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I'll freely admit that Continuity 2: The Continuation by Ragtime Games hit me from a blind-side.
While I'd like to think I can keep up with all the latest news, I missed out on the original
game despite it winning awards at the Independent Games Festival and IndieCade. What I'm trying
to say is, 'mea culpa' - at least I get to play the sequel to this dastardly puzzle title.
On the surface of it the game looks much like a puzzle platformer - collect items, get the
key, reach the exit. In reality you'll need to navigate complex maze-like pathways by
rearranging the world itself via a sliding-puzzle mechanic. Double-tapping the screen will pause
and zoom out the game, allowing you to shuffle tiles around, allowing you to explore new
areas or access paths that would otherwise seem impossible. There is a catch - the world
needs to be seamless, which means you'll need to match edges before you can pass a tile's
barrier.
Everything about Continuity 2 feels refined, from its single-finger controls that intuitively
interpret taps and swipes for moving and jumping to the basic visuals that contrast and make
it easy to follow the action on-screen whether you're zoomed in or out. Players are also
engaged through tiny flourishes such as the music dampening to signify being further away
from the world.
All of this effort would be for naught if the puzzles themselves were unbalanced, however
new concepts are introduced slowly through reinforcement, giving you a new perspective
on how the game operates and allowing you to return to earlier levels to obtain more
'perfect' scores. The jump in challenge can be quite surprising, with later levels taking
advantage of advanced concepts such as pausing the game mid-jump to reorient and rearrange
the screen, when only a handful of levels earlier your only concern was getting a switch
to work.
Weighing in at 50 currently available levels, the game will take even the most dedicated
of puzzle fans a while to complete. Although there's no specific motivation to 'perfect'
each level, it's hard to leave a stage unfinished as it feels as though you've cheated the system
by ignoring whole chunks of a particular stage.
If you enjoy puzzle games or you've previously had the opportunity to enjoy Continuity, definitely
pick this title up.