Here’s something a bit out of the ordinary, more of a video game recommendation than a proper review. I wanted to recommend a little game that you can play in your browser for free and is actually pretty awesome. It's called Prince of Prussia.

This game was made by Adam Saltsman, the developer of Canabalt. Apparently feeling inspired by the brilliant UFO 50, Saltsman started making smaller games in PICO-8 that would be bound by the platform’s inherent limitations, such as a small resolution, tiny color palette, and only two buttons.

Essentially a 2D platformer, Prince of Prussia is very clearly modeled on the original Prince of Persia. It’s made in PICO-8, so the visuals are minimalist pixel art and the audio is even more spartan. The aim of the game is to escape a prison, stabbing as many Nazis as possible on your way out. As it turns out, it’s actually a stealth game as well. And you know I love me a good stealth game!

If you do give the game a try, there are a few things to note:

Being a PICO-8 game, it only uses two buttons (X & C)—plus the arrow keys to move—and both of those buttons make your character jump.
Like the old school Prince of Persia, you’ll need to carefully watch your step. Remember that you can jump up to a ledge above you by holding Up and pressing Jump, and you can climb down by holding Down and pressing Jump.
Before you can stab any enemies, you will need to pick up the knife in the first stage.
Since both buttons make you jump, the way to attack enemies is to simply run into them. You'll usually want to approach enemies from behind—because they'll shoot you immediately on sight—but sometimes you can strike from above.
While landing on spikes will kill the player, you can safely climb down onto spikes, as well as walk through them.

Prince of Prussia is short and sweet, but surprisingly satisfying. In fact, this is probably the first PICO-8 game that I have completed and then immediately started a second game. (Just had to be sure I got everything.) It’s free and well worth your time, so why not take a stab at it?