Matt Arsenault, a senior at Oakmont, developed a game called “Jumpy Dude” for his final in video game design class. This game is very distinctive in the way dudes jump. It’s comprised of competition, variety of gameplay, different environments, and more.
Inspiration for this game was drawn from another, called “Jump King.” “Jump King” is a 2019 platforming video game made by Nexile. These games share the same goal of having to reach the top.
However in “Jumpy Dude”, very few people have been able to accomplish the goal. You wouldn’t think a game called “Jumpy Dude” would be considered difficult, but never underestimate how hard it is to get a dude to do what you want.
“Jumpy Dude” consists of increasingly harder levels as you progress towards the end. It’s a split screen competition, and whoever can get to the last block first, wins. There are many obstacles along the way working against you.
The game starts off with the beginning level being grass blocks and clouds. As you advance to the next level, you enter “Space”, where you have to jump on floating stars. This level also adds the possibility of being able to slide off diagonal stars, making you fall back down to the start.
The third level, “Mars”, consists of blocks that are fake and you may fall through them. So if you are going to win, you’re going to need to channel some luck. The next level, “Ice”, contains platforms easy to slip off of and snowflakes that create a difficult ride to the top.
IF you manage to beat “Ice”, you proceed into “Tower”. You are given a guide to follow as you jump along invisible blocks. If you beat “Tower”, you only make it to the next level to get knocked off by flying meteors.
Beating “Meteor”, means you made it to the final stage -“Launch”. This has blocks that send you soaring through the air like a flying squirrel escaping its predator. All you can do is hope you stick the landing on a safe block. If you’re ever able to make it to the end, you will reach a screen saying “Congrats.”
Matt says he was able to accomplish the creation of this game in a week. Although, he almost didn’t even finish the game. He’d used a couple days trying to figure out if he could make the dude jump differently, which ultimately ended as a failure.
After all this, “Jumpy Dude” was a very unique and creative creation. To quote Carter Bouchard -a senior who has played “Jumpy Dude” firsthand- “some say it’s the best game to come out of Oakmont,” but let’s not get carried away.
Proving its difficulty, close to 40-50 people have tried to beat this game and only 4 have succeeded. Matt being one of them, Carter Bouchard, Sean Swanson, and Thomas Prendergast. Carter has even beaten Matt at his own game twice.
The year after “Jumpy Dude” was created it became a model for others. Students have begun to create similar games, using “Jumpy Dude” as their inspiration.
Bottom line is, despite its non-intimidating title, many have tried to win and many have failed. If you think you have the skill to compete in “Jumpy Dude”, its future location will be in the main lobby as an arcade machine.
