lot of time in front of a screen (any screen!) unless you work at something - a Gamestudio project, for example. Read a book! This will give your brain the chance to imagine some things. Don't just consume information - make your brain do the hard work! And that's exactly what this game project is about.

 

It's a game in which you control the player using the "W", "S", "A" and "D" keys. "W" moves you forward, the "A" and "D" keys move you sideways (left and right) and "S" makes you jump.

 

The player won't be able to move until the lights are out, though. And when the lights are out, you won't see any of the grey tiles in the level. This means that you must remember the correct sequence of steps that lead to the treasure chest at the top of the screen, and then apply them without seeing any of the floor tiles.

 

Take a look at the picture below: you'd have to move forward 3 steps, jump, and then move forward 5 more steps to reach the treasure. Click the light bulb image and the lights will be turned off. The player will be able to move as well.

 

I could have turned the lights off permanently during the level, but I'm a nice guy, so I have decided to give you the option of turning them on while you are playing the level. This means that if you only remember the first few steps of the correct sequence, you can turn the lights on (the player won't be able to move), discover the level solution (the rest of the steps) and then turn the lights off, allowing the player to reach the goal. Don't play this way unless you're really stuck, though. Let your brain do its job!

 

aum116_lightsout1

 

The levels get more complex as you advance, of course; each level is generated using a random formula, so you won't have to play the same level twice. Actually, you can even restart a level until it gets interesting enough using the "Restart" button. I didn't want to make the levels too hard, though, so the increase in difficulty stops after 15-20 levels. Here's how level #10 can look, for example.

 

aum116_lightsout2

 

But what happens when you fail? Well, you fall into an abyss and the level is restarted. That's pretty convenient, if you ask me. You can resume game play from the last level, which will be a newly generated one.

 

aum116_lightsout0

 

Play this game and see how much brain power you've got. And don't forget that the code is very well commented, as always.