NTH DIMENSIONAL HIKING

DEVELOPER ZACHARIAH CHANDLER • RELEASE DEMO AVAILABLE • PRICE] TBA https://zachariah-chandler.itch.io/

Towards the end of my PAX experience, some other kind of Skybus dropped me onto a polygon. It could have been sunset, but it’s hard to tell, given the strongly contrasting colours dithered together in Nth Dimension[al] Hiking. More polygons floated nearby, alongside a complex, shadowy structure. I had a radial menu with oval, stick, triangle and square. Surprisingly, some experimentation allowed me to get around. I felt the place was ‘in between’ somehow, yet I was in no rush to progress, even if was wary of becoming too like the huddled figure inside the dark tunnel.

If you’d like a chance to interpret this obscure, yet compelling, game for yourself, a demo is available at https://zachariah-chandler.itch.io/ndh There’s also a folder with the download. In the readme, designer, Zachariah Chandler promises that the game, “won’t hold your hand and won’t hurt you.” Falling off the polygons results in your character quickly resetting, for example, until you understand mechanics. There’s also a tiny hint book, organised into folders, so you can get a little nudge on your way. As a university project, I wanted to know if this got good marks. Apparently, it did.