Parameters

[Warlock]

Parameters is the best spreadsheet I've ever played.

That description makes it sound a lot less interesting than it actually is, I admit- it's kind of a fun quasi-RPG, akin to the Dragon Quest-themed minigame collection that made the rounds a while back. It's a web-based game and should take about an hour to complete your first time through- it's well worth giving the game a try.

(note: I believe that link brings up the Japanese version of the game; there's a button in the lower-right of the help window that switches to English).

- HC

[Vireo Gilvus]

I beat the game, but it took well over 100+ minutes (the game stops counting after 99:59:59) because I didn't exactly know what I was doing. Still, the game was certainly enjoyable. Thanks for the link!

Some things I learned much too late, that I want to share with y'all:

For completing missions, you'll get bonus points, which show up to the right of your gold key counter and to the left of the colored letters you've collected. You can use these to invest in RCV, ATK, or DEF by using the [+] symbols next to each. I highly recommend investing them all in RCV, since it influences the speed in which you regenerate HP and ACT. The quicker you regain ACT, the quicker you can get money by clicking on already-completed mission rectangles. And you can always get more ATK and DEF by upgrading them in shop rectangles!

Speaking of mission rectangles, there are a lot of them, and the best ones for getting money are the one below the $1088 defense rectangle in the lower right ($11-$15 for a relatively low ACT cost) and the one to the upper right of the $4463 attack rectangle in the lower left ($31-$35 for a much higher ACT cost).

[Warlock]

Took me a long time the first time, too. My time by end of the first time I'd run through was 99 minutes, too, but I'd left my computer asleep overnight between starting and finishing the game- I think my actual time was more like an hour and a quarter. Note that only includes beating the 'boss' monster, not emptying out all of the shops. Several of the 'treasure box' squares did not open for me.

I retried it when I posted this thread and got it down to about 20 minutes, now that I have a better idea of what was going on. I didn't even have to resort to the casino to pump money!

Did you collect all of the colored letters? I didn't run across all of them in either of my playthroughs.

- HC

[Vireo Gilvus]

All of the colored letters except the last one are randomly received from missions or enemies that leave money. The last letter is automatically received upon defeating the last boss.

As for the treasure chests...

Getting a maximum combo (see below) unlocks "$200 x Lv." which gives you a one-time reward of $200 times your current level. I'd wait until I was at least Level 45, since you never seem to get any higher than Level 47.
Finishing all missions unlocks "LIFE +50".
Buying one of each weapon and armor unlocks "ACT +20".
Defeating the penultimate boss (the big rectangle on the bottom) unlocks "RCV x2". I'd wait until I have at least 100 RCV to get that bonus.
Defeating the last boss (the square with the multicolored HP bar) unlocks "ATK x2". I'd wait until I have at least 400 ATK to get that bonus.

There's a postgame boss with 9999 HP (in the rectangle where the penultimate boss used to be, after defeating the last boss), but you get no reward for finishing it off except for, erm, a not-so-special secret message from the creator.

Also, the "Add Parm" square charges you $200 for 1 investment point (as I described above). This is a great way to build your ATK and DEF in the late game when weapons and armor become prohibitively expensive (and you'd rather not gamble away your savings at the rarely-useful slot machine).

What is Maximum Combo? Well, do you notice that black bar below the player status and above the game squares? As you collect money, EXP, letters, and keys, it slowly fills with blue, but resets if you go too long without collecting any more items. Fill the gauge by raising your RCV (getting it to over 100 with investment points and then using the RCV x2 bonus) IMO, the best way to fill your bonus gauge is from the long horizontal mission rectangle below the $860 weapon shop square. You will be rewarded for getting a maximum combo with the one-time "$200 x Lv." bonus treasure square. But you have to be fast! Keep hitting the mission rectangle and mousing over money icons as quickly as possible. Don't try to go for all of the money icons; you can let the farther-away ones disappear if need be, as long as you keep hitting the mission rectangle and making more money icons appear. This can only be done if your RCV rating is in the triple digits.

[Warlock]

I dunno- I found with the slot machine that I generally ended up ahead if I started with $1000 or so- sometimes you'll get unlucky and it won't produce anything except experience, but the small cash reward (Worth about $2500) and the large cash reward (worth about $8000) are both relatively common as well.

My three-second calculation was that it was generally more cost-effective to buy armor from the actual armor shops and attack using the parameter bump (and the points you get from leveling up).

Do you have to do something to unlock the secret boss, or does it just pop up automatically if you click that square after the last boss?

- HC

[Kalisiin Kumaki]

Should this topic get moved to "Reviews"?

[Warlock]

Probably. Didn't think of that when I posted it.

- HC