Gaming lets us develop our own skills on our own terms whether it’s our eye-hand coordination or even social skills. Now, these kinds of skills can be practiced by playing a shooter or even an adventure game. These games are so appealing due to its story and gameplay mechanics that you’re easily being involved. However, there’s also the “think out of the box”- skill, a skill that you’re constantly working on, even though the previous games stimulate other skills. Developers make their games a lot more open, so you can create more of your own paths to get to the objective. Now there are some other games like puzzling that focus on this certain skill, but these games are often generic and boring. There isn’t a lot of action, story or interesting gameplay mechanics to keep yourself hooked. Well, if you’re mind is set to puzzling, there’s a good puzzle game out there that proves that you don’t need a great story or amazing mechanics to be fun. Shift Quantum is a game that can stimulate your “out of the box thinking” and be enjoyable as well….
Shift Quantum, a cyber-noir action puzzle platformer. The game is all about one simple goal, find the exit. You’ll have to shift between different dimensions to go from point A to B. You’ll have to be careful though, that you’re not being flattened by blocks or punctured by spike pits during this shifting adventure. The game uses a great simple mechanic that takes puzzling to a whole other dimension. The mechanic offers you the ability to use the negative spaces within a certain dimension and turning the world upside down, hoping to find the best path out towards the exit.
The game reminds me a bit of Sin City. The graphical presentation is simple and yet so exciting to see. The developers use white and black visuals with some color every now and then to keep the player interesting. Now, this graphical style of choice fits the game perfectly as both colors are key to play the game. This puzzle game will do anything to keep you off track by spike pits, falling blocks… but there’s no need to fear. We as a player are gifted to use pressure points and fly across the sky by abusing the gravity in the system. There are so many things to consider while planning the perfect escape route.
The game might seem simple enough to conquer but beware! The simple mechanic to switch between dimensions can become difficult along the way. You’ll have to traverse different stages that’ll challenge you in different kinds of ways. Eventually, you’ll have to be quick to be successful because you won’t always have the time to scout your area to plan your escape route perfectly. Shift Quantum starts off slow but ends with a blast.
A lot of puzzling games can become complicated by using a lot of new buttons that’ll scare off newcomers. Shift Quantum uses a very simple button layout for its game and it also helps the player to understand the mechanics. There’s a great learning curve that’ll prepare you for the worst. There were some issues with the moveable blocks from time to time but that doesn’t hurt your gameplay experience. These issues can be fixed with a simple patch in the future. Will you have a rough time in completing this game? Probably but don’t let that stop you from buying this game. It has challenging gameplay and it will eventually become rewarding.
The game also has some replayability: you can jump back to previous levels to collect glitches and the fact that you can go back to any level whatsoever, gives the player a chance to practice these new mechanics and revisit thrilling levels. You can also create your own levels with the “Level Editor”. You can share your levels with people from all over the world to get some practice. This “Level Editor” will help the game to survive, especially when it’s build up from the ground by the community. These levels that the community collects are far more challenging than the main puzzles within the game.
Conclusion:
Shift Quantum is an interesting game that broadens the use of our game skills. People who are great in puzzling will find its way back home to this cyber-noir puzzle game because of the interesting puzzles and of course without the use of a complex button layout. The game seems simple but becomes a lot more challenging along the way. If you’re burned out, boot up the Level Editor, make your own puzzle and challenge other players. The graphics look great and the sound fits the game perfectly. There isn’t any reason not to buy this game or at least give it a try.
