''Benefactor'' is a

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

developed by the Swedish team Digital Illusions CE (DICE) and published in 1994 by

Psygnosis Psygnosis Limited (; known as SCE Studio Liverpool or simply Studio Liverpool from 1999) was a British video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher headquartered at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool. Founded in 1984 by Ian Het ...

Gameplay

''Benefactor'' is a mix between a

puzzle game A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to find the solution of the puzzle. There are different ...

and a

platform game A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

. It has a similar concept to Psygnosis's earlier, very successful ''

Lemmings A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also incl ...

''. The player plays Ben E. Factor, who has resigned from the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

to become an overall all-around good guy. Factor's mission is to save a group of "Merry Men", who have been kidnapped from their home planet and imprisoned over 60 levels. Ben E. Factor is controlled directly, like a platform game character. Factor has to avoid all enemy creatures (hitting them would reduce

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

), and pull

switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type o ...

es to extend the land, or many other things. Factor can find keys on the level to open the locks in the Merry Men's cells. When freed, a Merry Man automatically proceeds on a pre-set mission, with the aid of helping Factor to free the other Merry Men and complete the level. Once all Merry Men on a level have been freed, Factor has to go back to his starting point to complete the level. Although colliding with monsters reduces Factor's health, Merry Men are not harmed by monsters. There are three difficulty levels: easy, normal and hard. On easy, enemies do less damage. On hard enemies do more damage and any damage taken is carried over to the next level. Score is gained by picking up bonus items and at the end of each level score is awarded based on how much health the player has got left. In later levels, some of the Merry Men are "evil". "Evil" Merry Men, distinguished by their

monochrome A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, mon ...

appearance, do not follow any preset pattern but instead walk blindly forwards, like the lemmings in the ''Lemmings'' games, without regard to dangers lying in their path. "Evil" Merry Men have to be turned into "good" Merry Men by dropping a bucket of

paint Paint is a material or mixture that, when applied to a solid material and allowed to dry, adds a film-like layer. As art, this is used to create an image or images known as a painting. Paint can be made in many colors and types. Most paints are ...

over them before they can be rescued. There is no "lives" counter in the game, meaning the player can make unlimited attempts. There is also a

password A password, sometimes called a passcode, is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of password-protected services t ...

displayed at the completion of each level allowing the player to continue playing from the start of the next level. ''Benefactor'' has support for data disks but no official data disks for it have ever been published. (One unofficial data disk with seven new levels is available for download on Aminet.) In keeping with Psygnosis's tradition of including references to earlier games, ''Benefactor'' includes a level called ''Lemmings?'' in which Ben E. Factor has to clear a path for twenty "evil" Merry Men marching blindly forwards across a series of pillars. This level is a reference to the game ''

'' and even the music comes from that game. This is the only level where "evil" Merry Men can use the exit without first becoming "good".

Development

During development, Frederick Lilligren of

DICE A die (: dice, sometimes also used as ) is a small, throwable object with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. Dice are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, ro ...

noted that ''Benefactor''s gameplay had been compared to that of ''

''. In '' Amiga Power''s May 1993 issue, it had a projected release date of September.

Release

A version for the Mega Drive was planned but never released.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benefactor (Video Game) 1994 video games Amiga CD32 games Amiga games Amiga-only games Cancelled Sega Genesis games Digital Illusions CE games Platformers Psygnosis games Single-player video games Video games developed in Sweden Video games scored by Olof Gustafsson