Faraway Proximity

Interesting indie game, featuring a cute robot on a quest to find and free books in a surreal world. It's a slow paced game, the focus is on solving unique logic puzzles. 5 stars from me for originality and execution.

Difficulty : 2/5 (Normal) Global : 1.5/5 (Decent) Curator page : [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44695991-Anokturnus/]Anokturnus[/url] In Faraway Proximity, your goal is to collect books. Each book has its own dimension and can be unlocked by completing a puzzle. The puzzles are abstract, very logical and not very hard, you often just have to study the room a bit. But you have to figure out everything yourself and that's good. Every book you collect contains either a story or a riddle to solve. That is a great idea and the book puzzles were I think the best part. The game took me 3 hours and I only used the guide to find the second hidden achievement. As far as the story is concerned, there is one (inspired by Talos Principle I guess) but it's reaaaally hard to understand. But I guess the "wtf" feeling of the game is done on purpose. Now a few things that could be done to make the game better: - The running speed should be the walking speed. Even when you run it feels slow so no one is going to walk. - Book containers should visually change when you already got the book. - Shorten the load times (I guess it can't really be done but they are a bit annoying) - I don't see the point of giving skills to the player, you need to interact with everything anyway. It basically just allows you to interact and that's useless in my opinion. EDIT : everything I listed above has been implemented into the game. It should feel a lot better now, it's always nice to see devs taking feedback into account. Faraway Proximity is cool (my rating system is just really harsh), there are very nice ideas and I had a good time. Creating a game like that all alone is no easy task and I'm interested to see the future games.

Faraway Proximity is an excellent puzzler! I played other games by the same developer and always found the riddles to be very difficult but very clever. This game is a lot easier and far more user friendly, although I would still call it challenging. If you're going for achievements, pay close attention to puzzle within a puzzle mechanic which is excellent! Plays smoothly, no issues or problems. Very pretty environments as well. Highly recommended!

I received this game for free from the developer. Thank you, Sound CloudScape! --- Tried the game for the first time. To be honest, it scares me a bit since I'm afraid of heights. However, it is an interesting concept. One would think of robotic avatars and the Akashic Records. The surreal environment could also reflect the chaotic and blant human society. The TV screen being white, empty, is a symbol in its own right! Since I'm new to recording and stuff, my first video hasn't come up well, nor did my second. All I can do for now is to find the 20 books and write a full review of the game. Also, the title gives the vibe of contradiction right from the start. How can Proximity be Faraway and how can Faraway be Proximity? Well, we'll have to find out!

This seems like a solid enough puzzle adventure. Interesting concept, atmospheric music and sound effects. I appreciated the lore (there's more than in most other games of this kind that I've played) and the humour. I just didn't get far with the puzzles - they're either not very compatible with how my brain works or I just don't have enough patience right now. After giving up I found out that the devs published a guide on here, but I also got a bit tired of the slow walking pace and all the loading screens. From what I've seen though, I'd recommend this game for someone looking for a slow-paced puzzler that challenges your brain in a weird and original context. * * * If you like chill and story-driven games, check out my curator [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/35872486]Peaceful Adventures and Stories[/url]. You're also welcome to join the [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/chilladventures]group[/url].

An imaginative and challenging puzzle game, Faraway Proximity immerses the player in strange worlds where they are tasked, as a charming robot book collector, to solve puzzles and uncover secrets to better understand what is going on around them, as well as to restore balance. It shares similarities with games such as The Witness, and is perfect for anyone looking for challenging puzzles and a strange new universe to explore! Overall it was an enjoyable experience, even if some of the puzzles caused me to struggle, but I would recommend it to people looking to challenge themselves and who enjoy a indie game!

An enjoyable, not-too-difficult puzzle game with a little bit of exploration and some interesting puzzles. I enjoyed that there were two somewhat-independent main layers of puzzling in the game. Getting started with the game was a bit slow as it does not provide much explanation as to general rules and interface mechanisms but you are told of your overall goal of collecting all the books. However, pretty soon you get the general idea regarding structure of the game: specifically how it is organized as 4 main hubs, and that you need to use the menu system to travel between them, and also how the books within each hub may relate to each other. I actually liked being able to figure all that stuff out for myself, but others may find it a little rough. Also, when you "speak" to an entity in the game, they might as well be billboards as they just repeat everything each time with no memory that they already spoke to you and no way to quickly get out of the "conversation". This is a fairly short game - it took me 5.7 hours total to solve all the puzzles without consulting the developer-provided guide - except for the very last hidden achievement which was trivial to "solve" but required revisiting one location to interact with something that had previously been non-interactive. I had noticed this game on Steam before and had actually wish-listed it before the developer contacted me and was kind enough to give me a free key with no strings attached. I thought the game looked interesting but was in no hurry to purchase it as I have a huge backlog of unplayed games. Once it was in my library I decided to give a go and was quite glad I did. It is not a masterpiece, but did enjoy all my time with it and it did not wear out its welcome.

Faraway Proximity, developed and published by Studio CloudScape, is a puzzle-driven exploration game that places its emphasis on abstraction, contemplation, and the act of interpretation rather than conventional progression or mechanical intensity. It introduces players to the role of a “book-seeker,” someone tasked with recovering scattered texts across fragmented, almost dreamlike environments. This premise serves as both a narrative anchor and a gameplay structure, with each discovered book acting as a piece of a larger conceptual puzzle. The game’s design suggests that understanding the world is just as important as navigating it, creating an experience that feels more reflective than goal-oriented. From the beginning, the pacing establishes itself as slow and deliberate. Movement is unhurried, encouraging players to take in their surroundings and approach each area with patience. The environments themselves are intentionally abstract, often feeling less like physical spaces and more like constructed ideas. Each location presents its own visual identity and internal logic, but rather than overwhelming the player with detail, the game keeps its design restrained. This minimalism allows the focus to remain on the puzzles and the subtle cues embedded within the world. There is a sense that every space is meant to be observed carefully, with meaning emerging through attention rather than explicit instruction. The puzzle design reflects this philosophy by prioritizing interpretation over repetition. Instead of building around a single mechanic that evolves over time, the game introduces a variety of challenges that test different aspects of reasoning. Some puzzles rely on spatial awareness and environmental interaction, while others draw on pattern recognition or the ability to connect ideas across separate areas. Progress often comes from understanding how different elements relate to one another, rather than simply manipulating objects in isolation. This creates a feeling of discovery when solutions fall into place, as they tend to emerge from insight rather than trial and error. The books scattered throughout the game serve a dual purpose. Mechanically, they act as collectibles that mark progression, but they also carry fragments of narrative and thematic content. These texts are optional to engage with, yet they play a significant role in shaping the overall experience. They hint at broader ideas about knowledge, perception, and the nature of the environments the player explores. The story is not delivered in a straightforward manner, instead unfolding through these pieces in a way that invites interpretation. Players who choose to engage with the material more deeply will likely find a richer, more layered experience, while those who focus solely on progression may miss some of the game’s intent. Visually, the game adopts a clean and understated style that complements its abstract design. Environments are often sparse, using color and lighting to establish mood rather than relying on intricate detail. This approach keeps the focus on the puzzles while also reinforcing the game’s contemplative tone. The audio design follows a similar path, with ambient sounds and subtle musical cues that support the atmosphere without drawing attention away from the player’s thought process. Together, these elements create a cohesive sensory experience that encourages immersion through quiet consistency rather than dramatic presentation. Despite its strengths, the game’s design choices can also present challenges. The lack of clear direction may lead to moments where players are unsure how to proceed, particularly when puzzles require a shift in perspective that is not immediately obvious. The variety in puzzle types, while conceptually interesting, can feel uneven at times, with some challenges standing out as more engaging than others. Additionally, the slow pacing and abstract nature of the experience may not appeal to those looking for a more structured or dynamic progression system. The overall scope of the game is relatively modest, and its length reflects this. While the experience is cohesive and focused, it does not extend itself with additional systems or extensive content. For some players, this brevity will feel appropriate, maintaining the game’s tone without overstaying its welcome. For others, it may leave a sense that the ideas presented could have been explored further. The impact of the game ultimately depends on how much the player connects with its approach to storytelling and puzzle design. Even with these limitations, Faraway Proximity stands out as a distinctive and thoughtful project. It does not aim to deliver excitement in the traditional sense, instead offering a quieter form of engagement that revolves around understanding and interpretation. Its strength lies in its willingness to embrace ambiguity and to trust the player to find meaning within its world. In the end, Faraway Proximity is best suited for those who appreciate slower, more introspective experiences and are willing to engage with its abstract design. It may not resonate with players seeking immediate clarity or fast-paced challenges, but for those open to its approach, it provides a unique and contemplative journey that lingers beyond its relatively short runtime. Rating: 6/10

Nice short puzzle game. The puzzles are different and follow a theme in each area. You have to pay attention to the books too, but there is no extensive reading. The beginning can bit a bit confusing since there is no hand holding, but on the other hand you don't have to slog through tutorials and figuring out how things work is a big part of the game.

An interesting little puzzler. Unlike most puzzle games I've played, there's not really a central set of puzzle mechanics that slowly build in difficulty - instead, the levels are more like individual mystery boxes, where figuring out each level's unique mechanics is a greater challenge than solving the problem itself. It's an enjoyable approach, and, with a [i]couple[/i] of exceptions [spoiler](what the hell do you mean "invisible" is a dark word but "cover" isn't?!)[/spoiler] the difficulty was just right for me to get neither bored nor frustrated. Despite being about books, the narrative is fairly low key and reading is kept to a relative minimum. There are books to collect and read, but they're more often puzzle clues (or actual puzzles) than lore or exposition, so don't expect to be overwhelmed by text. Or whelmed, even. There's really not much reading. I did enjoy the narrative, but it's quite pithy and hard to talk about without spoiling anything, so I'll leave it at that.