Short, fun and easy

Not necessarily how I like women... And not necessarily how I like games. Good effort but you should pay attention to the comments below this.

Unfortunately not the last Avoidance Clone

The chief complaint I got--other than a designer's negligent attitude towards known bugs, or their attempts at evasion in the matter--is that you can die real quick and never know what hit you. Then you're relegated to trying again almost immediately.

That's what I hate about "Avoid" games in general: they're marvels of lazy programming. You don't need to program lives or design a fancy control scheme or use lots of hitTest code or anything like that. Just a few lines of code, sprinkle on some window dressing (though I concede the design is at least cute), and you're good to go. No major beta testing period, just a steady hand and that's all the player needs. The only difference here is, to my amazement, the environment scrolls around, virtually unheard of in these games.

So while this game is bug-ridden filler to the glut of Avoidance games bobbing up to the surface like buoyant turds, really the festering cynicism is directed towards the concept itself. It's an utter waste of time. Avoidance games are a distant offshoot of shooters and paddle pong clones that make the most out of mouse interaction. They're just easier to program, test, and release. That allows for the music and graphics to get their emphasis during development.

What a shame that those are the only two strong points of "The Greatest Orb 4". Maybe it's good that this is the last of the "saga", so the developers can concentrate on a project that's worth everyone's attention.

"This one is the last of the saga." good.

1. If you don't take a bug in your game seriously, (the ability to make the cursor invincible by moving the mouse out of the screen), you're the one losing honor here, not us.

Decent concept, just a few flaws

For one, if you hold down the mouse and drag to the left during the early stage of the game, and just hold the mouse there for the entire game, you win automatically.

Secondly, don't make the cursor invisible until the beginning of the game, as it's hard to see on a white background.

Finally, it's hard to tell when the level's going to change directions, making it a bit counterintuitive to play. I'd suggest a flashing arrow, 3 flashes before the map changes directions, to give players a heads up that they need to be on the other side of the map or they'll lose.

good game

however, you can easily win it by right clicking and moving your mouse out of the screen, the game just carries on without the cursor.