SUPERLIMINAL
More than mind games
Making dream logic work in games is a design conundrum. The idea itself is enticing, but how do you design a dreamscape’s unique sense of internal logic so it’s simultaneously otherworldly and yet predictable enough for a player to follow? With Superliminal, part of that conundrum may well have been solved.
In this optical-illusion-infused puzzler, you are a sleep therapy patient. It’s not insomnia that plagues you, but negative emotions like self-doubt. That’s where SomnaSculpt comes in, offering a new perspective through dream-focussed therapy – at least, that’s what the brochure says. Alas, there’s nary a daydream about snogging Keanu Reeves to be found, as what the brochure doesn’t cover is the nightmare you get trapped in: Inception-style freefalling through layers of dreams as you try desperately to wake up.
Your only advantage is the ability to change the properties of objects by shifting your perspective. For instance, you pick up a slice of Edam with e and bemoan that you could use it as a makeshift staircase if only it were bigger. But with a shift of perspective, it will be; raise that cheese high and watch it come thundering back down twice the size, forming the perfect escape route. Occasionally you need to match up sight lines or make objects smaller, but generally going big is how you get home.
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
As this is a story-led puzzler, you can directly mess with only a set number of objects in each level. Some players may feel a bit short-changed by this but it makes it a darn sight easier to backtrack and figure out what you may have missed if there are only two things you can interact with in a room.
While this central mechanic is exceedingly focussed in its design, that doesn’t mean there’s no room left for things to get weird; Superliminal is littered with moments that distil all the disorientation of a hypnagogic jerk. Though the game starts to rely overly on the same trick in its final act, there are plenty of reversals up to that point that remain memorable thanks in large part to how well it establishes its own internal logic. Did a pivotal block fall apart in your hand? No matter – use the separated sides as a ramp instead.
As you sink deeper into what is anything but a restful sleep, you’re accompanied by the dulcet tones of Dr Glenn Pierce. The overseer of SomnaSculpt, he is so comically unflappable in the face of his own apparent incompetence he may as well be tearing pages straight out of GLaDOS and Wheatley’s test subject wrangling handbook. Played by Max Howarth, his performance brings warmth and levity to a game that never features a human face. This zany tone eventually gives way to a final, earnest message that we appreciated, though it does follow a shift that doesn’t dovetail into what came before as smoothly as we’d like.
VERDICT
“INCEPTION-STYLE FREEFALLING THROUGH LAYERS OF DREAMS.”
A short, tightly designed, and satisfying puzzler. Changing perspectives to alter sizes and shapes is intriguing. It stumbles awake but sweet dreams are made of this. Jess Kinghorn