Very stylish, short and simple game. The presentation here is really confident, big bold solid coloured geometric shapes, bars bouncing up and down in the background in time to the beats of the music.
You play as a little shapeshifting object, when stationary - a square. If you move horizontally you turn into a circle so it looks like you're rolling, and when you jump you become a triangle that rotates to meet the ground. There is no narrative or tutorial to speak of, the game teaches you through gradually introducing and layering simple concepts throughout the handful of levels.
As a level begins, there will be little to no ambient sound and your objective is to gather a nearby little circle filled with colour. The circle will be moving erratically and emitting quiet, tinny music of some sort. Once you "pick up" the circle, you take it to a clearly marked area and the colours inside spill out and repaint your whole world. The music they contained also becomes loud and deep, and suddenly a new mechanic begins to operate in the world allowing you to progress.
The levels all proceed in broadly this way, with generous checkpoints throughout, and build up to a sort of boss battle with a novel mechanic. The punishment for death is fairly minimal and there are only four levels. I'd say it's quite achieveable to finish the game in around an hour or two.
Beating a level also unlocks a "mirror" version of that same level. As you'd expect, the whole thing is completely mirrored and the colours are also inverted. To add another wrinkle, there are no checkpoints in this mode - each mirror world must be cleared without making any mistakes. It may be just me but I found this challenge particularly gruelling, especially levels 3 and 4. There were a few bits that I just couldn't quite nail down consistently, yet the majority of the time was spent repeating the same trivial sections. Due to being rhythm-based, attempting to listen to something else while playing was a recipe for disaster. I found myself in this awkward space where the game didn't require enough to be truly engaging, but required just enough focus that if my mind wandered too much I would immediately be punished. Still, the mirror mode is really just a bonus - so it's up to you whether you want to pursue it! I found it tougher than I thought I would but eventually did managed to beat all the mirror levels.
Overall, I like this game a fair amount. It's simple, effective and a good length. A great way to spend a quiet afternoon - but think hard before considering the mirror mode as a lot of the charm wears off in repeated playthroughs!
You play as a little shapeshifting object, when stationary - a square. If you move horizontally you turn into a circle so it looks like you're rolling, and when you jump you become a triangle that rotates to meet the ground. There is no narrative or tutorial to speak of, the game teaches you through gradually introducing and layering simple concepts throughout the handful of levels.
As a level begins, there will be little to no ambient sound and your objective is to gather a nearby little circle filled with colour. The circle will be moving erratically and emitting quiet, tinny music of some sort. Once you "pick up" the circle, you take it to a clearly marked area and the colours inside spill out and repaint your whole world. The music they contained also becomes loud and deep, and suddenly a new mechanic begins to operate in the world allowing you to progress.
The levels all proceed in broadly this way, with generous checkpoints throughout, and build up to a sort of boss battle with a novel mechanic. The punishment for death is fairly minimal and there are only four levels. I'd say it's quite achieveable to finish the game in around an hour or two.
Beating a level also unlocks a "mirror" version of that same level. As you'd expect, the whole thing is completely mirrored and the colours are also inverted. To add another wrinkle, there are no checkpoints in this mode - each mirror world must be cleared without making any mistakes. It may be just me but I found this challenge particularly gruelling, especially levels 3 and 4. There were a few bits that I just couldn't quite nail down consistently, yet the majority of the time was spent repeating the same trivial sections. Due to being rhythm-based, attempting to listen to something else while playing was a recipe for disaster. I found myself in this awkward space where the game didn't require enough to be truly engaging, but required just enough focus that if my mind wandered too much I would immediately be punished. Still, the mirror mode is really just a bonus - so it's up to you whether you want to pursue it! I found it tougher than I thought I would but eventually did managed to beat all the mirror levels.
Overall, I like this game a fair amount. It's simple, effective and a good length. A great way to spend a quiet afternoon - but think hard before considering the mirror mode as a lot of the charm wears off in repeated playthroughs!
Finished the game on January 6, 2018, but finally completed all four mirror stages by 2022, with them being completed sporadically over the years in-between.
The video game equivalent of quality bread. It's great, but it's also just bread.