Happier Than You
Brain Teaser Games, Puzzle Games May 16th, 2009
(1 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)
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You can’t satisfy all people. This is probably one of the hardest facts of life. Unless of course if you’re playing Happier Than You, an innovative puzzle game made by independent game developer Christian Ibarra. That’s because in this unique brain twister, you’re primary goal is to satisfy all the people you come across. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside doesn’t it?
Anyway, at the first opening of the game, you’ll be greeted by a window asking you to take the Good Person test. This test is actually a bonus lesson inside the game wherein you’re tested on whether or not you follow some of the religious teachings of the Bible. Yes, you heard that right; this is actually a Christian test of beliefs. It’s not really part of the actual game though, so for those people having different beliefs to follow, just skip this part to go to the actual puzzle game.
Well, if you ask me, it’s kind of inappropriate for a game target to major audiences to include such a test. But if you just look at it as a bonus, I guess it’s pretty ok. Considering I’m also Christian, this is just an unbiased opinion about this particular feature.
In starting the actual puzzle of Happier Than You, you get to choose on how many people, pieces and envy you would like to play with on your current level. The more of these elements, the challenging the level would be. It’s really advisable to max them all up to attain more points, since more points mean faster attainment of a higher category, and a higher category means a higher placement at the top score list.
Moving on, the objective of each level is for you to make all people attain maximum happiness points. You do this by making inventions containing pieces they need to be happy. Needed pieces are shown at the right side of each person, and through the market, you buy pieces to create inventions and distribute them to the masses.
Happier Than You also has other side objectives aside from being a good inventor for the people. You can also earn points for becoming a good merchant or a good diplomat depending on how you perform on the level. Merchants earn money by buying low and selling high to the market for more profit, while diplomats satisfy people without causing a lot of envy between them. Achieving these statuses will earn more points, just like if you finish a level fast enough to earn time bonuses.
Envy is the primary challenge of the game since you’ll have to contend with more and more of it as you progress through the levels. People become envy against other people if the latter gets more happiness than them. This way, you’ll have to plan all your inventions before you distribute them, or else, lose happiness rather than gaining them during play.
Other than categories, you can also gain bronze, silver or gold trophies by achieving set number of points. Trophies determine when you will get a key to unlock more people, pieces or envy to play with on the later levels. Just some of the ways Happier Than You makes the player keep going on playing as it introduces more elements into the game.
As for presentation, expect no breathtaking visuals or outstanding effects like other high-budgeted casual games. Even so, the game still managed to include a variety of classical music that blends well with its relaxed theme. Other than this, the game is pretty addictive too, coming from its unique and very innovative gameplay.
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