Derrick
ლ(ಠ_ಠ )ლ
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2010
- Messages
- 5,085
- Reaction score
- 5
Here we have a challenging puzzle game that demands very unusual thinking, requiring the player to have an understanding of three-dimensional space – and then snap it in half! It is difficult and abstract, and may occasionally have you pulling out your hair.
This has to be one of the most intriguing and difficult puzzle games I have ever played.
Those of you familiar with the works of the artist M. C. Escher, famous for eye-bending, perspective-warping art pieces such as the ones shown here, will find this game rather familiar – at least in terms of style.
This is how the game works: a broken environment consisting of walkways, stairs, obstructions, holes and ‘jump pads’ is presented. Upon it, a varying number of human figures appear in white, black, grey, or transparent grey. The idea is to get the white walking figure to meet every ghostly (translucent) one, and to get pairs of white and pairs of black walkers to meet.
When matching pairs meet, they merge into a grey walker, and this one must meet another grey walker. Getting the walkers to go where you want them is the tricky bit, as the environment is, as mentioned, quite broken. This is where the ‘Escherian’ element comes in. As you rotate the view, the perspective shifts and the apparent relative positions of various elements change. While this is normal, this game manipulates this factor in an
interesting manner: when paths end up appearing to touch, they actually do.
Furthermore, an obstruction that has been hidden by another object ceases to exist while it is out of view. Any time a walker falls (say, through a hole in the path, or as a result of a jump),it lands on anything that is ‘below’ it
on the screen. The same applies to jumping upwards – a jumper reaches a pathway that is ‘above’ on the screen. To understand what this all means, take a look at Ascending and Descending or Escher’s waterfall.
Whenever a figure falls out of the screen, a deadpan monotone “oops” is intoned, and the unit respawns in its original location, but no ‘lives’ are lost.
However, you are racing against the clock, and if time runs out, the same indifferent voice drones “too bad.” Before a stage starts, you can survey it for as long as you like as it rotates and the walkers remain stationary. After you
complete a stage, you have the option of viewing a replay of your solution.
There are several game modes available. While you play, a subdued classical score plays, which is quite atmospheric to begin with, but I started finding it rather tedious after a while. The artistic style is elegantly minimalistic
and understated. This game is a unique and very original experience, but don’t expect an action-fest.
This has to be one of the most intriguing and difficult puzzle games I have ever played.
Those of you familiar with the works of the artist M. C. Escher, famous for eye-bending, perspective-warping art pieces such as the ones shown here, will find this game rather familiar – at least in terms of style.
This is how the game works: a broken environment consisting of walkways, stairs, obstructions, holes and ‘jump pads’ is presented. Upon it, a varying number of human figures appear in white, black, grey, or transparent grey. The idea is to get the white walking figure to meet every ghostly (translucent) one, and to get pairs of white and pairs of black walkers to meet.
When matching pairs meet, they merge into a grey walker, and this one must meet another grey walker. Getting the walkers to go where you want them is the tricky bit, as the environment is, as mentioned, quite broken. This is where the ‘Escherian’ element comes in. As you rotate the view, the perspective shifts and the apparent relative positions of various elements change. While this is normal, this game manipulates this factor in an
interesting manner: when paths end up appearing to touch, they actually do.
Furthermore, an obstruction that has been hidden by another object ceases to exist while it is out of view. Any time a walker falls (say, through a hole in the path, or as a result of a jump),it lands on anything that is ‘below’ it
on the screen. The same applies to jumping upwards – a jumper reaches a pathway that is ‘above’ on the screen. To understand what this all means, take a look at Ascending and Descending or Escher’s waterfall.
Whenever a figure falls out of the screen, a deadpan monotone “oops” is intoned, and the unit respawns in its original location, but no ‘lives’ are lost.
However, you are racing against the clock, and if time runs out, the same indifferent voice drones “too bad.” Before a stage starts, you can survey it for as long as you like as it rotates and the walkers remain stationary. After you
complete a stage, you have the option of viewing a replay of your solution.
There are several game modes available. While you play, a subdued classical score plays, which is quite atmospheric to begin with, but I started finding it rather tedious after a while. The artistic style is elegantly minimalistic
and understated. This game is a unique and very original experience, but don’t expect an action-fest.