Wonderful Shapeshifting Platformer Ecotone Out Now
Level and learn
In level one you can't jump. A few stages later the controls get reversed. Further on, you can jump but are tasked with steering two characters simultaneously towards a common goal, and so continues Ecotone [official site] - a neat puzzle platformer that throws away the genre rule book and instead keeps you guessing by introducing new mechanics to each new level. After less than a month in Early Access, it's out now.
Those of you who've been paying attention will be familiar with Sundae Factory's debut venture Ecotone already. It's been around a while, see, and does a wonderful job of flipping what we know about puzzle platforming - or, rather, what we think we know - on its head by switching the standalone gimmicks of other similar games in and out, so that you're never sure of what to expect next. It looks lovely too. Go on, look:
Spanning three worlds comprised of 15 levels each - that's 45 all told, in case your weekend brain is too hungover for weekend arithmetic - Ecotone has much to offer and although I'm far from finished myself, I have been stumped on more than a few occasions already. Often, just as I've mastered the workings of one mechanic, another is introduced and it's back to square one until the next triumph.
Ecotone is out now for Windows, Mac and Linux on Steam and the Humble Store for £5.99/8,99€.$8.99.