Part Time UFO is a “puzzle game” about piling up things (not necessarily objects) where the challenge is not in the puzzle itself but in the character movement. In my head it’s like a “construction” flash game with the physics of the first Super Mario.

Why Super Mario? Because contrary to what one might think given the physics-based premise, the game isn’t really about finding the perfect balance when placing the pieces on top of each other, but about maintaining control of the UFO. Each piece you carry has an impact on the controls: its weight makes you loose speed and gain inertia, making it hard to carefully place the piece in the right spot. Basically, the piece is dragging you, not the other way around. The faster you go, the more you swing, which means there’s a chance that the piece will slip and fall, causing you to fly down to pick it up again or even worse, destroying the tower you had already built. You also have to be careful when dropping it in place since if it carries too much momentum, there’s a high chance the tower will lose its balance and fall.

Well then, play slowly and that’s it, right? Fortunately it’s not that easy because there is a timer.

I wish the progress didn’t depend on getting extra badges from each level’s additional challenges, and I’m also not a fan of the cosmetics (though purely visual and paid only with in-game money) but other than that, I’ve got to say it’s pretty brilliant.