Saturday 20 April 2013

The Dungeoning - PC/Mac

Over the last few weeks, I've been delighted to see Nick from Physmo release more screens from their forthcoming game titled The Dungeoning.

Physmo have a growing reputation for releasing quality games, with Mos Speedrun, GhostRacer and Seaglass already under their belt. The Dungeoning is looking splendid so far but when Nick told me this was a Roguelike platformer, I almost cried tears of pure ASCII joy.

The Dungeoning is currently deep in development for PC and Mac, and Physmo have announced the game will feature a variety of weapons, projectile-based magic, levelling up and - most importantly - permadeath.

No release date has been announced yet but The Dungeoning is definitely one to keep your eye on. In the meantime, gaze at this small selection of screens from the current build and head over to the official Physmo site for more information.



Friday 19 April 2013

The Bridge - PC


There is something quite endearing - and familiar - about The Bridge's lead character. Resplendent in blazer, diamond-emblazoned jumper, well-knotted tie and round spectacles, he is an intriguing fellow - and the mystery behind him and the gravity-defying world he inhabits is just as mesmirising.

The Bridge is a puzzler, which likes to futz with gravity, mess with your sense of perspective and takes great delight in being responsible for melting your brain with its collection of gravity-shifting conundrums.

Clearly taking its visual cue from the head-scratching drawings by Dutch artist MC Escher, The Bridge is a thoroughly absorbing title and one which fuses simple controls with visually complex levels.

The player is able to walk the protagonist left and right and can rotate the screen both clockwise and anti-clockwise, with the ultimate goal of reaching a door which then whisks our smartly-presented gentleman into another, more complicated warped world.

Of course, that sounds simple but The Bridge is anything but. Snaffling keys unlocks these doors, but the act of collecting them is a lot tougher than you might initially imagine. They have a tendency to slip into the ether through gaps in the levels as you gingerly rotate the world, dangle tantalisingly just out of reach and perch precariously on ledges.


Even when you manage to collect these monochrome treasures, you still have to navigate your way to the exit - no easy task, especially when giant grinning stone marbles are intent on erasing you from existence and quirky vortexes like to swallow everything and anything that gets too close. Thankfully, The Bridge lets the player rewind time so they are free to finely tune their tactics and this nifty Prince of Persia-like mechanic keeps the game ticking along nicely.

But even though some of the puzzles are maddening - especially when polarity is introduced - the sublime monochrome pencil sketch visuals and gentle music keep the player engaged and seeing what fresh mental torture awaits keeps the player moving doggedly on.

The Bridge, then, is a rather fine game and like any good puzzler there's a wonderful sense of accomplishment when you finally figure out a level. Polished, brilliantly presented and delightfully devilishly, a stroll across this bridge into another world is a trip you should definitely take.


This review initially appeared on the Gert Lush Gaming website. Thanks to Jim for allowing me to post the review here.