I am an entire sucker for 2D platformers, even more so if they've mechanics that allow you to manipulate environmental surroundings, and artwork is always a plus. This is why Backworlds hits just the right platforming itch. Produced by Logic Ember, a games studio founded by Juha Kangas and Anders Ekermo, a set of game industry veterans, Backworlds is as wholesome as it is challenging.
Backworlds is a multi-dimensional puzzle-platform game that you simply explore and progress by painting. Even though it is an easy platformer, with a few of the identical elements you know and love in the gametype-moving platforms, enemies, and ledges that take some love to clear-the game separates itself from others by looking into making the player move between two parallel worlds, each with its own unique set of properties simply by using your brush to flow seamlessly in one to another. While traversing the map might seem simple, you have to solve environmental conundrums by utilizing each world's physical properties to your benefit. As each level becomes more detailed, make use of the abilities you learn over the previous ones to advance. But it’s not only the physics you think about; you also get the chance to make use of your own creativity to craft original methods to the game's puzzles.
Now, I know you’re thinking, how can you paint the right path through Backworlds? Well, the answer is both simple but additionally dynamic. When you use the d-pad to maneuver forward and backward, the right thumbstick is used to paint sections of the planet who are around you. Whenever you do, the colours change plus some of the objects painted change too. Certain rocks become transparent, enabling you to pass through, running water disappears, and some other neat tricks happen.
Now, initially, I adjusted the setting using the down and up buttons around the d-pad to make my brush the biggest it may be. Which worked, a minimum of for that first level. But, as you progress, you have to be selective within the areas that you paint. Some necessitate using the finest brush while others don’t, but thankfully the training curve to that end isn’t necessarily steep.
That said, the painting aspect adds a challenge to Backworlds and elevates environmentally friendly puzzles to some status that keeps you engaged as a player. Even for me, someone who spends a lot of time playing platformers and finds them relatively quickly to maneuver through, the challenge the need for creativity added was precisely what I desired. One of the most challenging aspects of the game is using moving platforms. These can disappear much more a painted area that drops you, but in some instances, you will need to paint over specific blockades to be able to progress. This forces the player to think about the thickness from the brush, where they’re placing the paint, and also begin to see the next thing past getting on the woking platform.
One from the larger issues with platformers is repetitiveness or the sense of playing the same area many times. Thankfully, the painting mechanic helps a great keep upping the sport. In addition to that, though, the game’s art is easily the most stunning element of the Backworlds. All hand-painted, the setting is wholesome, the characters are adorable, and also the contrast between the main world and the painted the first is beautiful to check out whilst helping ease gameplay. Additionally, as you play and want to utilize new mechanics, the level features directions written in the backdrop to tell you which buttons to press. This can help show you, it doesn’t remove any discovery of how to begin using these elements.
Overall, Backworlds is a brief and sweet game that offers up ample amounts of wholesome and challenge in the easiest way. Painting your way through the world isn’t just a gimmick; it’s an integral part of the game, that is important for niche travel mechanics. Plus, there are a few surprises in-store, including teleportation. So if you’re searching for a game to experience on the run and puzzles to help keep you focused, then Backworlds is definitely for you. A port in the PC, this one takes full benefit of the way you play your Switch and merely works.
Backworlds is available on the Nintendo Turn on May 20, 2023.
