Max & the Magic Marker
Year: 2010
System: Windows, Mac, Wii, PlayStation 3, DS, Windows Phone, iOS
Developer: Press Play
Players: Single
Genres: 2D Platformer, Puzzle
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/50820/Max_and_the_Magic_Marker/?curator_clanid=40000720
Something incredible is happening in this unique adventure! Max just drew a terrifying monster with his new marker and now it's alive and wreaking havoc in his drawings! He doesn't have any choice but to stop the monster if he wants to save his pictures. In a new kind of gaming style, Max & the Magic Marker combines tried-and-tested 2D jump n run feel with the innovative option of directly influencing the level design. Here, Max is able to change every level with his magic marker so that all obstacles can be overcome, traps avoided and puzzles solved in order to send the monster back to where it came from.
Won the Best Children’s Game award at Nordic Game Awards 2010.
This, along with Limbo, marks the very beginning of the modern Danish indie scene. This game pre-dates easy porting to different platforms, which means that Press Play had to essentially remake most of the game for every single platform, as they tried and failed to get noticed on each one until they finally managed to get success on one of them.
Max is a 2D platformer which adopted the very novel idea (at the time) of having the player draw objects on the screen to make them into real interactable objects that can help the player through the levels. Before Max only Crayon Physics Deluxe had such a mechanic.
Max eventually got a significantly more successful sequel in Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, although I must admit that I find the first game more charming personally. These days Press Play is called FlashBulb and has two recent game releases: Rubber Bandits and Trailmakers that I highly recommend checking out.