Auto Amy (2024)
a FREEWARE game by ‘EgoTrip’ for Amstrad CPC
Written for BrewOtaku #002 by Syed Raza
‘Auto Amy’ is a puzzle action game for the Amstrad CPC. The concept instantly reminds someone on ‘Pipe Dream’ published in 1989 by ‘Lucasfilm Games’. If you have been a Windows 3.x user back then, you were able to find the concept in ‘Pipe Dream’ released within the ‘Microsoft Entertainment Pack 2’.
LAY THE PATH
Auto Amy has a very straightforward approach. You are responsible for assembling a path for Amy as she has to make her journey from one end of the level to the other one. You have a couple of path tiles that can be seen on the right of every level. They range in shape and quantity. Arrange the path tiles so she can easily walk without hindrances. Along the way, you have to collect three jewels. If you do not include them, you won’t become dust, but chasing for a good score will be more difficult. There is a bonus counter as well, but the more time you take, the smaller your bonus gets. Being fast and precise is truly recommended for score hunters. If you only care for the puzzle, then it’s possibly all good.
Higher levels will need you to get more creative with your solution approach. There are various mechanics such as warps (skip a space) and X blocks that you bounce off and reverse direction.
Controls are quite standard. Play with a Joystick, or simply use the cursor keys. Ingame you do mostly hear SFX only.
Conclusion
A bit disturbing is the cursor wandering, when you have to pick a path tile and place it in the playing field, and then go back again to pick the next one. Other than that, we have a nice puzzle game in a slightly new clothing. Graphics are good, and the title screen music is chippy and catchy. It can happen, that you just don’t play the game, but listen to the chip music all the time.
