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Semblance, a puzzle platformer about bending the rules

Squidgy good fun

We've all done it. You miss a jump by what feels like millimeters (you were probably miles off, admit it), and your first thought is 'If only that platform were just a little bit higher'. If you could, at that moment, you'd reach out and bend the rules, just a teensy bit. Make it that little bit closer, or your jump just a little higher.

Semblance is an upcoming puzzle-platformer all about literally bending the rules, or at least the level. Use your head (and by which I mean ram it into things) to bend the level geometry, or even reshape your own body to open new paths. Come in and see the trailer, which should give you a better idea what to expect.

Watch on YouTube

While nothing earth-shatteringly original at its core (it's another semi-minimalist platformer), it does look like the terrain deformation is used in some clever ways here, and if there's even a little bit of wiggle-room in the gameplay mechanics, I can see this one becoming an overnight hit with the speedrunning crowd. You give those folks even the slightest hint of a breakable, abusable physics system and you'll see magic happen.

I also can't help but notice that this looks like a far less brutally hard and nihilistic version of The End Is Nigh, what with the simplistic silhouetted world and the squidgy, blobby protagonist. While I feel I've had my fill of masochistic platforming challenge from that, I do hope that Semblance has a similar glut of content to work through - there's some clever puzzle mechanics here, and I want to see every possible iteration or combination of them used.

Semblance is due to launch soon (Early 2018, says Good Shepherd Entertainment), and can be wishlisted on Steam here.

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