The Therapist Gamer

In Nihilumbra you play as an amorphous blob that assumes the shape of a scarecrow for the duration of the game.  It's a 2D sidescroller with some emphasis on both platforming and puzzle solving.  Throughout the game you gain abilities that can be used to navigate the environment and avoid obstacles.  It's not an open world game, meaning that you get the abilities in a set sequence and solve various puzzles only when you are supposed to.  

 

There is a narrator speaking to you in virtually every screen of the game.  Most of his remarks center around nihilism and the seeming meaninglessness of existence.  I assume a person is supposed to explore these issues as they play the game, but that wasn't really the case for me.  However, there were a few lines here and there that got me thinking about things.

 

The gameplay itself is fairly well done.  You use the touch screen to switch between special powers by selecting an icon and then selecting the power, and I found this to be cumbersome.  However, part way through the game I discovered you can switch powers simply by pressing the L or R buttons, which was a great alternative to the touch controls.  I thought the puzzle difficulty progressed at a reasonable rate and some of the puzzles offered a fun experience.

 

I can enjoy a good puzzle game but they aren't really my cup of tea.  For me this game was mechanically well made but kind of standard overall.  I give props to the developers for trying something new and think they could go on the create a more ambitious game once they get more resources.