Manifold Garden

Review

Manifold Garden, an ingenious gravity-defying, first-person puzzle game, is built into a world where gravity does not matter and changing perspectives can lead to new possibilities.

Imagine a world where you can defy the rules of physics and gravity. A world where possibilities of movement are endless, and you’re only held back by your own imagination.  A universe where perspectives can lead to progress or failure.

Changing perspective in some of the most unique movement machines can help you see through the web of puzzles that are well integrated into Manifold Garden.

Gameplay: the base game machines are pretty straightforward, with W, A, S, and D being the basic movement with the shift to sprint. But where the fun starts is its unique perspective-changing machines with hitting space.

Moving up to an uneven surface area, (horizontal, vertical, and other angles), and pressing space will prompt a quick shift to that surface, giving the player another point of view of that area.

For the most part, this machine works very well, helping the player find new pieces of the puzzle, find doorways, etc.

You can jump from anywhere and since there is no fall damage, you will end up right where you started. In the very beginning, this seems like a basic aspect of the game, but as the game progresses it turns out that jumping from different angles and trying to micromanage to get to another place way below you is a thing; it plays an important role in the game, which fits in perfectly. You can jump from anywhere and still land on your destination, which makes things interesting and fast. You can also go around a long way and still get to your destination with ease, which in times can be very confusing.

Puzzles: at the beginning, the puzzles seem fairly obvious and easy; simply change perspectives if needed, connect lines by placing colored blocks, or just press a button to move forward. But as the game progresses, you’ll find out that pressing buttons and placing blocks are not the real puzzles. It turns out that finding these puzzles and discovering where to go next is the real deal in this game.

With a lack of instructions and tutorials, you’ll find yourself lost and confused very quickly. Moving slowly and checking every corner is highly recommended. Thinking twice before changing POV is also important.

World design: Manifold Garden brings an amazing and uniquely-designed world to the table. The world itself is the puzzle. Full of artistic gravity and physics-defying builds and structures, players will be grasping the richness of Manifold Garden’s world design as soon as they get outside the first build and try to jump. You will find yourself amazed seeing this endless world with its endless possibilities while free falling until you land on your targeted spot, or until you eventually end up on the same spot.

Sound effects: Minimalistic and soothing sound effects gave the gameplay a relaxing sensation. The music is atmospheric and appropriate for this world as well.

The only thing missing from Manifold Garden at this point is a proper tutorial. I found myself confused and nauseated more often than I would like to admit.

Review written by BiteMexD for Zeepond.com!