Etherborn

Etherborn has all the good ideas for a clever puzzle game. Then it ends after only four levels, never exploring its mechanics in a way that makes them stand out.

Etherborn stumbles at times in its execution and gets lost in an unnecessary narrative, but there's no denying the puzzle design is brilliant.

Indeed, so effective was the musical and visual direction that I gasped in genuine awe at a key moment in the finale. It may not be a long game, for a faster-witted player than I would get through it in an afternoon, and pretty games may not be all that scarce... but this is more than just pretty. It's a carefully directed, genuinely beautiful game well worth your time.

Puzzle platformers are a dime a dozen these days. Typically they have some sort of a storyline, a clear objective, and collectables to pick up along the way. Etherborn, from Altered Matter, throws all of this out of the window and still manages to deliver a solid game.

Etherborn looks fantastic, sounds incredible and revolves around a brilliant game mechanic that initially feels like it’s going to lead to some clever puzzles but ramps things up far too quickly and engulfs you with frustratingly complex stages while you’re still trying to find your feet. There’s still a great game in there, but you’ll need to have the patience of a saint to stumble up its 90-degree difficulty curve to find it.

Etherborn is a perspective manipulation puzzle game from Altered Matter. Having previously previewed the title, it is great to see it finally being released. In Etherborn, you play as a humanoid figure following the beckoning call of a disembodied voice. You move through the map collecting keys to access bridges, change landscapes, etc. The puzzle is that as you walk up and down the curved ramps of the map and change your orientation, gravity changes with you. Can’t get across that gap? Just walk up the ramp and turn that wall into a floor.

Despite its brevity Etherborn is a gorgeous, well-designed puzzler that provides a challenging and satisfying experience.

Etherborn is a gravity-defying puzzle that warped my brain. Puzzle games normally direct you in one way or another to the solution. Early test chambers in Portal used subtly different floor and wall patterns to highlight the correct locations, and the Witness always had the goal in view, just to name a few. Etherborn, on the other hand, doesn’t give you much to work with.

A brief excursion into a new constellation of worlds.

Etherborn has so much potential, but its best moments are over far too quickly, leaving little replay value aside from showing people how cool the design is.