Nimbus

Fun if occasionally infuriating physics-based puzzle platformer. Play with inertia, balls, portals, trampolines, propellers… The glide mechanic gives a pleasant, relaxing slow down at the apex of your trajectory, before you drop, dive and attempt to keep your momentum, avoiding collisions on the way. The mechanics and levels feel varied, execution requires precision with some levels taking quite a few tries. There are multiple paths through the world map if some levels are too hard. My one gripe is that the keyboard can't be remapped, and the ctrl key, which resets the level, is way too close to keyboard arrows. Could be solved by using a controller, since those can be remapped.

This is a surprisingly unique game with a great soundtrack. It even lets you customize the character. I cant understand why its so obscure but it deserves more attention. I can only guess that its because its challenging. I feel like if there was steam workshop compatibility that let you create and share levels like Mario Maker did it might have been a bigger hit.

This is a really unique platformer with a beautiful art style and clever puzzles that is absolutely worth a try. It has good replayability because of global time rankings for each level and has a lot of secret levels that are difficult to unlock and keep it challenging.

Very fun momentum-based action/puzzler. A lot of the game is about how to get enough speed where you need it to climb where you need to, and sometimes that can involve climbing the opposite end of the level to swan dive across the map, or exploit booster loops to slingshot yourself super high for coins. The primary game isn't too difficult, but collecting the coins and the later half of the bonus levels can get infuriating. I expected a bit of physics inconsistency to be introduced by rounding error or frame speed, but it's very, very good at enforcing consistency. Moving obstacles or cannon fire will always be at X time where they were at X time, and stuff like falling stacks of hazards will always fall the same way. The main gripe I have with this game is that turning left-right is based on the orientation of your ship. Hitting something instantly flips you along the plane of contact, and fully stalling out in the air very abruptly flips you down into a nosedive. This causes an abrupt and often very lethal flip in your steering controls, especially if you were climbing a vertical tunnel you barely had momentum for.

This ancient indie game is a real gem. Momentum-based platforming is a highly underused mechanic and probably Nimbus is at fault here, because it did such a good job that there were no ideas left to explore for other games. Getting through the regular levels has a nice difficulty curve and is an average dexterity challenge with light puzzle elements. Afterwards, you still have plenty of goals to aim for. Find all secret exits, collect all hidden coins, beat the game on hard (no checkpoints within levels), do the Christmas bonus levels, complete the scrapyard levels, complete speedruns on selected levels. There is plenty of content here. At some point the game almost overstays its welcome when it asks you to complete the scrapyard to get all achievements. As the title implies, the scrapyard contains levels that didn't make it into the regular campaign. Most of the levels are actually fine, but two of them are just ridiculously difficult to the point of simply being annoying. Maybe even so annoying that finally completing them didn't even feel like a reward anymore, just a relief. Some other reviewers criticize the game for having "inverted" controls. They are definitely not "inverted", they are simply "relative" to your spaceship. Pressing right will always do a clockwise turn. But if you are travelling downwards currently, a clockwise turn might feel like a left turn to you, if you aren't accustomed to it. Relative controls might not be very beginner-friendly, but when mastered, they are more precise. If you don't believe me, check out Rocket League. That game wouldn't even be possible without relative controls. As a whole, this game is definitely worth a buy, even after all those years. Big recommendation.

Love the game, super chill and the music is really good too!

Really good. Challenges are actually challenging instead of being unfair. Charming music and graphics with solid gameplay has me returning over 5+ years to keep playing and set new records, now my global average is top 100!

#BestGameEver Mostly relaxing... at times challenging racing/puzzle game with pretty colors and sounds.

A criminally overlooked speed-running game. Has great momentum-based movement. First played it around 15 years ago (good grief), but recently revisited, and it's still fantastic.

Probably bought this game over a decade ago and still keep coming back to it. Breddy gud.