Sometimes we have days where we are short of time and only have time to play a short scenario or minigame. Other times we look for something unique, something which stretches beyond what a typical scenario would entail.
For my next entry into my Hidden Gems feature I’m going to be telling you about two very creative minigames that tick both of these boxes. The first of these is an older minigame that was released in 2007, while the second is much newer and was only released a couple of years ago in 2018. Both of these however, are very ingenious minigames with unique twists, and both an unfortunately fallen under the radar, gather less than 400 downloads each.
The first of these mini games is a unique game which was conceived as an experiment to see just a simple and small a scenario you can make with the editor. Built upon a 6x6 unit sized map, the smallest stable map size you can play on, Click Challenge is a very short but highly creative scenario.
The idea of the game is to use your “powers of delete” to remove the units which spawn in the map quickly in order to save Count Crapula from being killed. It’s not every day that you find a game which encourages the player to delete his own units in order to win. If this concept confuses you then go and download the scenario and find out for yourself.
The minigame is a highly creative piece of design and very simple in its execution. While it may be short, clocking in at under five minutes, it’s certainly an entertain way to kill some time and see just how small and simple a scenario can be made using the most basic scenario editor.
Our second minigame is slightly newer, being released near the end of 2018. Designed by one of AOK’s most popular and successful designers of recent times, Al_Kharn the Great, known for scenarios such as Tristan and Iseult, Ragnar’s Raids and the winning entry to this year's Defend the Spot Contest, The Last Romans. He is also part of the Forgotten Empires campaign team, his works include the Portuguese, Burmese, Bulgarian, Italian, and Indian campaigns featured in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. With this pedigree it is hard to see how this scenario has gone about unnoticed in the blacksmith with so few downloads.
A Curious Incident at the Abbey is a unique minigame which is sort of like and Age of Empires Race. The concept of the game is to collect all four of the relics scattered around the minigame. The challenge comes from the other player who is also trying to collect the four relics. If both teams have collected a relic then all of the relics get released from the Monasteries and are put back in their starting places. Therefore, the player must collect all four relics without his opponent collecting any. To stop them you must use your small band of soldiers to protect these relics and stop the monks collecting them. If you want to play something that is completely different to anything else you have played in Age of Empires then this is the scenario for you. It creative, enjoyable and provides you with a fun challenge that takes a little more brain power than one would expect
So, there you have it. Two brilliant little scenarios that really stretch the imagination of what an AOK scenario can be. Have you played these two scenarios before? What other creative minigames would you recommend to your fellow players? Let us know down in the comments below.
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[This message has been edited by Possidon (edited 06-21-2020 @ 02:56 PM).]