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I do love it when the title of an article just seems so easy to fall into my lap. If you don't get the pun in this one, I don't know what to say. "I'm Not Jelly" is cute, whimsical and fun. Let me just first get this out now. Without giving you some long drawn out introduction, I want to just put this out on the table now. This demo was fun for me to play. Plain and simple. I want to give praise to the developer, 1 Simple Game, which I am in love with the name of their company, in creating this game. So why do I feel like this game works? What do I feel like this game should improve on? How do I feel like this game will be received? Well, let's talk about the first question first.

"Why do I feel like this game works?" Well for starters, the opening cinematic was very well scripted. It set up the tone and the mood of the game. Watching that opening cinematic gave me an initial FEELING of what I was getting my self into. To some people they just think, "Oh it's a short movie that is cute and comical and it was easy and means little." But this isn't true at all. I feel like 1 Simple Game knew that this game had to give off an vibe to set the players up for the adventure they are going on. I felt like they took a lot of time to get the script down perfectly. To deliver an opening cinematic is pivotal and I feel like they figured this out and took their time in making it. It's short, but it's very detail oriented. The colors, the characters, the reasoning behind the game itself. Like why are we slimes fighting plants? What is going on here? Why should I even play this game? They thought this through and told a fantastic story.

What is also very important, and I'm sure if anyone has read my articles, knows what I'm going to say, the audio. I cannot stress the IMPORTANCE of good audio in a video game. Like, it's so important. If a game doesn't have good sound effects, musical score and the likes, that conveys the tempo and mood of the game, then a game will not be well received. From a psychological and science standpoint, sounds affect the human brain to portray emotions and mood. This is why truly developers focus so much time on surround sound and spooky moods and undertones while playing their scary games. It's because they know that sounds are the true factor in causing heart racing, adrenaline pumping, fear of the unknown terror. I'm Not Jelly is no exception. The audio from this game gave me joy. I felt compelled to keep going. When the enemies would spawn, and the way the music shifted was superb. The boss fight, the musical tone changing, was amazing. The game, again, was setup to a way that you know what you were getting into.

What was also fun and great about this game, the gameplay itself. It was simple and easy. There wasn't anything mind boggling or special about the formula of this game. It is an over the top view game that gives you prewritten levels and obstacles to run around and complete. Very simple formula that had nothing mind blowing about it. So why was this more fun than other games I have reviewed and said this same thing? Well it's because of the other two points that I have made. It's because of the setup itself to play this game. Using the amazing color work, the amazing cinematic and the amazing audio, set me up to play this game. And it was fun. It felt like I was playing games before it. It triggered that nostalgia feeling, while still giving the feeling of being somewhat different. I'm playing as a slime, they made me feel like I was playing as a slime. I feel like 1 Simple Game, kind of knew that they couldn't revolve around JUST nostalgia so focused on improving other elements to create an atmosphere that was enjoyable. Of course all of this stuff is speculation, but that's where my brain thinks or WISHES to think while analyzing this game. Because the formula on games like this are very simple, they aren't game breaking, but they didn't make me feel like "Oh man, another one of THESE types of games." Even including the ability to power up your jelly, making choices on what you want to focus on, so that your character's build is different every play through, all of this is simple, but they managed to portray it in a way that made it feel different and stand out a bit.

So let's move to the next question, "What do I feel like this game should improve on?". Honestly, nothing. Judging from the cinematic, it looks like you will be able to choose from three different slimes on the official release. This means that you will have three different gameplay styles. This also means that when you're getting power ups, you can have different assortments of builds. I hope this game ends up being two or three players because that would be an amazing experience to play with friends. I would probably add an endless dungeon function to the game as well. Making it so that you and friends can play through countless endless randomly generated levels to see how far you can go, racking up high scores, making it harder and harder as you progress. Then being able to post your high scores against other people. That would be amazing.

I also feel like this game would benefit from updates in the future. Level packs, new slime packs to make the game play even MORE diverse and fun. I feel like doing that would really spike up the value of the game. Even being able to play a sort of player versus player mode, where you have maps and have three or four people trying to beat each other to objectives. There is a lot of promise and additions this game can actively do to up the value of it's stock, while still keeping the fantastic formula that this game is producing.

"How do I feel like this game will be received?" Well in all honesty, despite all of the praise I give this title, it comes up to a wall of, if it just ends up being a single player game without any of the suggestions I posted previously, then it will fall short. There are tons of games like this trope. I mean tons. I can see it being well taken in by a small group of fans, I can see it being played on all platforms and doing some success, but I don't see it going that far. If 1 Simple Game's focus is just a single player game where you can play as three different types of slime and traverse amongst different levels, then it will fall quite short of the infinite amounts of potential this game has. Personally, I don't want that. Because they have a STRONG core game here that just needs to be babied and nurtured properly. We are in the age of the internet and online gaming. We are in the age of updates and constant content. I'm Not Jelly, has a high potential of being a great work of art, but I only see this if the game moves into that online adaptation route and having multiplayer. Even if you don't go into the route of player versus player, just having consistent content coming out for the game. New slimes, new level packs, endless dungeon, local and online cooperation modes, all of this will make this game flourish ten folds in my honest opinion.

All in all, G.Round has found a potentially amazing game here. Their constant global influence of trying to bring life to smaller developers, giving them a way to help and showcase their products, giving them real facts, giving them the ability to show what they have by connecting developers to players, like myself, to be outspoken and verbose about my opinions on them is top grade. Games like this are what I look forward to because I want to see how the end products are. I like to think that I had a mark on developers in their final decisions and if they move in the directions I suggest and they do become successful, I want to think to myself "I made a difference." I cannot wait to see this games next run of demos. I'm fascinated in what the outcome will be. Because I mean, "I'm not Jelly", you are!