Browser game of the week: Fotonica

First off, let’s get one thing out the way: Fotonica requires you to download the Unity player, so if you’re on some super-locked down computer at work, IT will probably bust your head open if you try. For the rest of us, Fotonica is an interesting take on the one-button game craze popularized by the likes of Canabalt and Robot Unicorn Attack.

As one would expect, you play the game with only one button, which makes it perfect for one-armed people, folks who have a coffee in their hand or people that eat at their desks. Pick your favorite button on your computer (we used the underutilized “J” key) and you’re set. You hold the button down to run, release to jump, and hold again to fall quickly.

There isn’t really a clear purpose in the game other than to run as far as you can, but given the fact that the visuals look similar to the incredibly awesome and underappreciated Rez, all the game really needed to do to hook us was exist. Thankfully, it’s surprisingly entertaining once you get the hang of the slightly awkward controls, which are counter-intuitive to those of us who are used to pushing a button to jump, not releasing it.

There are a three different difficulty levels and a collection of five different sections to play through, each either more difficult than the last or at the very least slightly different. There isn’t too much variance across the levels as far as look or style is concerned, but considering it all looks like something straight out of Lawnmower Man, we’re not complaining.

You won’t get an in-depth story or even a really memorable experience out of Fotonica, but you will get enough enjoyment to make it worth your time. It would be nice if the jump button was just that — a jump button — but overall it’s still a pretty rad little game.

Play is here.