Played this live on stream on the 23rd of March (twitch.tv/sleepy_nice, come thru).
Woah! This was hard!! I don't like to resort to guides in puzzle games (and even if I do, I sure as hell don't like to admit it) but a couple of the puzzles in the last 2 chapters seemed literally impossible to me until I watched someone else do it. Apart from these hurdles, I had a great time with this game, super glad I checked this out. I've been writing an essay through the week and this was a great game to allow myself to play between moments of writing, good brain cleanser.
There are a LOT of moving parts in Swim Out, but the elements all fit together harmoniously. While I was streaming, someone called this "Into The Breach: Pool Edition" which honestly rings pretty true - there's a rhythm to the game that telegraphs the next few turns, allowing for both tight planning as well as moments of last minute improvisation. The liminal ambience was a great accompaniment absent any background music, and the interstitial animations set a perfect mood (they also weirdly reminded me of Katamari Damacy?).
I gotta admit, while I completed every level I did not hit every optional achievement. I often tried, but as the maps got bigger and the unit-types were delivered in more complex configurations it became too much to juggle.
Only four stars because I REALLY wanted an undo button, even one that was single use. Far too often I'd make a wrong move 60-70 moves into a large map, and even if I didn't die straight away I would see it coming several moves in advance. I know this is supposed to be a challenging experience, but c'mon guys just lemme go back one move yeah?
I checked the developer page on itch and it turns out they've got another game in the Ukraine bundle called Rip Them Off, can't wait to play it. These guys know what's up!!
Woah! This was hard!! I don't like to resort to guides in puzzle games (and even if I do, I sure as hell don't like to admit it) but a couple of the puzzles in the last 2 chapters seemed literally impossible to me until I watched someone else do it. Apart from these hurdles, I had a great time with this game, super glad I checked this out. I've been writing an essay through the week and this was a great game to allow myself to play between moments of writing, good brain cleanser.
There are a LOT of moving parts in Swim Out, but the elements all fit together harmoniously. While I was streaming, someone called this "Into The Breach: Pool Edition" which honestly rings pretty true - there's a rhythm to the game that telegraphs the next few turns, allowing for both tight planning as well as moments of last minute improvisation. The liminal ambience was a great accompaniment absent any background music, and the interstitial animations set a perfect mood (they also weirdly reminded me of Katamari Damacy?).
I gotta admit, while I completed every level I did not hit every optional achievement. I often tried, but as the maps got bigger and the unit-types were delivered in more complex configurations it became too much to juggle.
Only four stars because I REALLY wanted an undo button, even one that was single use. Far too often I'd make a wrong move 60-70 moves into a large map, and even if I didn't die straight away I would see it coming several moves in advance. I know this is supposed to be a challenging experience, but c'mon guys just lemme go back one move yeah?
I checked the developer page on itch and it turns out they've got another game in the Ukraine bundle called Rip Them Off, can't wait to play it. These guys know what's up!!