Mainframes is a charming platform that takes place inside computers

Mainframes mess is a perfect example of a game with an intelligent idea that does not exceed its welcome.

In the new independent platform game, you play like an adorable floppy disk that crosses desktop computers. The aesthetics are ridiculously charming: the many characters sprinkled throughout the game are If Dang cuteAnd the levels are filled with application windows and desktop icons that serve as stamps or plump speeds to change things in the levels. Everything is superimposed on the computer backgrounds of the pixelated landscape which differ between the worlds. And everything is supported by a catchy soundtrack that really sells the atmosphere.

It is an excellent premise, and Mainframes mess Avoid the idea a little further by allowing you to handle the computer windows by clicking or dragging them as you would with a real mouse. So, for example, if you cannot reach a distant edge, you may be able to jump on a computer window with a platform and slide this window on the edge so that you can reach it. You will also “select” certain windows to activate functions such as reversal of gravity.

During the game, you undertake gradually more difficult platform puzzles that require jumps pulled precisely and manipulate windows in various ways. There are many different approaches to explore each level, and it is worth crossing them to see as much as you can. One of my favorite sections made me recover fabrics for a clock with a cold. On a few times, I came across a cup of coffee while making coffee in a coffee machine. Once, I even came across a photo commemorating someone’s dog.

Some of the platform puzzles are quite difficult. But when you fail a leap or you meet an obstacle, you immediately reappear, so it’s easy to challenge yourself as many times as you have to beat it. I was able to jump into some rooms being intelligent in the place where I jumped, and even if I felt quite proud of myself, I intentionally designed the developers of the game, some of these shortcuts. You can also activate accessibility features such as invincibility or endless jumps to cross everything you just can’t go, and I am not ashamed to admit that I did it for a handful of areas towards the end of the game.

Playing Mainframes messI continued to make comparisons with Celestial. Both are intelligent platforms with superb vibrations that can become quite difficult, but because the refills are so fast, repeated failures do not bite too much. And the two games feel like playing their ideas exactly as far as they need them. I rolled credits on Mainframes mess In just under four hours, and the experience was just felt.

_{Mainframes mess is now available on Nintendo Switch and PC.}