SHAPE OF THE WORLD
Go on, get lost!
Sometimes, it all gets a little much at OPM Towers and we just need to go for a walk. However, we find ourselves wanting to see something more vibrant than the limestone that lines the streets of Bath, as lovely as it is. And this is the answer.
Beginning in a washed-out, muted desert, when you cross the threshold of an otherworldly archway your surroundings shift towards vibrancy. You soon find yourself wondering along a strange coastline populated by wide-eyed, simplified variants of creatures you know, both real and imagined. As you explore, flora sprouting from the earth at random as you draw close and fauna chirping contemplatively all around you, you’ll happen across stone structures. Tapping these can open new pathways and even launch you high up into the air. It’s a serene experience, even as the colour palette and the lay of the land around you dramatically shifts with each new archway that crosses your path.
Over a few hours you snake your way around a mountain of colour, from that aforementioned coastline, through a forest, a particularly memorable underwater cave network, and then up a craggy face. Your destination matters far less than the act of getting there1 and this is an almost singular experience2 that often resists review by its very nature. While light on gameplay and never truly challenging even when puzzle elements do arise, there is a compelling sense of flow here that makes the trip worth taking. Playing more as a meditative experience that doesn’t outstay its welcome, this is an ascent you will make more than once. Jess Kinghorn