CHR$(143) Reviews

It may or may not look like much, but make no mistake; this game is not for the faint of mind, and it covers some seriously complicated topics! In the event you aren't a fan of the default artstyle.. well, notice how I said the word 'default'? That's right, you can change it with one press of a key. (no, really!)

I was initially hoping to get further into this and have more to base my review impressions on, but I seem to have moved on because I can't focus on anything anymore and I don't want to just let it go unreviewed when it's such a criminally overlooked game. I can guarantee this up front: if you manage to get anywhere in it, it's one of those games that you'll never forget. I'm not even sure how to categorize it, as it seems to shift almost between entire genres on a level-by-level basis while retaining the same simple tile-based presentation. You gradually unlock more and more mechanics to keep track of -- which then may or may not be relevant on any given level, and seemingly every time you think the bag of tricks [i]must[/i] have run dry by now, no, it really hasn't. It vaguely conjures memories of old games like Boulderdash, Chip's Challenge, DROD, or even Widget Workshop, while also being not really like any of those. It almost feels like a spoiler to even discuss half of the game's mechanics because of how far out of left field they are, but in the broadest terms I can possibly use, there will be levels focused around exploration, physics puzzles, movement puzzles, logistical puzzles, resource management, and sometimes rather in-depth construction. It has its warts; some very uneven difficulty progression at times, SFX and graphical tiles that are authentically retro to a sensory-assaulting fault (you'll want to find the hotkey for the alternative tiles ASAP if you value your retinas), and some levels that require a frustrating degree of specificity to get the at-times finicky physics to behave. But I'd call it worth double the asking price, let alone if you happen to find it on sale.