Time Rift

[h2] Thin and pompous [/h2] This game can get tiring quicker than you can finish it. The balance between its lack of level design and the over-the-top ambiance is striking. Puzzles aren't very rich and the time constraint is often the only element making them hard, but not interesting. Go left, go right, the visuals and game objects stay the same, each level is a succession of similar gimmicks crammed into tight spaces. So it's a small and simple game all in all, this is not really a problem at all. But again what I found irritating was how much effort was seemingly put into making it pass for something on another level. There is a disconnect with the vibe and the actual content. Hyper-on VXF for every little move, ear-piercing Sound Effects, excited music, unnecessary Voice Acting over long bland blocks of texts saying the same thing over and over again. Maxed-out form over function

The story is alright. The gameplay is uninteresting. The puzzles are almost universally trivial. It took me 2.5 hours to complete with all collectibles (missed only two achievements for doing badly), and of that 2.5 hours I had about 5-10 minutes of enjoying it in total. The same time-rewind mechanic is done in far superior free game "Beret" (not on Steam, available on indiedb) but as an incidental thing to make the game less frustrating, versus here it's the unfun central mechanic of the game.

Loved this game. Short enough so it doesn't get repetitive, cool puzzle action mechanics, and an engaging but not overwhelming narrative on top that makes you want to continue playing. Huge congrats to the team ✨

My YouTube review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo94omYJ5C8 It's a rare thing when I actually finish a puzzle game, even less so when I 100% one. That's mostly because of my lack of ability and patience with the genre. I was expecting to end up in a similar spot with Time Rift but this small game from a small team surprised me with its ability to strike a balance between not being very difficult, but also making you feel accomplished nonetheless. There is a story in Time Rift but it's pretty straightforward. You are a hacker who has been hired to do some security testing on a big company's network, that's visualized in a very cool way that bears no resemblance to what it would really involve. You start off with only a few different mechanics to manage but as you progress through the 60 levels, more and more are layered in, including time manipulation abilities (hence the game's name.) There are no limits to how often you can use these abilities, meaning you can effectively have limitless tries to figure your way around each obstacle. If you want a real challenge, you can force yourself to only use them when necessary, though I don't see many players doing that. There are also optional collectibles tied to achievements and time records you can try to beat, though the lack of online leaderboards makes it so you're only competing with yourself. Time Rift took me about 3 and a half hours to 100% and that's me who is self-admitted to suck at puzzle games. However, I think that's a good length for this type of title. It doesn't overstay its welcome and gives you enough exposure to its different mechanics, without getting to the point of any of them getting tiresome. In a way, this is a puzzle game for people like me who are bad at puzzle games. The time manipulation mechanics make it not particularly brain bending, but it still requires you to think, analyze and deduce on the fly enough that you'll still feel like you accomplished something meaningful with each puzzle you complete. This one surprised me and for the price, I think it was a fun few hours.

A short and refreshing experience with innovative action gameplay and just enough puzzle mechanics to make it interesting. Each level brings its own little challenge, for both new and experimented players, with the collectibles mechanic. A very well polished game that will give you some fun for a few hours :)

Скоростная головоломка с замедлением и перемоткой времени, всё сделано неплохо, но я от такого устал. https://youtu.be/FB8xQPcc_JQ

Good

Time Rift é um jogo curto de quebra-cabeça, e tem uma história legal. As legendas ajudam as pessoas que não entendem muito de inglês, e as mecânicas são interessantes. Fácil de platinar.

美术风格很赞，毕竟谁又能拒绝一个带尾迹光效并且闪闪发亮的小箭头呢？

A fun little puzzle game with social commentary that is increasingly prescient. Worth a look.