Some of the best puzzle platformers are the ones that pick a seemingly simple mechanic and use it effectively. Russia based developer, Artem Cheranev is planning to do for light and shadows what Braid did for time control in his new game, Night Lights.
Night Lights is probably one of the best offerings I’ve seen on Indiegogo in some time. Not only does it look nice, but the concept has clearly been thought out and polished quite a bit already. Cheranev is seeking a flexible funding goal of $20,000 for development.
Players traverse different night locations and solve puzzles with the help of shadow objects. These objects have a physical form in the dark, but disappear in the light. By collecting crystals, the player can activate new light sources to manipulate the environments.
A series of portals connect the different locations in Night Lights. By using the portals players have some choice regarding which levels they wish to visit and the order of their completion. It’s a small thing, but it keeps the roughly 5 hour experience from feeling too linear.
From the what’s on the Indiegogo page there doesn’t seem to be much of a story behind the game. I couldn’t even find a name for the cute little lightbulb-headed protagonist. Even so, the light mechanic seems interesting and the music from the trailer and demo was actually really enjoyable.
Not The First Piece Of The Puzzle
Cheranev is the sole developer on the project, but this is not his first game. Between 2011 and 2015 he published a handful of browser based flash games, including the original 2013 version of Night Lights. His most recent work is a mobile puzzle game called Shifter, which utilizes touch screen controls to solve the puzzles.
You can download a brief demo to get a feel for the basic gameplay mechanics and atmosphere. If you like what you see it may be worth backing the project on Indiegogo. At the very least visit Steam Greenlight and give Night Lights your vote. This is the sort of project worth encouraging.
