Canary

Canary is a side-scrolling shooter game released on February 2, 2011 for Miniclip. The player takes control of Canary 214-LE as he ventures through a mining colony.

Controls
Mouse - Move

Mouse click - Fire laser

Levels
Canary has 24 levels.

Level 1
The player encounters two slabs of rock blocking the way and destroys them. The player must then push several carts out of the way and make another cut in a piece of rock. Then the player needs to make two cuts in a piece of rock and push the piece out of the way to progress to the next area. The player must next cut three pieces of rock, using the third to knock down more carts. The player must avoid falling debris, and progress past more mine carts to the end of the level.

Level 2
The player will navigate above a pile made of several slabs of rock, which the Canary Miner attributes to a rock slide. The player must cut a way into the rock. The next passageway will contain several strands of Alien Spores and a few Alien Squids. The player will make two parallel cuts, push the rock on the Mini Squids, and make two more parallel cuts. The next area has crushers in a passageway full of Alien Spores and Mini Squids. The player progresses from there to an area with Snail Gun Monsters, where a slab of rock needs to be cut to crush it. The player must do the same thing again. Then, cut two parallel lines, where alien spores will pull the loose rock to the right, killing enemies. Progress to the ending platform to finish the level.

Level 3
The player starts the level in a wide cavern full of Alien Spinners, Alien Bats, Alien Liquid Droppers, and Alien Fighters. Near the exit is an Alien Bulb. Underneath that are a set of mines that the player must use a chunk of rock to destroy. The player must push another piece of rock to get to the next area. The player now is in another cavern full of Alien Spinners, Alien Bats, Alien Snail Gun Monsters, and Alien Fighters. The exit is at the right of the cavern.

Level 4
The player starts in a cavern with three Alien Bees and two Alien Bulbs. The cavern splits into two sections, each with another alien bee and an Alien Spore. The cavern rejoins into one, with many Alien Bees in groups of two. The player must use the slabs of rock hanging from the ceiling to crush them or the ones on the floor to avoid running into them or the gas they release. The cavern will end and a new one will begin, with two large holes full of Alien Bees. The player must push two sets of mines down to crush them, then go down the second hole, being careful to avoid the gas, and the ending platform will be at the right.

Level 5
At the beginning of the level, there will be two crushers pushing together. The next segment is composed of Electric Alien Rods inside a passageway with electrical walls. After that, there are more crushers with Alien Spinners in between each crusher, which can easily hit the player. Next, there is a long passage with electrical walls. The next area has more Electric Alien Rods with blocks of metal that block their rays when the rays are hitting the metal. When there is empty space between the Alien Rod and the player, the beam will hit the player. There is an automatic spinning metal wheel, then another electrical passage with Alien Spinners in the middle and at the end. There is a rock corridor, and the exit is to the right.

Level 6
There is an Alien Spore, along with Alien Spinners, in the first segment of Level 6. Next there are two electrical blocks. However, it is impossible to get in between them without damage, and on their top and bottom are four Alien Spinners each. Next, there are three more electrical squares, which the player has to go under or over without hitting. Next, the player must push a saw aside to traverse the passageway, and once again navigate through electrical blocks full of Alien Spinners. The player must cut the bottom of a chunk of rock, then go to the next area. The next area consists of lots of saws attached to several electrical blocks. The player must move a saw at the passage's end, then destroy many Alien Spinners and progress to the end.

Level 16
The beginning of the level has two occasions where the player has to push a mine cart to plug up the holes with rays from Electric Alien Rods coming out. Then the player will go to the upper right and use Canary 214-LE's laser to push the mine cart inside the purple gas to the right. Then, the player should fly above the purple gas, and enter the thin passageway with lots of mini squids. Push the cart in front of them and go to the next enclosure. The player will then have to push two mine crafts into a manually operated metal wheel, and if it isn't spinning enough, use the laser to push it forward. Push the gravity orb, then cut two or three parallel lines in the rock and push forward. Use the rock debris to protect you from those crushers, then push some more mine crafts to plug up the holes with the Electric Alien Rods above. Cut a slice of rock to block a little bigger hole, then press another gravity orb. The next part involves you avoiding the crushers, and when the top one retracts, zoom to the upper right to go to the next crusher area, exactly like the first. To exit this one, cut two lines in the rock and push again. The next part has the player moving to the open areas where the crushers don't hit, then going above to the next open area, until the player reaches the top, and the end.

Enemies

 * Big Propeller Squids : Will always try to be in front of the player and a few seconds of the laser to be killed; causes one heart to be lost once touched
 * Mini Propeller Squids: Always appears in large number and takes four seconds of the Laser to kill. Will subtract one heart from the player if touched.
 * Snail Gun Monsters :Will walk around and shoot pink liquid. This enemy can't be hurt by he laser instead it needs to be crushed by a block to be destroyed.
 * Alien Liquid Droppers: Is always on the ceiling and will drop pink liquid. Can be destroyed by the laser.
 * Alien Bats: Flies around in a circle and takes two seconds of the laser to be destroyed.
 * Alien Missiles : Will fly forward in great numbers. When it comes in contact with the player or rocks they will explode. They also can be destroyed by the laser.
 * Alien Spinners: Will spin around in a pattern and will subtract one heart from the player if touched. They often appear in groups and take a few seconds of the laser to be killed.
 * Alien Bees: Stay in one area and will send out purple gas if destroyed.
 * Piranha Squids: Go through objects and always stay in groups. A easy way to avoid them is to go behind.
 * Alien Bulbs: are found on walls and when hot release Mini Birds.
 * Mini Birds can't be hurt but will go through walls and come out of certain enemies.
 * Alien Ants Will fly back in fourth. When shot they will release Mini Birds.
 * Drill Head Squids: to be kill them they have to be shot from behind. They will subtract one heart if touched.
 * Alien Birds Will fly up and down as they move forward. They must be shot in their middles to be killed.
 * Spike Head Squids Will push objects and can only be destroyed from behind.
 * Metal Alien Boxes: Will move slowly across the screen. Though they are to first lift there heads up then they can be shot, there is a glitch that even before it lifts it's head up it can be destroyed.
 * Infected Canaries: Some will walk and push objects while others will fly in the air and shoot lasers. A easy way to avoid them is to go behind them.

Hazards

 * Purple Gas Is released by some enemies and Alien pods. Will subtract one heart from health if touched.
 * Infected Rock is rock infected by the Alien Larva. Will cause one heart to be subtracted when touched.
 * Mines: If the player goes close Mines will open and explode in a few seconds but not explode if the player moves away. They can be destroyed if objects are thrown at them.
 * Tentacle Spike Ball The spike ball will hurt the player but the pink vines holding it can be destroyed.
 * Alien Bombs: Can be pushed by the laser and objects but will explode if touched by the player.
 * Electric Alien Rods: Shoot harmful lasers from their top and bottom. Their lasers can be blocked by any objects and they can be destroyed by shooting their pink middles.
 * Electrical Blocks Causes one heart to be lost when touched.
 * Alien Lasers: Must be shot from the side to be killed. But since they sometimes appear deep in a wall where it is impossible to shoot them from the side, the player must shoot a mirror to angle their laser.
 * Crushers: Will go up and down at a certain pace and hurt the player if it comes in contact with the spikes on it. It is always possible to wedge a piece of rock under the crusher to make them not go down any farther depending on the size of the rock.
 * Alien Pods: Sometimes drop from the ceiling or are attached to pink vines. Either version will release purple gas once it touches the floor.

Interactive Objects

 * Mirrors : If shot at, the laser beam will reflect off of it.
 * Turning Mirrors: must be pushed to change the angle but other then that they act like normal mirrors.
 * Gravity Orbs: Will make objects move in what ever way they are pointing.
 * Rock Can be pushed and cut into pieces by the laser. They can destroy enemies but only if thrown.

Inspiration
The plot for the game bears striking resemblance to the plot for the Wii exclusive game The Conduit. In The Conduit, a character named Mr. Ford attempts to eliminate an alien race that is being attacked by the United States, similar to the game's plot in how Canary 214-LE attempts to rid the Mining Colony of the invading aliens. The Aliens in The Conduit possess the ability to control other humans, quite like the Aliens in Canary having the ability to corrupt Canary Miners.

Throughout Conduit, Prometheus asks Ford to join him, resembling the relationship between the corrupt Canary Miner who continues to urge 214-LE into joining him. During the end of the Conduit, Adams, the antagonist of the game, sets the Trust base (which Ford is in) to explode, and the corrupt Canary Miner in the game sets up the Mining Colony to explode. Ford escapes by going through a Conduit and eventually making an escape, as the Aliens attempt to hinder him, whereas in Canary, 214-LE makes an escape from the Mining Colony as the Aliens try to prevent him from doing so.

The concept of having canaries and miners both be related in the game may be partly inspired by real-life Miner Canaries. Canary birds would be brought down into mineshafts as a means of detecting hazardous gases. The birds have a tendency to sing, so if they ever encountered a gas, they would stop before finally succumbing to it. Miners, upon noticing the bird's silence, would evacuate from the area.

Previews
A teaser of the game was launched on the Nitrome Blog, showing a screenshot of one of the levels. The game finally came out on February 2nd.

Beta Elements
Discovered in the coding of Canary is an unused alien, possibly an enemy. The Alien appears as a pink eye on a thruster like machine. It may have been intended for pushing object, as .gif exists of the thruster starting. No death animation exists, so it may have been planned to push objects to crush Canary 214-LE. A reason for it not being used is that Alien Spinners could push objects, attack, and move around, while the Thruster Like enemy cut from he game could only push objects.

Trivia

 * This game was first hinted in the Ice Temple Skin.
 * Some hours after Canary was released, Stefan Ahlin on his Facebook page said that after the game was completed, the player could play a horror level in the game. Markus Heinel replied to Stefan Ahlin saying he had played the level. The existence of this 'horror level' was proven false. It is possible that this was an indirect reference to level 23, which had Corrupted Canaries who walked like Zombies, Zombies being usually associated with Horror related media.
 * Unlike most games, Canary had no pickups.

Canary