April is the Cruelest Month

Creator: YaBoiMarcAntony

Average Rating
8.8 / 10
Average Difficulty
85.0 / 100
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Tags:

Needle (6) Gimmick (1) Long (2) Trigger (3) figure-like (5) NoBitches? (1)

Screenshots

  • by CanusAntonius
  • by CanusAntonius
  • by CanusAntonius

Creator's Comments:

YaBoiMarcAntony [Creator]
(9/21/2022): https://www.mediafire.com/file/ukur9lqqhmo8i3c/April+is+the+Cruelest+Month+1.5+(No+YYC+Compile).zip/file (coincidentally I put this up four months exactly after the previous was put up)

Link to the version without YYC compile for iwpo gamers. The current dl link won't have the proper version for a few days but yeah.

(5/7/2022): https://pastebin.com/XqcNNSGR

I talk about the game here and what most everything means and what the game is about. It was written over the course of three different days in random bursts, one of which was before a certain date, and the other two of which were written after. It is very long.

- - - - - -

This is a floor game primarily inspired by I Wanna Figure which, like Figure, is a damn hard game, long as well (beyond that, the similarities are mostly pretty surface level - if you don't like Figure, you could very well like this game). I worked on the game over the course of February and March and I am extremely happy with the work I did in the time I did it in as I'm not used to working so fast. This speed was mostly necessary though for reasons not worth getting into now, but you can probably come back in a few months to find me overexplain everything about the game.

Also like Figure, Hard is an available difficulty, though unlike Figure, so is Very Hard. While Hard likely would be a feasible achievement, I do not know if Very Hard is really feasible, but I'd love to see it happen.

Enjoy!

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Tagged as: Needle NoBitches?
[2] Likes
Rating: N/A       Difficulty: N/A
Apr 4, 2022

16 Reviews:

PlutoTheThing
It's really not too hard to understand why I like this game on a bare-bones, fundamental level. It's a Figure-like, and you can see from my highest rated games that I quite like figure, along with a lot of other games Marc also likes that could have possibly influenced this game. The game has lots of cool jumps with gimmicks ranging from basic stuff to more complex and unique ideas that are used in some of the most creative ways I've seen, with great atmosphere and music. The gameplay is about as suited to my tastes as it gets, I like literally every single save. April Is The Cruelest Month is a very brilliantly designed game, but my feelings towards it are a bit more complicated than just, I like the needle. They extend to the core gameplay and theming of the game, which is hard to explain, but I will do my best.

So, the structure of a Figure-like is similar to a floor game, and this game does parallel the floor numbers that represent something, and they also are not in order. This in my opinion is actually integral to the overall feel the game gives, because there's a level of ambiguity towards what's coming next, and how far along you are. The game is deliberately very inconsistent, there are floors which are just one screen, but many can be multiple screens or a big area, the lack of clarity of how far along you are really does add to how you feel, especially because the difficulty balance is all over the place. I think the game keeping it's cards close to it's chest and not letting you really prepare for what comes is not just interesting to experience, it also ties into life itself, which for me makes the themes hit all the harder. You can't be prepared to get knocked down by some random obstacle out of nowhere, it just happens, and you have to live through it even if you don't think you can. It's in that aspect where I think the difficulty is actually instrumental to this game, because it's about heavy stuff, and if it was just a pleasant romp with zero struggles, you wouldn't feel it as much, and it wouldn't resonate as much. You spend a lot of time with most of the floors in April, you really get to take in the visuals, the audio, and the jumps. You have fun while doing it, but it does stick to you, and it is challenging.

I'm not really someone who cares about story, at least in most situations. There are instances where I do but in fangames, it just seems silly to care about, and the story of April does not impact my review at all, but it definitely impacts how I feel about it. The game is very personal, to the point where I think it's a bit odd for someone like me to try to tie it all into how I feel, because it's not about me, but ultimately while the game is a reflection of the person who made it, there are things that someone like me can take away from it which are relatable. I planned to write a lot about it, but I realized I can't really do my emotions justice, I never really have been able to. It's impossible for me to verbalize why I feel how I do, or what makes me even feel how I do. When thinking about how the game made me feel I did start crying, there's something about this game that makes me very fearful and anxious, and in my mind I know what it is, but I don't think it would make sense to anyone else. At the bare minimum, the end of the game does leave off on a somewhat positive note, which is maybe something I should think about more, but it's very easy to become addicted to the things that make you feel the worst.

Ultimately I don't really have any complaints about April. It's not perfect I guess, but there's not really any way I would care to improve it, it's perfect for my taste in other words. I really do think this is one of the most profound needle experiences of all time and something well worth playing, it's a contender for my favorite needle game and it's probably the only time that I will get this emotional over something in a silly precision platformer. Great work.

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[3] Likes
Rating: 10.0 100       Difficulty: 82 82
Sep 7, 2023
TheJPEGDemon
Insanely difficulty needle game that manages to consistently contain some of the most fun needle I've ever played. The visuals and music throughout the game work wonderfully together to form an insanely cohesive needle experience. I think I just love every aspect of this game honestly, it was an amazing game to play through. Thank you for making!









No Bitches?

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Tagged as: Needle Trigger figure-like
[3] Likes
Rating: 10.0 100       Difficulty: 89 89
Apr 7, 2022
cream
You really made figure-style to a new standard!

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Tagged as: Needle Long Trigger figure-like
[2] Likes
Rating: 8.6 86       Difficulty: 84 84
Aug 13, 2023
fha183
I like everything about this game except the last save

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Tagged as: Gimmick Long figure-like
[1] Like
Rating: 8.7 87       Difficulty: 86 86
Aug 8, 2023
Yiaz
Really cool game. Most saves are pretty lenghy but feel satisfying to do and there are genereally not many jumps standing out in a negative way. Most things just flow really well. My only gripes with the game were the scrolling which sometimes sucked a bit, and 3 saves, 1 being the last which is just kinda boring because it's so long and gets pretty stale and repetitive eventhough you can get pretty consistent at it. Would definitely recommend playing if you are comfortable with higher level difficulty, though if you plan on streaming it, the music is not very dmca friendly.

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[1] Like
Rating: 8.8 88       Difficulty: 82 82
Jun 15, 2022